Humo, a high-end wood-fire restaurant featuring Latin American and Japanese-influenced cuisine, opened this week in the Mayfair site formerly occupied by Anthony Demetre’s Wild Honey (RIP). Humo, meaning smoke in Spanish, is structured around a dramatic four-metre custom-built open grill which uses up to eight different types of wood tailored to specific dishes. No electricity […]
The Byron burger chain, which sold for £100 million 10 years ago, has been bought out of administration for £856,000 under a deal which sees nine of its branches closed down. Launched in 2007 by restaurant consultant Tom Byng from an original Kensington branch, the chain was an early champion in the ‘better burger’ stakes […]
One-man kitchen brigade Simon Bonwick is returning to his calling as a solo chef in rural Berkshire this month, after a short stint running the kitchen of a busy London gastropub. Simon and his wife Deborah are taking over The Dew Drop Inn, a tiny 16th-century pub owned by the Brakspear brewery in Hurley, between […]
Julie’s in Holland Park, one of the longest-surviving relics of Swinging Sixties London, has closed down with the retirement of Tim and Cathy Herring, who have owned and run it for 50 years. It served its last meals on New Year’s Eve. The Herrings took the restaurant over from the founder who gave it her […]
Wine-led restaurant Noble Rot is to open its third venue this spring, in Mayfair’s picturesque Shepherd Market. This follows the successful launch of the second branch, in Soho, two years ago. The new site was previously occupied by French brasserie Le Boudin Blanc, which closed down last year, and was originally a mid-19th-century pub called […]
Indian restaurateur Gobind Chona has opened his debut London venue Gura Gura, a pan-Asian bar and kitchen in the Yards development in Covent Garden. Set over two floors, Gura Gura presents his take on Japanese and Chinese cuisine, with excursions into Korea and Southeast Asia. The menu is built around sushi, dim sum and a […]
Ace Aussie chef Scott Hallsworth is reviving his raved-about Freak Scene pan-Asian restaurant once again – this time off Parson’s Green in Fulham. The new venture follows his Double Dragon pop-up, which ran for several months last year in Clerkenwell and also generated much enthusiasm. Freak Scene itself started out as a pop-up in Farringdon, and […]
Three chef brothers from the foothills of Mount Vesuvius near Naples plan to erupt on the Glasgow dining scene with an ambitious Italian restaurant in the city’s Royal Exchange Building. Called appropriately Banca di Roma, the venue is set to open early this year and will reflect their upbringing on the family tomato farm. The […]
Master-chef Tong Chee Hwee, a pioneer of contemporary Chinese cooking in London as the culinary brains behind the rise of the Hakkasan group, is to launch his own restaurant in the city for the first time. Named Gouqui, it will occupy the former site of Garfunkel’s in Cockspur Street, off Trafalgar Square. Born in China, […]
D&D London is closing four of its restaurants, including Radici in Islington and Klosterhaus in Bristol (pictured), as part of a “strategic review” of its portfolio. The company, which parted ways with co-founder Des Gunewardena in September leaving his former partner David Loewi in charge, has 36 venues, including outposts in Paris and New York. […]
