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 […]
A 1930s Lloyds bank in Notting Hill Gate has been converted into an all-day Lebanese brasserie with a dramatic triple-height dining room. Opening on 1st June, it is called Kinz – appropriately, ‘treasure’ in Arabic. The team behind the project includes Rasha Khouri Bruzzo (co-owner of the highly regarded Palestinian restaurant Akub, around the corner […]
Chef Daniel Rogan has relaunched his Southampton restaurant AO with a new open kitchen, refurbished dining room, refreshed menu – and enhanced backing as part of his father Simon Rogan’s Umbel Hospitality group. AO – which takes its name from Daniel’s children’s initials – originally opened in Hampshire in 2022, transferring into Southampton last year. The chef trained […]
