Chef Richard Corrigan is to take over the National Portrait Gallery’s landmark rooftop restaurant, noted for its panoramic views over Trafalgar Square and the Houses of Parliament. The gallery has been closed for three years to allow for a £35million refit, and will reopen on June 22 with a grand new entrance.

Meanwhile, the Australian group Daisy Green will open an all-day café on the ground-floor and basement of the gallery which will transform every evening into a late-night bar with a small-plates menu. Called Audrey Green, in a presumed reference to British film star Audrey Hepburn, it will display photographs and art from the museum’s collection celebrating the West End’s entertainment industry.

The restaurant announcements reflect the trend of museums and galleries to make better use of their attractive locations and buildings, and follow the installation of Spanish chef José Pizarro at the Royal Academy two years ago. In its most recent appearance in Harden’s London Restaurants 2020, the NPG’s rooftop restaurant The Portrait won high praise for its location, but its food was merely “adequate“, while the basement café was described as “Spartan“.

Richard Corrigan, the Irish chef best-known for his Mayfair restaurants Bentley’s and Corrigan’s, will partner with catering company Searcy’s to relaunch The Portrait. He said: “Any chef would give their right arm to cook in such an historic building, so for me to be opening a restaurant under the same roof as all this world-class art – well, it’s truly a privilege.”

His menus will showcase the best of British and Irish ingredients, taking “inspiration from some of his most memorable dishes in his culinary career [and] reintroducing forgotten classics to the gallery’s guests”.