1 Michelin star chefs: Tom Brown, Tom Brown at The Capital
Tom Brown is the chef behind Tom Brown at The Capital, his eponymous one-Michelin-starred seafood restaurant at The Capital Hotel in Knightsbridge, London.
The 28-cover restaurant opened in April 2025 and won its Michelin star in February 2026, less than a year later.
It is the second restaurant Tom has taken to a Michelin star, after Cornerstone, his debut as a restaurateur in Hackney Wick, which won its star in 2021.
It also brought his career full circle. The Capital is where Tom first made his name in London, as head chef of Nathan Outlaw's Outlaw's at The Capital.
Early career and background
Tom is originally from Cornwall.
He started out as a kitchen porter at his local pub, before working in kitchens around the south west, including Rick Stein's Seafood Bar and the St Kew Inn near Bodmin, where he developed a specialism in fish.
Through Cornish chef Paul Ripley, he met Nathan, who would become his mentor.
Tom told the Mayfair Times: "Nathan was an amazing person to learn from."
In 2012, Tom joined Nathan's team at the St Enodoc Hotel in Rock, where he worked his way up to head chef.
In January 2016, he moved to London to become head chef at Outlaw's at The Capital, Nathan's Michelin-starred restaurant in the Knightsbridge hotel, where he retained its star.
Cornerstone
Tom became a restaurateur in April 2018, opening Cornerstone in Hackney Wick with Nathan's backing.
Built around an open kitchen with counter seating, it served simple, seasonal, produce-driven cooking.
The recognition came quickly. In 2018, he reached Great British Menu's NHS 70th anniversary banquet, where his dish, poor man's goose, was chosen as the main course.
Cornerstone was named Best New Entry in the Good Food Guide 2019 and ranked third in the National Restaurant Awards top 100 that year. In 2020, Tom was named GQ Chef of the Year.
He also launched Sunday Sessions at Cornerstone in 2020, inviting chefs including Nathan and Nieves Barragán Mohacho to cook a favourite dish.
The Michelin star followed in January 2021, with the guide's inspectors highlighting assured, understated dishes led by the seasons and the latest catch.
In November 2023, Tom opened Pearly Queen, an oyster bar and seafood restaurant on Commercial Street in Shoreditch.
Cornerstone closed in June 2024 after six years, and Pearly Queen is understood to have closed permanently in autumn 2025.
Returning to The Capital
Tom's return to The Capital Hotel, part of Warwick Hotels and Resorts, was announced in January 2025.
Tom said: "Returning to The Capital Hotel feels like coming full circle. This is where I developed my style and found the confidence to go on to open Cornerstone.
"It's a privilege to have my name over the door of a restaurant where legends of my industry have worked, and I in turn hope to make my mark."
Tom Brown at The Capital opened on Thursday, April 10, 2025, as part of a wider refurbishment of the hotel, with a refreshed restaurant and adjoining bar.
Tom Brown's cooking style
Seafood sits at the heart of the menu, cooked in the clean, creative and flavour-led style Tom has become known for.
Sustainability is central. Tom draws on long-standing relationships with fishermen and producers, uses responsibly sourced seafood and aims to minimise waste by using every part of the fish, from lesser-known cuts to unexpected flavour pairings.
His menus balance classical technique with bold flavours, with carefully considered meat and vegetarian plates alongside the seafood.
The opening menu set out the approach: cuttlefish "ravioli" made entirely from fish, monkfish with roast chicken and wild garlic, turbot with smoked eel and black truffle, and a dessert of chocolate with caviar, olive oil and capers.
Tom said: "This restaurant is all about pushing boundaries while staying true to what I love: daring flavours, incredible produce, and a real focus on sustainable seafood."
Asked to sum up his food, he told the Mayfair Times: "Refined deliciousness."
Michelin star at Tom Brown at The Capital
Tom Brown at The Capital was awarded its Michelin star at the Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland ceremony in Dublin on Monday, February 9, 2026, one of 20 new one star restaurants in the guide that year.
It came just under ten months after the restaurant opened.
Tom said: "Winning a Michelin star for Tom Brown at The Capital means a great deal to me. This restaurant represents everything I care about as a chef: incredible produce, sustainability and food that's precise but generous.
"To receive this recognition so soon after opening is incredibly rewarding for the whole team. We're thrilled the Michelin team enjoyed the turbot dish, this is one of my favourites too."
The Michelin Guide praises the quality of the ingredients and the presentation in a calm, polished dining room, singling out turbot with courgettes and a cuttlefish dish inspired by cacio e pepe.
Further recognition followed in September 2026, when the restaurant was awarded three AA rosettes at the AA Hospitality Awards.
Beyond Tom Brown at The Capital
Alongside The Capital, Tom has teamed up with Michelin-starred chef Brad Carter on Island, a surf and turf restaurant rooted in British produce, with Tom leading on day boat fish and shellfish and Brad on rare breed meats.
It launched as a residency at Mare Street Market King's Cross on Tuesday, July 1, 2025.
Tom said: "Island is about bringing people together over great ingredients, cooked simply, it's surf and turf fuelled by what we've learnt cooking together across actual islands all over the world."
In September 2026, Island moved to a permanent home as a 60-cover first floor restaurant at George & Dragon, Barworks founder Marc Francis-Baum's revival of the former Peasant pub on St John Street in Clerkenwell.
Having left The Capital to go it alone, Tom is back where he first made his name, this time with his own name over the door and a second Michelin star to his credit.
Other Michelin Star Chefs
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1 Michelin star chefs: Tom Brown, Tom Brown at The Capital
