The Criterion in Piccadilly Circus, one of the West End’s most famous and lavish restaurant sites, is to re-open next month as a branch of the Indian restaurant Masala Zone. Designed by architect Thomas Verity in the Neo Byzantine style, the glittering, Grade II-listed Criterion opened in 1873 and hosted the movers and shakers of […]
Here’s our regular round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 21 May 2023. ***** The Evening Standard “Decadence done right is a welcome addition to King’s Cross revival.” Jimi Famurewa reviewed the “unabashed grandness” of the Midland Grand Dining Room, the “an all-new flagship restaurant within the […]
House of Ming, a new upscale Chinese restaurant with an Indian accent, opens next week (Thursday 25 May) in St James’s – handily close to both Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. Specialising in the cuisines of Canton and Sichuan, the restaurant is part of the St James’s Court hotel, owned by the luxurious Taj […]
Newquay clifftop hotel The Headland has launched a new flagship restaurant to showcase the best Cornish produce and day-caught fish. RenMor – which means ‘Restaurant by the Sea’ in Cornish – represents a £3million upgrade on the venue’s previous incarnation as The Samphire. Head chef Fred Goodrich has linked up with local farmers, fishermen, smallholdings and micro-businesses […]
Three very different teams have come together to launch a summer-long Thai restaurant and arts space in London’s West End with the aim of establishing a template for “green social clubs” in cities across Britain. Outcrop, which opens in the Strand next month, combines the talents of individuals involved in Secret Cinema, high-end restaurants Clove […]
Former Bonhams chef Tom Kemble has relaunched Chalk restaurant on the Wiston Estate winery, north of Worthing in West Sussex. Tom worked at Faviken in Sweden and Hedone in London before making his name as chef at Bonham’s auction house in New Bond Street in 2015. He progressed to The Pass at South Lodge hotel […]
Jeremy King has made a surprise return to the hospitality scene – as part of Jamie Oliver’s relaunched UK business. Considered by many the doyen of London restaurateurs as founder of the Wolseley and other top-drawer establishments, Jeremy was ousted from his Corbin & King group last year after a bitter struggle with Thai-based majority investor […]
Our regular round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 14 May 2023. ***** The Guardian “One of the best restaurants within 100 miles or more.” Grace Dent reviewed the “defiantly unswaggering” Home in Dumfries, which “has been on my to-do list for about three years now, not […]
Filipino chef Ferdinand ‘Budgie’ Montoya opens his latest venture tomorrow (Saturday 13 May) – Apoy, a street-food barbecue stall in the Oxford Street Market Halls. Budgie has raised the profile of Filipino cuisine in London in recent years through his bistro Sarap, which operated in Mayfair’s restaurant incubator Heddon Street last year, and TV appearances on […]
Lina Stores, the veteran Soho deli transformed into a contemporary pasta restaurant group, is to open its long-promised branch on the edge of Clapham Common next month. The new venue with Lina’s distinctive green and white-striped awning has taken over a prime corner site on The Pavement formerly occupied by St Clair, an ambitious ‘fish […]