An ambitious new West African restaurant has opened with little fanfare in Baker Street. Shakara, close to Marylebone’s Chiltern Firehouse, offers cooking inspired by Nigeria, Ghana and The Gambia accompanied by live music. Chef Ayo Adeyemi has helped curate the opening menu following a two-year stint at highly rated restaurant Akoko, while former MasterChef: The […]
Giorgio Locatelli has closed his Marylebone flagship after 23 years, indicating that the decision was forced on him and that he has no plans to quit the London restaurant scene. The tousle-haired Italian chef and his wife Plaxy opened Locanda Locatelli 23 years ago in the Hyatt Regency – Churchill hotel, off Portman Square. The […]
A new long-term guest residency opens at Highbury’s Compton Arms next week. Rake, from chef duo Jay Claus and Syrus Pickhaver, promises “unfeigned, restorative British” fare with a focus on whole-beast butchery and sustainable fish from Cornwall. The pair have a combined 20 years’ experience in highly rated establishments including Quo Vadis, Brat and Acme […]
A new restaurant channeling a retro take on the French Riviera will land at The Berkeley hotel in Knightsbridge this month. La Môme, a spinoff from an original in Cannes (pictured), has taken over the premises occupied for 15 years by chef Marcus Wareing’s high-profile flagship. Twin restaurateurs Ugo and Antoine Lecorche launched the original […]
A “no-nonsense music pub” serving “old-school pub food” opens in a historic Camden setting next week from the people behind Le Bab and Kebab Queen. The Dark Horse has taken over the Grade II-listed former horse hospital and stables in Camden Market from The Farrier, which closed just two months ago. “The Dark Horse is […]
A dining pub promising “traditional but gastro” cuisine opens next week in Oxfordshire within walking distance of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons – with a former Manoir chef running the kitchen. The Bat & Ball in Cuddeston is a 16th-century coaching inn that was closed down in 2023 by its previous owners, Admiral Taverns – sparking a campaign […]
Russian restaurant Zima has opened a new branch in Notting Hill, a decade after the Soho original launched next-door to Ronnie Scott’s jazz club. The Christmas opening came just two months after the sudden death of founder Alexei Zimin at the age of 52, while visiting Belgrade in Serbia. A writer-turned-chef and television personality, Zimin […]
Highly rated Edinburgh seafood fixture Ondine is to close temporarily at the end of the year, before reopening at an as-yet undisclosed location in the city centre – with a second branch launching in St Andrews on March 1st. The move has been forced on its founder, chef Roy Brett, by protracted work on the building […]
The landmark Regency Café in Westminster has been put up for sale at £170,000 – but the landlord, Westminster Council, says its future is safe. Hailed as a “post-War gem” in the new 2025 Harden’s guide, the greasy-spoon has barely changed since it was opened in 1946 – and is “still as great as it ever […]
Marylebone Peruvian restaurant Pachamama is to close after 10 years, and will be replaced by a new Italian venture as its owner repositions the group. Fans of Pachamama’s “incredible sticky aubergine”, recommended in the new 2025 Harden’s guide, will still be able to find it at the Shoreditch branch in Great Eastern Street. The move […]
