Nottingham chef-entrepreneur Nichola Thompson is opening her second private dining venue, Chapter 2 – a follow-up to Table 47, which regularly has a four-month waiting time for bookings. Neither is a traditional restaurant for walk-in customers: instead, they offer pre-booked dining for parties of various sizes, with bespoke or tasting menus and open-kitchen cooking as […]
The team behind Shoreditch restaurant Nest will relaunch it next week as a ‘British bistro’ called Tavern, while Mayfair restaurateur Samyukta Nair has revived her Thai restaurant Koyn under the name Miko Mei Fair – as hospitality owners shuffle their packs in response to customer demand. Nest established the reputation of chef Johnnie Crowe with his […]
The duo behind British-Afghan barbecue Cue Point this week opened their first permanent site – in North Kensington, close to the project’s origins as a pop-in west London 10 years ago. Founders Joshua Moroney and Mursal Saiq have teamed up with the Garden Bar pub near Latimer Road tube station to create The Garden Bar Grill and […]
Gareth Ward’s restaurant Gwen is staying open after all – with Peter Sanchez-Iglesias of former Bristol superstar Casamia taking over as head chef at the end of May. The surprise announcement followed just a couple of weeks after the revelation that Gwen, in Machynlleth, was to close with the departure of chef Corrin Harrison and his […]
Former Cycene chef Theo Clench is to relaunch the chic Mayfair open-fire restaurant Humo next week as Igni, a little over a year after the departure of launch chef Miller Prada. As suggested by the new name (from the Latin ‘ignis’, meaning fire), the restaurant will continue its culinary approach, although Theo has warned guests […]
Chef and foodwriter Ravinder Bhogal is to open a second branch of her restaurant Jikoni this weekend at the stunning new V&A East Museum in Stratford, east London. Ravinder opened the original Jikoni in Marylebone 10 years ago, winning high praise in this year’s Harden’s Guide for her “delicious and original Indian-fusion cooking”. She and […]
Richard Caring has pulled off one of the biggest deals in restaurant history, with the much delayed sale of his hospitality group bagging him a billion-pound profit after two decades of ownership. Following protracted negotiations since late 2023, it was revealed last weekend that he had sold his majority share in the group for a […]
Two generations from a family of London restaurant ‘royalty’ have combined forces for the first time, to open a dining pub in North Kensington that launches next week. Jon Spiteri (second from left in picture), a veteran general manager best known as co-founder of St John, and Melanie Arnold (second from right), co-founder of Rochelle […]
Chef Charlie Simmonds is opening his debut venue called Ebb at the end of Worthing’s Victorian pier this month, replacing hit restaurant Tern which moved on to permanent premises on dry land in December. Ebb occupies the upper storey of the pier’s Grade II listed Southern Pavilion – a space with stunning sea views known as […]
If you’ve ever wondered how the Harden’s Guide came about, our co-founder Peter Harden reveals all in an interview with the veteran restaurant consultant, writer and Financial Times contributor Nick Lander. Peter naturally declines naming his favourite restaurant, but he does mention some memorable meals, and offers a fascinating account of his aims in publishing […]
