Paris-based Big Mamma Group are opening two enormous new Instagram-friendly Italianate extravaganzas this month – Circolo Popolare (pictured) in Manchester, their first UK venue outside London, and Barbarella in Canary Wharf. Circolo Popolare Manchester, which launched last week, is themed around an al-fresco festa in Sicily and set across two floors of ex-footballer Gary Neville’s £400million […]
Superstar West Country chef Michael Caines will finally make his London debut this year following the announcement of his appointment as ‘culinary strategist’ at the Stafford hotel in St James’s. Under the new arrangement, his Lympstone Manor in Devon becomes an ‘associate member’ of the Stafford Collection. Michael has been a dominant figure on the […]
Veteran Leeds Japanese restaurant Fuji Hiro has been given a new lease of life, and will reopen next week following its closure earlier this year after almost three decades. James Douglas, co-founder of the Red’s True Barbecue chain, stepped in to acquire the lease and renovate the Merrion Centre venue. He said: “Fuji Hiro has […]
The couple behind Cambridge’s high-flying Restaurant Twenty-Two are to open a more relaxed modern British bistro called Margaret’s nearby next week. Co-founders Alex Olivier and Sam Carter say the new venue will offer “uncomplicated dining with a casual yet considered menu that will move with the seasons”, using high-quality from the same local suppliers as […]
A new African restaurant opens in Sevenoaks, Kent today with a focus on the cuisine of Sierra Leone, from chef and food writer Maria Bradford. Shwen Shwen – which means ‘fancy’ in the Krio language of Sierra Leone – will showcase traditional Sierra Leonean dishes as well as fusion cooking from across West Africa. Maria learned to […]
A former Fortnum & Mason chef opens his debut restaurant in west London next week – Walter’s Bistro near Hammersmith Bridge, a tiny 12-seater where he will serve his personal take on British and Italian food. Born and brought up in Rome, Walter Cannavacciuolo has worked in London for 10 years, including a stint as a […]
A new casual sushi and sake bar called Noren opens in Mayfair this week, introducing the mini hand-roll ‘makezu’ sushi (pictured) to London, alongside a range of sakes, shochus, wines and beers. From the group behind Chisou, Noren has taken over the premises on South Molton Street vacated earlier this year by another Japanese venture, […]
Internet chef Thomas Straker has opened a deli and casual restaurant called Acre, a few doors from his flagship Straker’s on Golborne Road in Notting Hill. Straker’s is temporarily closed following a fire in its ventilation system, but is popping up for three weeks at nearby Brasseria on Westbourne Grove. Thomas is pitching Acre as […]
Belfast-based chef Lottie Noren has opened her first restaurant as founder, a European small-plates specialist called Beau in the city’s Cathedral Quarter, following her success as head chef at Edo. Lottie represented Northern Ireland in TV’s Great British Menu last year. Originally from the Lake District, she was inspired to become a chef by a […]
Paco Tapas in Bristol and the Angel in Dartmouth are among the prominent restaurants to announce their closure this week, with Tom Kerridge’s Butcher’s Tap & Grill in Chelsea and the two Chick’n’Sours sites in London also shutting up shop. The loss of Paco Tapas means Peter Sanchez-Iglesias (pictured) and his family no longer have […]
