The Franklin London Restaurant Review (2026): Italian-Inspired Dining in Knightsbridge

Tucked discreetly within one of Knightsbridge’s most elegant residential enclaves, The Franklin London — part of the Starhotels Collezione portfolio — continues to offer one of the capital’s most quietly confident Italian dining experiences. But the dining room has evolved. A change in the kitchen, a new seasonal lunch menu, and a bar programme worth visiting in its own right have given this already compelling property renewed reason to warrant a detour.

A Change in the Kitchen

Perhaps the most significant development is behind the pass. The restaurant is now overseen by Head Chef Roberto Roncolato, whose approach builds on the kitchen’s Italian foundations while drawing freely on flavours, techniques, and ingredients from across the Mediterranean and beyond. Where the previous iteration under Michelin-starred chef Alfredo Russo leaned into precise, minimalist Northern Italian cooking, Roncolato’s menus feel broader in scope — comfortingly Italian at their core, but with a global outlook that brings unexpected pairings and a slightly more relaxed sensibility to the table.

What hasn’t changed is the guiding principle: seasonality, carefully sourced ingredients, and dishes that privilege clarity and balance over complexity for its own sake. The kitchen still describes its approach in straightforward terms — “flavours that are easy to understand” — and the cooking lives up to that promise without ever feeling simplistic. This measured philosophy places The Franklin among London’s more understated fine dining options, similar to how we’ve observed at Ellen Kensington where restraint speaks louder than theatricality.

The Room: Thirty Seats, Egerton Gardens, and Deliberate Calm

The dining room remains intentionally small, with just thirty seats overlooking the greenery of Egerton Gardens. Interiors — originally conceived by Anouska Hempel and recently refreshed — dress the space in grey velvet, silk ikat fabrics, and Venetian églomisé mirrors, creating an atmosphere that reads more as a private salon than a public restaurant. Soft lighting, marble tables, and the garden-facing orientation all contribute to a sense of hushed exclusivity that runs through breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner.

This is not a high-energy dining room. There is no sense of rush, no volume pressure, no performative theatre. The pacing is deliberate, almost residential in tone — which is precisely the point. For travellers who value conversation, attentive service, and food that commands attention without shouting for it, the room remains one of Knightsbridge’s most effective filters against the noise of central London. Those seeking similarly intimate settings elsewhere in London might compare this to the quieter corners of Hans Bar & Grill London, though The Franklin maintains a distinctly Mediterranean mood throughout.

The New Summer Light Lunch Menu

New this season is a Summer Light Lunch Menu that offers a pared-back, accessible way to experience the kitchen during the day. Priced at £18 for one dish or £30 for two — with a soft drink included — the menu spans lighter plates and more substantial mains, all served daily as part of the restaurant’s all-day dining offer.

Among the starters, a Caesar’s Salad with Parmesan and anchovies can be ordered with chicken or Mazara del Vallo red prawns — a quietly luxurious upgrade that signals the kitchen’s approach to even its most casual dishes. The Smoked Salmon Salad pairs fresh mango, chilli, and lime with its core ingredient, a combination that reads more tropical than Tuscan but lands with surprising cohesion. The Caprese Burrata uses Apulian burrata alongside three varieties of tomato — San Marzano, Camone, and Pachino — which is the kind of detail that distinguishes a kitchen that sources seriously from one that simply lists ingredients.

Pasta is made in-house, and the two options on the lunch menu offer a study in contrast: Orecchiette with broccoli, chilli, and pecorino delivers earthy, southern Italian warmth, while Tagliatelle with wild mushrooms and butter sauce leans cooler and more northern. For heartier appetites, a chargrilled Steak & Frites comes with homemade peppercorn sauce, and a Grilled Stone Bass fillet is served with a Mediterranean sauce that ties the whole menu back to its coastal Italian roots.

At £30 for two courses and a drink, the value proposition is notably strong for a restaurant of this calibre in Knightsbridge. It also makes the room accessible to a daytime audience that might not otherwise venture in — hotel guests and locals alike — without compromising the standards of the evening service. The daytime offering competes favourably with the more elaborate brunch scenes in nearby Mayfair, proving that elegance doesn’t always come with a premium price tag.

The Franklin Bar: A Destination in Its Own Right

If the restaurant has historically been the headline act, the bar next door now demands equal billing. Mirror-lined and styled with a restrained nod to Roaring Twenties glamour, The Franklin Bar feels like a different room in temperature and rhythm — a place to wind down before dinner or settle in for the evening.

The drinks programme is built around two house-made spirits, both distilled locally in London and created exclusively for the hotel. Forbidden Garden Gin opens with bright citrus before unfolding into herbal, gently spiced notes — versatile enough to drink simply with tonic or serve as the base for one of the bar’s signature cocktails. It’s joined by Whisper Vodka, distilled with British apples and subtle spice for a smooth, polished character that suits both classic and contemporary constructions.

The bar menu also features an extensive list of classic and signature cocktails, and the house spirits give those signatures a distinct point of difference — they taste like they belong to this specific room, in this specific hotel, rather than something that could be replicated anywhere. For those drawn to cocktail-forward destinations, The Franklin Bar stands alongside other notable entries in London’s hotel bar scene, much like the Montcalm Mayfair where the bar experience is integral to the overall stay.

Who Is It For?

The Franklin restaurant and bar continue to appeal to a particular kind of diner: luxury travellers staying in or near Knightsbridge who value discretion over spectacle; couples seeking an intimate meal without the formality of a starched-tablecloth institution; design-conscious guests who appreciate a room that has been thoughtfully dressed; and increasingly, daytime visitors drawn by a lunch menu that offers real quality at a genuinely reasonable price point.

It is not a destination restaurant in the way that, say, Gymkhana or The Connaught are destination restaurants. It doesn’t need to be. Its strength lies in being exactly what it is — a small, beautifully appointed dining room and bar where the food is serious without taking itself too seriously, the service is attentive without hovering, and the overall experience feels like an extension of the hotel’s broader identity rather than a standalone operation bolted onto it. For readers planning a romantic evening out, this intimate setting compares favourably to Ormer Mayfair’s approach to couple-focused dining, though The Franklin retains a more relaxed, residential air.

Final Verdict: Still Worth Visiting in 2026?

Yes — arguably more so than before. The shift in the kitchen under Roberto Roncolato has broadened the restaurant’s appeal without diluting its Italian foundations. The new Summer Light Lunch Menu lowers the barrier to entry without compromising quality. And the bar programme, with its house-distilled spirits, gives the property a second reason to visit for those who might previously have come only to dine.

For travellers seeking understated luxury dining in London — the kind of place you’d recommend to a discerning friend rather than post about indiscriminately — The Franklin remains one of Knightsbridge’s most quietly rewarding hidden gems. It fits comfortably within London’s wider landscape of boutique hotel dining, where excellence is measured less by accolades and more by consistency, atmosphere, and the willingness to prioritise guest experience over sheer volume.