Romy Gill to lead The Pem at Conrad London St. James
Romy Gill MBE will take over The Pem at Conrad London St. James this autumn, as the restaurant relaunches with a new focus on regional Indian cooking.
The restaurant will reopen as Romy Gill at The Pem, marking Romy’s first permanent restaurant kitchen in six years and one of the most significant moves of her career to date.
The appointment represents a major change of direction for The Pem, which was previously known for modern British cooking under Sally Abé.
Sally left The Pem in 2025 after four years at the restaurant, during which time she helped establish the dining room as a prominent female-led restaurant within one of London’s best-known luxury hotels.
The Pem now enters a new chapter under Romy, one of Britain’s most recognised Indian chefs and the author of three cookbooks.
Romy Gill at The Pem
Romy’s cooking will draw on regional Indian food, moving from the kitchens of Punjab and Bengal to the coastal flavours of Kerala and the spice traditions of Rajasthan.
The menu is expected to feature rich curries, smoky grills, slow-braised dishes and plates designed for sharing, alongside newer ideas shaped by Romy’s travels across India.
The restaurant said the food would be shaped by memory, travel and the women who taught Romy to cook.
Speaking about the relaunch, Romy said: “I want The Pem to feel lively and full of energy.
“The kind of restaurant where people stay longer than they planned, order another dish because the table next to them had it, and leave already thinking about when they're coming back.
“That's how I love to eat, and that's what I want to create here.”
A new direction for The Pem
The Pem is based inside Conrad London St. James, at 22-28 Broadway, close to St. James’s Park and Westminster.
The restaurant takes its name from suffragette Emily Wilding Davison, who was known as Pem by her family.
The restaurant’s feather emblem was inspired by Emily’s feather boa and has been used as a symbol of courage, creative expression and women doing things in their own way.
Romy’s appointment continues that story, bringing a new culinary identity to the dining room while keeping the restaurant’s wider connection to female authorship and leadership.
Bernadette Gilligan, general manager of Conrad London St. James, said: “The Pem has always evolved through the people leading it, and each chapter has brought something different to the restaurant.
“Romy takes it somewhere we've never been before. We knew very quickly that she was the right person for this next chapter.”
Romy Gill’s return to a permanent kitchen
Romy is widely known across the industry as a chef, writer and broadcaster, with her work often focused on Indian food, regional cooking, ingredients and personal food stories.
Her move into The Pem gives her a permanent London hotel platform and brings regional Indian cooking into one of the capital’s established luxury hotel dining rooms.
The relaunch also reflects the continued appetite in London for high-profile Indian restaurants that move beyond a single regional identity, with chefs increasingly exploring the breadth of India’s food culture through a more personal and produce-led lens.
Romy Gill at The Pem will open in autumn 2026.
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Romy Gill to lead The Pem at Conrad London St. James
