The Artichoke Restaurant

What The Artichoke Restaurant does

The Artichoke Restaurant is a privately held, Michelin-starred fine dining establishment located at 9 Market Square in Old Amersham, Buckinghamshire, founded in August 2002 by Chef Patron Laurie Gear and his wife Jacqueline. The restaurant operates from a 16th-century Grade II listed timber-framed building with Scandinavian-inspired interiors and an open-to-view kitchen, serving modern British cuisine built around seasonal, locally sourced, and foraged ingredients drawn from the surrounding Chilterns. Service is structured around multi-course tasting menus, an à la carte menu, vegetarian alternatives, and wine flight pairings, operating four dinner services (Wednesday-Saturday) and three lunch services (Thursday-Saturday) per week with à la carte pricing from £85 to £215 per person including premium tasting events.

The business generates revenue through four streams: in-restaurant fine dining (transaction fees across menu tiers), private dining for groups of 8+, gift vouchers and curated experience packages sold via a Vouchable-powered e-commerce storefront, and ticketed wine dinner events (£165-£215 per person) with elite producers including Charles Heidsieck, Hundred Hills, Gaja, and Vega Sicilia. A discretionary 12.5% service charge applies, and reservations are managed through SevenRooms with credit card guarantees and tiered cancellation fees. Distribution is fully direct-to-consumer via the company website, phone, and online booking, supplemented by earned media from Jay Rayner, Fay Maschler, the Good Food Guide, Square Meal, and Harden's. The company holds a Michelin Star retained annually from 2020 through 2025, was named AA Restaurant of the Year for England 2013-2014, and maintains a 30-person team with no outside investment, parent company, or expansion of physical locations.

Name

The Artichoke Restaurant

Legal name

Artichoke

Website

https://artichokerestaurant.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Artichoke Restaurant is a privately held, Michelin-starred fine dining establishment in Old Amersham, Buckinghamshire, founded in 2002 by Chef Patron Laurie Gear and his wife Jacqueline. It serves modern British cuisine built on seasonal and foraged ingredients to special-occasion diners, affluent local residents, and food tourists, with a 30-person team and no outside investment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fine Dining Restaurant

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Restaurants and Other Eating Places (72251)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Fine Dining Restaurants (THAFACAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Chef’s Table & Tasting Menu Restaurants (THAFACAG), Private Culinary Experiences (Chef’s Table, Home Dining, Market-to-Meal) (THAJALAH)

Keywords

• Fine dining restaurant
• Michelin-starred cuisine
• Modern british cuisine
• Seasonal tasting menus
• Private dining events

Headquarters

HQ city

Old Amersham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Fine Dining Restaurant Sales: Revenue from serving tasting menus, à la carte options, and beverage pairings to dine-in guests. Covers lunch (Thursday-Saturday) and dinner (Wednesday-Saturday).
2. Gift Vouchers and Products: Online sales of gift vouchers (from £50) and gourmet experience packages for takeaway/home dining (Artichoke at Home).
3. Private Dining: Exclusive use of the restaurant for groups of 8+, with special menu packages. Generates additional revenue from private events and celebrations.
4. Wine Events and Tasting Dinners: Premium ticketed events featuring curated wine pairings with partner wineries. Priced at £165-£215 per person with deposits required.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Artichoke Restaurant is a Michelin-starred fine dining establishment offering innovative modern British cuisine built on seasonal and foraged ingredients from the Chilterns. Core offerings include multiple menu formats (Tasting Menu, Lunch Tasting Menu, Set Lunch Menu, Artichoke Menu, and vegetarian variants), private dining for groups of 8+, gift vouchers and curated dining experience packages, a take-home Artichoke at Home package, and exclusive wine dinner events. The restaurant operates Wednesday to Saturday for dinner and Thursday to Saturday for lunch in Old Amersham, Buckinghamshire.

Product overview

The Artichoke Restaurant is a Michelin-starred fine dining establishment in Old Amersham, Buckinghamshire, operated by Chef Patron Laurie Gear and his wife Jacqueline since 2002. The core offering is the restaurant experience, which includes multiple menu formats: the à la carte Artichoke Menu (three courses, £85-95), the seasonal Tasting Menu, the Lunch Tasting Menu (five courses), and the Set Lunch Menu (£49-65). Vegetarian alternatives exist for all menu formats. Additional offerings include Artichoke at Home (a five-course take-home dining package), gift vouchers ranging from £50 monetary vouchers to complete dining experiences for two at £170-260, and Private Dining for groups of 8+. The restaurant also hosts special wine dinner events throughout the year.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Artichoke Restaurant Fine Dining Michelin-starred fine dining experience offering innovative and refined modern British cuisine with seasonal, locally-sourced and foraged ingredients. Open Wednesday to Saturday for dinner, Thursday to Saturday for lunch. Located in a Grade II listed 16th-century building in Old Amersham.
• Tasting Menu Seasonal multi-course tasting menu available at lunch and dinner, with optional wine flight pairings. Evening tasting menu priced £105-130 depending on the day. Features dishes such as smoked eel and Benson pork belly.
• Lunch Tasting Menu Multi-course lunch tasting menu featuring dishes such as Cornish cod, Stokenchurch Farm duck breast, and rose veal, with optional wine flight pairings. Available Thursday to Saturday.
• Set Lunch Menu Three-course set lunch menu available Thursday and Friday at £49 per person (normally £65) until July 2026, featuring dishes like roast haddock and confit duck leg.
• Artichoke Menu Three-course à la carte evening menu available Wednesday to Friday, priced £85-95 depending on the day.
• Vegetarian Artichoke Menu Three-course vegetarian evening menu priced £85-95 depending on the day, featuring warm potato salad and roasted chicory dishes.
• Vegetarian Tasting Menu Vegetarian multi-course tasting menu priced £120-130 depending on day, featuring beetroot salad, courgette flower, and braised fennel.
• Vegetarian Lunch Tasting Menu Six-course vegetarian lunch tasting menu at £85 per person, with options like courgette flower and peach tartlet, paired with optional wine flight.
• Vegetarian Set Lunch Menu Three-course vegetarian set lunch at £65 per person (offer at £49), featuring courgette veloute and vanilla rice pudding options. Wine flight £35, non-alcoholic pairing £25.
• Artichoke at Home Deluxe take-home dining package offering five restaurant-quality courses to enjoy at home, sold direct-to-consumer via the restaurant's website.
• Gift Vouchers and Experience Packages Gift vouchers and curated gourmet experience packages available for purchase online, including monetary vouchers from £50, Lunch Tasting for Two at £170, Six Course Lunch with Champagne at £205, and Tasting Menu Experience for Two at £240, with private dining experiences up to £2,400.
• Private Dining Private dining room available for parties of 8 or more with special menu packages, including exclusive use of the restaurant. Available upon request for Sundays and Mondays outside regular service hours.
• Wine and Dining Events Premium ticketed wine and dining events featuring curated pairings with prestigious partner wineries including Charles Heidsieck Champagne dinners, Hundred Hills, Tempos Vega Sicilia, and Gaja wine events. Priced £165-215 per person with deposits required.

Quantifiable outcome

• Listed 7th most talked about restaurant outside London
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Charles HeidsieckcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 May 2026Prestigious Champagne house. Multiple exclusive Champagne tasting dinners hosted at Artichoke. Brand Ambassador Francesca D'Albertanson presents cuvées. Event on 13th May 2026 features legendary Champagne Charlie cuvée.
• Hundred Hills WinerycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 October 2025Prestigious Oxfordshire winery in the Stonor Valley. Collaboration for exclusive wine event on 30th October 2025 featuring release of Preamble No2 sparkling cuvée Vintage 2021. Includes exclusive vineyard tour and dining in award-winning Chiltern Barn.
• Sybaritic Truffles (James Painter)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 May 2025James Painter (Mr Truffles), international truffle and caviar merchant since 2010, is one of the restaurant's most esteemed suppliers. Truffles frequently feature on seasonal menus. Collaborated on exclusive truffle dinner event on 9th July 2025.
• Tempos Vega SiciliacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 February 2025Historical Spanish vineyard from La Ribeira del Duero, producing some of the world's finest red wines. Part of Premium Familiae Vini with Rothschild Family, Antinori, and Joseph Douhin. Collaboration with Berkmann Wine Cellars for wine dinner events.
• Berkmann Wine CellarsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 February 2025Exclusive wine merchant collaborating on Vega Sicilia wine dinners. Provides access to prestigious wine selections and brand ambassadors.
• GajacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 November 2023Historical Italian wine producer renowned worldwide for Barolo, Barbaresco, and Supertuscans. Wine dinner collaboration with VinumTerra featuring Gaja Family Ambassador Francesca Cioce.
• VinumTerraminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 22 November 2023Wine merchant facilitating Gaja wine dinner collaboration. Former RM/Sommelier Matteo Scaccabarozzi represented the partnership.
• Liberty WinescoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 27 July 2023Wine partner for Charles Heidsieck Champagne tasting dinners. Provides brand development and wine curation services.
• No2 Pound StreetminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 November 2022Specialist cheese merchant from Wendover, Buckinghamshire. Collaboration for British Artisan Cheese Tasting Dinner featuring award-winning British artisan cheeses and wines from Alsace, Savoie, and Jura.
• ScannappealminorOthers · 21 March 2019Local charity for which Artichoke hosted a charity dinner with Tom Kerridge (Hand and Flowers) and Ashley Palmer-Watts (Dinner by Heston Blumenthal). Raised funds for medical equipment.
• DrumbeatsminorOthers · 21 March 2015Charity for which Artichoke hosted dinner with Jason Atherton (Pollen Street Social). Live auction raised nearly £4000.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ynyshir Restaurant and Rooms: Multi-Michelin-starred tasting-menu restaurant in Wales run by Gareth Ward. Comparable as an independently owned, chef-led destination restaurant with strong wine pairing programme, premium pricing, and small-cover fine-dining model outside a major UK city.
• Dinner by Heston Blumenthal: Two-Michelin-starred fine dining restaurant at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London. Comparable as a Michelin-starred modern British tasting-menu restaurant with historical/seasonal sourcing cues; cited as a partnership-collaborator chef (Ashley Palmer-Watts) in Artichoke's charity dinners.
• The Waterside Inn: Three-Michelin-starred classical French/European fine dining restaurant in Bray, Berkshire. Comparable as a long-established, family-run destination restaurant outside London with strong press recognition and premium pricing — same kind of multi-generational prestige positioning.
• Restaurant Sat Bains: Two-Michelin-starred modern British tasting-menu restaurant in Nottingham. Comparable as an independently owned, chef-led UK fine-dining venue with seasonal/foraged sourcing, premium tasting menus, and strong wine pairing programme.
• The Fat Duck: Heston Blumenthal's three-Michelin-starred flagship in Bray, Berkshire. Comparable as a UK destination fine-dining venue leveraging chef-led innovation and national press profile; sister property to Dinner by Heston, who collaborated with Artichoke.
• The Hand and Flowers: Tom Kerridge's two-Michelin-starred pub-with-rooms in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. Directly comparable as a UK destination fine-dining venue outside London with strong national press profile and premium tasting-menu pricing, in the same South-East England catchment as The Artichoke.
• L'Enclume: Simon Rogan's three-Michelin-starred flagship in Cartmel, Cumbria. Comparable as a destination fine-dining restaurant in a small town, with seasonal/foraged-led modern British tasting menus and a strong national reputation independent of a major city centre.
• Restaurant Gordon Ramsay: Three-Michelin-starred flagship fine-dining restaurant in Chelsea, London. Comparable as a long-tenured, chef-attributed Michelin-starred UK tasting-menu destination with premium pricing and a high-end sommelier programme.
• Moor Hall: Two-Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms in Lancashire. Comparable as a destination UK fine-dining venue combining seasonal modern British cuisine, premium tasting menus, and on-site hospitality outside a major city — operating on a similar small, premium-footprint model.
• Pollen Street Social: Jason Atherton's one-Michelin-starred modern British fine-dining restaurant in Mayfair. Comparable in cuisine philosophy, tasting-menu format, and target audience; explicitly named in Artichoke's charity dinner history, suggesting direct peer positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ArtichokeChef
• Instagraminstagram.com/artichokechef
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-artichoke-restaurant

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Artichoke Restaurant