Pillar Hall, the vast new three-part restaurant and entertainment complex from Des Gunewardena’s D3 Collective, opens next week as the six-year, £1.4 billion revamp of West London’s Olympia nears completion. The centrepiece is Idalia, a 300-seater all-day modern British restaurant inspired by country house style, led by executive chef Samantha Williams and pastry chef Lorena […]
A new family-run venue is opening in Padstow – but this time it is not from the Rick Stein clan of Seafood Restaurant fame, but from locally-born chef Thomas Hine, who launches his first cafe and restaurant today, PL28 Cafe. PL28, on Broad Street, will operate as a daytime cafe serving breakfast and lunch before switching […]
To Simpson’s on the Strand – newly resurrected and with owner Jeremy King in attendance – for the launch of the self-published memoir of Neville Abraham: erstwhile owner of many famous restaurant names from the 1980s and ’90s such as Café des Amis du Vin, Chez Gerard, Cafe Fish and Bertorelli’s. For anyone who is […]
The Victorian-era Chester Grosvenor, one of northern England’s grandest hotels, is to close indefinitely this autumn following the discovery of defective concrete in the building. The closure, from September 30, will see the loss of its two restaurants: the very traditional and highly rated Arkle, run for by many years by chef Simon Radley and […]
Former Kiln head chef Meedu Saad this week opened his first solo restaurant – Impala in Dean Street, Soho, an eagerly anticipated grill inspired by cooking from North London to North Africa. Born and brought up in Tottenham to an Egyptian father, Meedu spent his early summers near Ismailia on the Red Sea coast. The […]
Rufus Thurston launched Oli’s Thai with his wife Ladd in 2013, and followed up with tapas bar Arbequina, which he opened with Ben Whyles and Ben Bateman three years later. Harden’s caught up with him as he prepared to unveil a second branch of Arbequina in Oxford Covered Market later this spring. HARDEN’S: Oli’s Thai […]
The Sustainable Restaurant Association’s new report, “Hospitality Rising: Global Challenges, Local Solutions”, highlights examples of best practice and creative initiatives from businesses across the globe. Launched this week, the report discusses the latest trends shaping the sector and celebrates a wide variety of sustainability initiatives from hospitality operations of all shapes and sizes around the world. With restaurants, hotels, bars, universities, caterers, cafés, train networks, […]
Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 22nd March 2026 Financial Times Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High, City of London Jay Rayner ascended to the 60th floor of 22 Bishopsgate to sample the new offshoot of Gordon Ramsay’s flagship, whose £250 menu – just £10 less than the Prestige […]
Orrery, the classical French restaurant in Marylebone High Street launched almost 30 years ago by the late Sir Terence Conran, reopens next week after a three-month makeover as a flagship for the Evolv Collection. Under new chef Pierre Minotti, formerly of Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal, the restaurant will see “Escoffier’s principles and British […]
Highly rated restaurants Silver Birch in Chiswick and Somssi in Mayfair were shuttered permanently this week, while Honey & Smoke grill house in Great Portland Street and Milk Beach in Queen’s Park have closed for conversion into wine bars, as hospitality owners grapple with market place challenges. The Silver Birch ran for five years and […]
