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James Cochran is to launch a five-course tasting menu at his Islington restaurant 1251. Cochran, 2018’s ‘Champion of Champions’ on the Great British Menu, launched 1251 last year in a spot previously occupied by the esteemed Chinese Laundry. He did so after receiving strong reviews at his eponymous E3 restaurant, which he left following a […]
Aldo Zilli has a new gig: consultant executive chef at San Carlo on Regent Street in St James’. It’s quite a title. The Italian chef has previously worked with the restaurant group, helping to launch Chicchetti Piccadilly, as well as Chicchetti and Fumo, both of which are in Covent Garden. At the new San Carlo, […]
Gordon Ramsay is soon to open his first major London restaurant in more than ten years. Ramsay, once chef, then celebrity chef, now, really, simply a celebrity who owns a lot of restaurants, is to relaunch his Mayfair haunt Maze as an Asian-inspired concept called Lucky Cat. Ramsay first announced Maze’s closure – after some […]
London bakery Bread Ahead is to open a restaurant, baking school, and wholesale retail unit in Wembley. Bread Ahead, which has branches in Borough Market, Soho, and Chelsea, is planning to launch a 220-cover restaurant later this summer. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be available. The menu will feature sourdough pizzas, roast chicken with sea […]
South London cafe group Megan’s is to open at Battersea Power Station as part of the site’s extensive and lavish new development. Megan’s, which has four existing dog-friendly, brunch-focused sites in Fulham, Parsons Green, Clapham and Balham, will serve the same food and drink as at its other branches – “wholesome fare”, including shakshuka, halloumi […]
Glynn Purnell has announced a third restaurant, which is set to open at a historic former monastery in Coventry. Purnell, who has long run his “exceptional” and “stunning” eponymous restaurant in nearby Birmingham, will be opening at The Charterhouse, a Grade 1-listed Carthusian monastery – and one of just ten ever built in Britain. The […]
Jay Rayner Instead of a review this week, Jay looks back over his 20 years as The Observer’s restaurant critic in an article that ranges from 1999 (the year MPW retired, Jamie O debuted his Naked Chef show, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay hit its stride and The Fat Duck won its first Michelin star), through the […]
The team behind Le Bab and Maison Bab are to launch Kebab Queen, an adventurous fine dining concept that will see the humble Middle Eastern dish explored and extended across a seven-course tasting menu. In April, Manu Canales, formerly a sous chef at La Gavroche, will open Kebab Queen below the group’s Maison Bab site […]
Magpie the much-fêted (including by Harden’s reporters) central London restaurant opened by Pidgin’s James Ramsden and Sam Herlihy two years ago, has reportedly closed. The 54-cover site debuted on Heddon Street in June 2017. It opened as a contemporary British venue with a twist, drawing inspiration from dim sum-style dining whereby customers chose plates from […]
Herman Ze German, the Bavarian-style restaurant group best known for its tender currywurst and crispy schnitzel, is to open in Birmingham. The London-based mini-chain, which has three sites in the capital, is expanding outside the M25 for the first time, launching a venture at Birmingham’s Grand Central station on April 1. Having launched as a […]
