East Anglia chef Mark Poynton has relaunched his restaurant-with-rooms at Fen Ditton on the edge of Cambridge under new backers and a new name as Ancient Shepherds with Mark Poynton. He operated the venue – a former village pub dating from 1580 – as MJP @ The Shepherds for five years until May this year, when […]
Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 29th June 2025 London Standard Belly, Kentish Town David Ellis ate at a new Filipino bistro from Omar Shah, a multi-site operator who he said is to Kentish Town what Chris D’Sylva is to Notting Hill, Samyukta Nair to Mayfair […]
A new restaurant called Canal opens next week from the team behind Crispin, Bar Crispin and Bistro Freddie, overlooking the Grand Union Canal in Westbourne Park. In the former HQ of the London Taxi Drivers’ Association, now the Mason & Frith hotel, the all-day restaurant promises to “celebrate the best of British and European produce […]
Top chefs Tom Brown and Brad Carter have teamed up to launch a surf-and-turf restaurant – or as they otherwise put it “a traditional steakhouse with a coastal twist” – in King’s Cross. Island opens next week at Mare Street Market in Lewis Cubitt Square. Tom, who made his name with east London seafood specialists Cornerstone […]
Chef Scott Hallsworth is to install his Freak Scene concept at 100 Wardour Street in Soho for a four-month residency, bringing a funky pan-Asian edge to the Evolv Collection, formerly known as D&D London. Evolv’s new chief executive, Martin Williams, is looking to modernise the group and appeal to a broader, younger customer base. Scott, […]
Ryan Jacovides is expanding his Pomus group in Kent with the launch of a new restaurant in Folkestone next month, just weeks after opening a mini-spinoff kiosk called Pom on Margate Harbour Arm. He opened the original Pomus in Margate a year ago. The new restaurant, wine bar and bottle shop has taken over the […]
Ranjit Mathrani chairs MW Eat, the highly influential London group whose first restaurant, Chutney Mary, opened 35 years ago this month. A former senior civil servant and merchant banker, he runs the company alongside his wife Namita Panjabi (right in photo), the first Indian woman to become a merchant banker, and her sister Camellia Panjabi […]
If you want to keep staff for the long haul, it’s important to ensure their work leaves them feeling inspired, engaged and rewarded. Luckily, says the Sustainable Restaurant Association, getting your team involved in sustainability initiatives is a great way to increase job satisfaction and motivation. While staffing issues have been more challenging since the […]
Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 22nd June 2025 London Standard Lai Rai, Peckham David Ellis enjoyed himself at a new venture from a quintet of Vietnamese siblings – a daytime café that morphs by night into a canteen full of cool kids on dates. With […]
Steve Drake has stepped back from the kitchen at his highly regarded Surrey restaurant Sorrel, with Alex Payne taking over as chef-patron this week. Sorrell has been a regular top-20 presence on the Harden’s 100 list of the UK’s best restaurants in recent years, while Alex came to prominence running The Tudor Pass restaurant at […]
