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Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 26th October 2025 The Guardian Fête, Chelmsford Grace Dent thoroughly enjoyed a “welcome slice of unpretentious hospitality happiness” in deepest Essex, where chef Tobias Godfrey and his co-owner and partner, Laura Day, have “taken the Chelmsford dining scene by storm” with […]
Ivan Tisdall-Downes, the chef behind several versions of itinerant sustainable restaurant Native, has opened a new venue in London Fields – this time under a different name. Field Notes, close to Mare Street Market, occupies similar culinary territory to Native, with Ivan saying it is “about exploring sustainability as a global conversation. But at its heart, […]
One of East London’s ‘lost’ eel, pie and mash shops has been revived as a pub called The Black Eel by Andy and Steph Solley of Walthamstow’s Exale Brewing. The new pub opens this Friday (24 October), with 150 free pints of beer waiting for the first arrivals through the door from midday. The spacious […]
Birmingham high-rise restaurant Orelle is changing its name to 24 Stories as the Evolv Collection – originally Conran Restaurants and more recently D&D London – modifies its structure with the introduction of a series of mini-brands. 24 Stories – on the 24th floor of Birmingham’s tallest office building, 103 Colmore Row – combines with 20 Stories […]
Former prisoner Nathaniel Mortley has opened his first permanent restaurant – 2010 by Natty Can Cook, in Herne Hill, south London, which offers a refined take on Pan-Caribbean cuisine. Nathaniel served a two-and-a-half-year sentence in Brixton prison, less than a mile away, where he worked in prisoner-operated restaurant The Clink – for which he remains an ambassador. […]
Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 19th October 2025 The Guardian 670 Grams, Birmingham Grace Dent thrilled to a “dark, daunting, uncompromising” but “never boring” venue in Digbeth’s Custard Factory development, from former Purnell’s and The Man Behind the Curtain chef Kray Treadwell – a place of […]
A new seafood-and-cocktail bar has opened in Manchester city centre tomorrow promising an ‘oyster happy hour’ every weekday from 4-5pm, when the bivalves are half price. Bar Shrimp is from the trio behind sustainable modern bistro Higher Ground, which is next door. The bar will focus on British and Irish oysters and shellfish from David […]
A Vietnamese restaurant has opened in Covent Garden inspired by the late Nguyễn Thị Thanh (pictured) – the Ho Chi Minh City ‘Lunch Lady’ brought to culinary fame by the New York chef-turned-writer Anthony Bourdain. Cô Thành, on the Henrietta Street site formerly occupied by Frenchie, has been launched by Hong Kong chef Brian Woo, […]
A daytime café/deli that morphs by night into a wine bar/bistro opens today a few doors along from The Knave of Clubs and One Club Row in Shoreditch High Street. Clara’s is from the team behind The Farrier pub in Camden Market, which a closed a year ago. Head chef Elie Fourcroy, formerly of Artusi, […]
A venue billed as the first new pub on the King’s Road in Chelsea for 100 years and named after a famous British naval victory 220 years ago has opened this week. The Trafalgar has taken over the ground floor and basement of a Grade II-listed Edwardian bank building, owned by the Cadogan Estate and […]
