A high-end restaurant has opened after a two decade absence from the capital - with its owner "blown away by the welcome".

Lussmanns opened its newest branch on August 30 in Highgate High Street, in a 1930s building formerly occupied by French restaurant chain Côte.

Photographs of the new restaurant, which seats 130 people, reveal its "classy but classless" interior.

The red and white striped awning welcomes guests into a casual café space.

The red and white awning of Lussmanns restaurant points to a relaxed outletThe red and white awning of Lussmanns restaurant (Image: Zoe Pienaar)

Customers will soon be able to order takeaway coffee and light breakfast items.

Further inside customers will reach the bar which serves a curated list of sustainable wines, hand-crafted gin – made with herbs grown in two of the group’s Hertfordshire restaurants’ gardens – and a selection of Mad Squirrel beers, brewed in Hertfordshire.

Lussmanns main dining areaLussmanns' main dining area (Image: Zoe Pienaar)

The main dining area has room for 110 diners and has natural light provided by skylights and subtle evening tones cast by the pendant lights.

Lussmanns opened its first restaurant in North Kensington in 2002, before closing in 2004 and moving to Hertford.

Lussmanns offers everything from breakfast to fine diningLussmanns offers everything from breakfast to fine dining (Image: Zoe Pienaar)

It currently has branches in St Albans, Hitchin, Harpenden, Berkhamsted and Hertford.

Founder and managing director, Andrei Lussmann, said he is delighted both with the return to London and the positive response from locals.

Founder Andrei Lussmann outside his Highgate High Street outletFounder Andrei Lussmann outside his Highgate High Street outlet (Image: Zoe Pienaar)

“It’s fantastic to be back and we’ve been blown away by the welcome we’ve had from everyone here in Highgate," he added.

"I was optimistic customers would enjoy what I like to think of as our classy but classless offering and so far, I’ve been proved right.

"I think discerning diners crave somewhere to eat out that really means what it says when it talks about sustainable dining.”

The bar serves sustainable wines, hand-crafted gin – made with herbs grown in two of Lussmanns Hertfordshire restaurants’ gardensThe bar serves hand-crafted gin made with herbs grown in two of Lussmanns Hertfordshire restaurants’ gardens (Image: Zoe Pienaar)

Lussmanns' menu champions organic, high-welfare meat, sustainable seafood and almost exclusively British ingredients.

It was the first small restaurant group outside London to be certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) in 2014 and has won numerous awards for its sustainability.

The menu changes eight times a year to showcase the very best ingredients from the British larder at their peak.