Park Row, the ambitious Batman comic-themed ‘experiential dining’ complex off Piccadilly Circus, and TV chef Monica Galetti’s Mere have this week both announced their closure. Monica and her husband David Galetti will serve their last meal next Tuesday, April 17, after seven years in Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia. Park Row has shuttered after a two-and-a-half-year run, […]
José Pizarro is to open his third restaurant in Bermondsey Street this summer. Called Lolo, his sixth London venue will be an all-day operation and his first to serve breakfast. The launch comes as the influential chef – who was recently awarded a Spanish knighthood – celebrates 25 years in London. With its close proximity to his […]
Far from fading into retirement following the closure earlier this year of Le Gavroche, Michel Roux has two new ventures lined up for the months ahead: a new spot at the Langham hotel, his long-time perch in Portland Place, opening in May, and what is billed as a unique live entertainment restaurant at a historic […]
A glossy Chinese restaurant which justifies dressing up for dinner opens in Glasgow city centre next week. Paul Sloan of the Hunky Dory Group hopes Zhima will “bring to Glasgow what Hakkasan does to London and Tattu does to Edinburgh – an elegant, adventurous dining destination“. The million-pound pound project has been in development for four […]
Vagabond wine bars have been bought out of administration by Majestic, marking the largest UK wine retailer’s entry into the hospitality market. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, secures the future of nine Vagabond venues – eight in London and one in Birmingham – employing 171 staff. The company’s two outlets at Gatwick airport and its […]
Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 7th April 2024 The Evening Standard The Shoap, Angel Jimi Famurewa thoroughly enjoyed himself at this “hybrid cafe, food shop and bar that bills itself as ‘London’s first Scottish deli’”, from Glaswegian former economist Gregg Boyd – a “brilliant … invigorating, […]
Dim sum group Ping Pong has come under fire for introducing a 15% “brand fee” to replace tips – a move seen as circumventing a new law coming into force this summer that forces restaurants to give service charges to staff. Ping Pong, which operates five outlets across London, most notably beside the Festival Hall […]
A trio of friends with impressive track records have opened a new wine bar and restaurant called Wilson’s in Ladywell High Street, southeast London. Wilson’s is next door to crowd-funded sustainable food store Plenty and opposite coffee shop Oscar’s, which are both owned by husband and wife Alina and Joel Falconer. Joel is a former […]
Peripatetic zero-waste and foraging specialist Native, most recently based in Mayfair, is to take up permanent residence on the site of the former Pensons restaurant on the Netherwood Estate where Worcestershire meets Herefordshire. Ivan Tisdall-Downes and Imogen Davis developed the Native concept via markets and pop-ups, and progressed through sites in Neal’s Yard and Borough […]
The new vegan restaurant from Great British Menu 2024 winner Kirk Haworth, Plates in Shoreditch, has already proved a smash hit – months ahead of its July launch. When advance bookings opened this week, its computer crashed under the weight of 70,000 applicants. Kirk trained initially with his father, Nigel Haworth, former chef-patron of Northcote in […]
