Carys Williams, aged 16, beat a field of 14,000 to win the Springboard FutureChef 2025 title, and is now mentored by leading Welsh chef James Sommerin (middle left) at his brilliant restaurant Home in Penarth. She is one of thousands guided into a career by Springboard UK, the charity whose mission is to help young […]
Born in New York and raised in Spain and France, Victor Garvey has been a chef since his mother sent him for work experience to a then little-known restaurant called El Bulli. This month, he is moving his Californian restaurant Sola from Soho, where it opened in 2019, to Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill – […]
Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 31st May 2026 The Guardian Skof, Manchester Grace Dent had to wait almost two years after its opening to bag a table at this “intensely relaxed yet still ferociously fancy” restaurant from former L’Enclume head chef Tom Barnes. Luckily it […]
Prolific chef Jackson Boxer launched his latest restaurant this week – Vesper in Exmouth Market, which he bills as his “tribute to London”. The venture takes its name – and possibly its colour palette – from Venus, the evening star. It occupies the former site of Taqueria, whose Notting Hill sister restaurant Jackson helped relaunch as Taq in […]
Simpsons, the doyen of Birmingham restaurants, is to close after 32 years following the failure of founder Andreas Antona to find a buyer. Set in a listed Georgian villa in leafy Edgbaston, Simpsons has long set the standard for dining in the Midlands, its kitchen launching the careers of numerous successful chefs. Andreas put the […]
Appalachia, a restaurant inspired by cooking from the mountains of eastern USA, launches in Shoreditch next week – with former Smoking Goat head chef Ali Borer running the open kitchen. Set in a converted traditional pub near Old Street with a smart marble chef’s counter, Appalachia has replaced Counter 71, where chef Joe Laker served […]
New York celeb chef Jody Williams is opening a branch of her French-inspired Buvette in Covent Garden next week. She has taken over and extended the former St John Bakery in Neal’s Yard to create an 80-seat space that will be open from 8am every morning until 9pm (Sun-Wed) or 10pm (Thurs-Sat) – so not quite […]
Portfolio, the pioneering Champagne venue bringing top-class bubbles to Manchester, opens an ambitious restaurant next week as it completes a staged launch that began before Christmas. Billed as the UK’s first ‘Champagne boutique’, the city-centre venture is the brainchild of a quartet who want to change perceptions of the world’s most famous fizz: Cameron Foster […]
Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 24th May 2026 The Guardian Fenix, Piccadilly Grace Dent had a whale of a time, quite possibly against her better judgement, at a venue she says “will infuriate many”: the new “maximalist” Greek restaurant in the middle of London’s […]
Michelin has abolished its Green Star environmental award in an embarrassing reversal, to the dismay of almost 40 recipients in the UK. Confirmation of the decision emerged this week despite an earlier denial from the tyre men – and without any communication with the restaurants concerned. They will apparently have to cease displaying the credential by […]
