Our mission is remarkably simple. To tell it how it is!
James Lowe and John Ogier’s distinguished Borough restaurant Flor has now reopened. Menus, as ever, will be ever-changing, while wine – often exceptional, sometimes odd – bread and pastries will also return to centre stage. Chef Pamela Yung was turning out progressive pizzas in lockdown under the ASAP Pizza brand, with a relaxed and casual […]
For now, the restaurant and pub curfew stands. The hospitality industry must shut down at 10pm each night as the Government looks to tackle a rise in coronavirus cases, despite there being little evidence to suggest the industry is much to blame. There is now a #cancelthecurfew campaign and many across the industry have lambasted […]
London’s Coal Shed restaurant has brought in former Hawksmoor executive chef Lewis Hannaford as it finally reopens post-lockdown. Hannaford, who has more than 25 years’ experience in the industry, has been described as a “perfect fit” for the British grill restaurant at One Tower Bridge, London. The chef has created a new menu at Coal […]
Vacherin London head chef Nick Smith has been named the Craft Guild of Chefs National Chef of the Year 2021 after after winning over the judges at a fiercely contested competition at Le Cordon Bleu, London. Smith “wowed” the esteemed panel of judges, which was chaired by Paul Ainsworth, and featured chefs including Clare Smyth […]
Our weekly round-up of what the national and local restaurant critics are writing about, for the week ending 27 September 2020. The new 10pm curfew for restaurants and bars, on top of the ‘rule of six’ guidance, could be a “hammer blow” to the industry, as The Evening Standard claims in its interview with top […]
The hospitality industry has been handed a 10pm curfew in the Government’s latest bid to try to combat a rise in coronavirus cases. Instead of implementing a working and widespread track a trace app early on, instead of providing adequate PPE to NHS staff, and instead of more rigorously enforcing hand sanitising and mask-wearing rules […]
Fitzdares, “the world’s finest bookmaker” (so they say), has opened a permanent private members’ club in the heart of Mayfair. Following a number of successful pop-ups, the bookmaker has decided to go one step further in providing members somewhere to watch live sport in both comfort and luxury. Fitzdares has been taking large sporting wagers […]
A new restaurant from chef Kimberley Hernandez will launch in Chiswick in October. Hernandaz brings a wealth of experience to the role, having worked as head chef at XU and Andrew Wong’s Kym’s, and this will be her first solo venture. An announcement said: “Kimberley will serve a contemporary, seasonal menu from breakfast through to […]
Employees kept in work on reduced hours will have their wages topped-up by the Government in a bid to fend off mass redundancies over the dark winter months, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced. Sunak yesterday revealed that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be succeeded by a new Job Support Scheme (JSS) from November. […]
The MasterChef finalist Andrew Kojima has closed his Cheltenham restaurant Koj, explaining that the announcement of new Covid-19 curfew restrictions were the “final nail in the coffin”. Writing in an impassioned post on his website, the chef said incurring the additional costs of operating a business during the coronavirus crisis was too heavy a burden, […]
