Nathan Outlaw opens Siren at The Goring Hotel and brings his successful Cornish seafood to the capital

Nathan Outlaw, Britain’s undisputed Neptune of chefs, is thrilled. ‘I feel like a giddy kid,’ he says of his glittering new London seafood restaurant, Siren. ‘It’s the first time in ages that I’ve been excited about something.’ The light-drenched, glass-walled dining room, part of a multimillion-pound refurbishment of The Goring Hotel in Belgravia, marks the start of a new culinary voyage.

Outlaw’s cooking has earned him Michelin stars at his establishments in Port Isaac, Cornwall: Restaurant Nathan Outlaw (two) and Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen (one).

The menu at Siren, where he is chef director, offers a tantalising taste of the south-west coast in London, with ingredients sourced from fishermen and producers Outlaw has worked with for years. ‘We never put anything on unless we know where it’s from and how it’s caught,’ he says.

That means dishes such as crab risotto, battered and herbed turbot with a warm tartare sauce, and red mullet with devilled shrimp butter. There are also daily specials that showcase the best of the morning’s catch.

A few weeks before Siren opens, Outlaw is inspecting just that in north Cornwall, his home for more than 20 years. Born in Kent, he worked in London restaurants after college, but his love of seafood was ignited in 1998, after moving west to work for Rick Stein.

His love of the region is clear: he relishes the sweeping views, chatting to local fishermen about their haul and his role as ambassador of the National Lobster Hatchery in nearby Padstow.

His pal Jeremy Goring, chief executive of the eponymous hotel, is as obsessed with the county as Outlaw: his parents were born in the area and he was raised on its salty breezes, surf and food. ‘We’re going to get incredible fish and seafood and put them on a plate, nothing gimmicky,’ Goring says.

The hotel’s well-established restaurant, The Dining Room, remains, serving resolutely traditional British dishes amid the napery and heavy curtains.

Just over the garden wall from Buckingham Palace, The Goring is favoured by the Royal family (boasting a Royal Warrant), and The Dining Room is said to be the London restaurant most frequented by the Queen (and the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who adored the lobster and egg dish Eggs Drumkilbo).

The hotel even hosted Kate Middleton and her family before her wedding to Prince William. On this, Jeremy keeps shtum except to say it was an exciting time and a challenge to keep the details under wraps. No doubt he hopes the younger royals will seek out Siren for seafood suppers.

He has included ‘elements of total madness’ in its design, including a giant plasterwork tableau featuring bare-breasted mermaids and figures of Neptune. To Outlaw’s delight, a new kitchen has been installed under the hotel garden, and the orangery-style dining room overlooks an ocean of herbs.

The refurbishment has been a chance for Goring to put his stamp on the hotel, which was founded by his great-grandfather, Otto, in 1910 – and for Outlaw to reset his career.

He has ended, by mutual agreement, three long-running partnerships: with the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, the Capital Hotel in Knightsbridge, and The Mariners pub in the Cornish village of Rock.

Outlaw says the constraints of running restaurants owned and run by large organisations proved frustrating. ‘I was investing a lot of care and emotional time into making something as good as I can, and no one really cared. In the end I thought, “Forget it.”’

The family-run approach of The Goring is much more Outlaw’s speed; he runs his own business with his wife Rachel, while his mother Sharon and father Clive (also a chef) both have roles to play. Food lovers travel from all over the world to Port Isaac to taste his food.

He wants Siren to have a similar pull. ‘I just want to create a busy restaurant where people have good fun, and eat the best fish they’ve ever tasted,’ Outlaw says. It’s an alluring prospect: Siren is calling.

Siren is now open at The Goring Hotel; thegoring.com