The founders of high-achieving Scandi-style restaurant Hjem in Northumberland are quitting the hospitality industry and have scuppered long-term plans to open a follow-up venue called Freyja. Swedish chef Alex Nietosvuori and his Northumberland-born wife Ally Thompson-Nietosvuori will bow out with a farewell barbecue on 16 August at the Farmhouse in the South Causey Inn, County […]
Chef Paul Ainsworth and his wife Emma are this month relaunching the St Enodoc Hotel at Rock, across the Camel estuary from their flagship restaurant No 6 in Padstow, as their Cornish mini-empire grows to Rick Stein-like proportions. The couple took over the 21-bedroom hotel – best known for hosting Nathan Outlaw’s superlative seafood restaurant in […]
Johnny Boy’s, an all-day neighbourhood restaurant serving comfort food inspired by the multicultural communities of Southern Californian, opens today in Stoke Newington. Founder Julian Dennis, known in east London for his Chinese restaurant Facing Heaven and dive bar Easy 8 in London Fields, was born in Los Angeles to a Portuguese mother and Puerto Rican […]
A modern French brasserie launches next week on Sloane Square in Chelsea after finding its feet with an extended soft opening. Brasserie Olivia has taken over the corner premises formerly occupied by the David Mellor cutlery shop, lavishly converted with retro-modern interiors incorporating a seafood bar, lobster tank and semi-open kitchen. Downstairs in the basement […]
Upscale Belgravia trattoria Zafferano has closed down after more than 30 years, with a ‘notice of forfeiture’ posted in its window. Zafferano was one of the capital’s hottest spots in its late-90s heyday under launch chef Giorgio Locatelli, setting a new standard for modern Italian cuisine. Despite losing some of its cachet after his departure […]
Your round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 28th June 2026 Financial Times Teal by Sally Abé, Hackney Jay Rayner was mightily impressed by the “earthy” English food filtered through the sensibility of classical French cuisine at this new spot from chef Sally Abé (ex-Savoy, Claridge’s and […]
A Mediterranean-inspired restaurant enticing long-lunchers launched this week close to Marble Arch in Marylebone – Mour, an offshoot from the Leonard Hotel next door. Set inside a smartly remodelled Georgian townhouse with its own entrance on Seymour Street, the 60-seater restaurant includes a sun-lit courtyard open all year round thanks to its retractable roof – providing a […]
Farmer-chef Will Devlin of The Small Holding in Kent this week opened his first London outpost, Birchwood at the Conduit members’ club in Covent Garden. The venture is starting out as an all-day cafe and wine bar with a roof-top restaurant follow in the autumn – all of them open to the general public. The […]
Dean and Anna Parker have reopened their highly rated Italian restaurant Celentano’s in Glasgow’s Arthouse Hotel, six months after losing their previous premises in the city’s Cathedral Square. Celentano’s has won consistent praise in the Harden’s guide in recent years for “getting it just right” with an Italian menu that puts an original twist of […]
Adam Byatt of Trinity in Clapham is to open an Italian neighbourhood restaurant overlooking Wandsworth Common, called Rosina after his daughter Rosie. Rosina has taken over the corner site formerly occupied by Brinkley’s Kitchen – just a few doors along Bellevue Parade from Chez Bruce, which has for many years jousted with Trinity for the title […]
