The government’s failure to cut VAT and business rates in today’s mini-budget will mean hundreds of restaurants and pubs will close this winter, according to hospitality industry leaders. They say Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s (pictured, second left) strategy to boost growth will come too late to save small-scale businesses, even if it proves successful. Kate Nicholls, […]
The death was announced this week of Andrew Edmunds, whose self-named Lexington Street restaurant has been a favourite Soho destination for 37 years for people in the arts and the wine trade – and, famously, for those with romance in mind. Andrew pursued twin careers – each with singular success – as a restaurateur and also as […]
Duck + Champagne, a new restaurant concept serving a menu of duck dishes from around the world accompanied by a list of champagnes from small independent growers, opened this week in the Chelsea Funhouse, formerly the landmark World’s End pub on the King’s Road. The menu runs from duck charcuterie and duck bao buns to […]
Fresh from his success at Arcade Food Hall, green-fingered chef Luke Farrell opens his latest Thai-inspired restaurant, Speedboat Bar, in Chinatown this month. Named after the boats which race along the klongs or canals of Bangkok, the venue aims to capture the food and atmosphere of the late-night dens of the Thai capital’s Chinatown. Luke […]
A high-end Japanese omakase restaurant with a Middle Eastern twist is scheduled to open in Marylebone by the end of September. Mayha, in Chiltern Street, is the first UK opening from Beirut’s Nothing But Love group, although chefs Jurek Wasio and Yuichi Nahayo have both previously worked in London’s Yashin Sushi and Ocean House. The […]
Harrods will bring together an all-star group of chefs – six chefs with 12 Michelin sparklers between them – for a one-off high-rollers’ charity banquet next week (Thursday 25 September) costing £2,500 a head. Limited to just 25 diners, the meal will raise funds for Refettorio Felix at St Cuthbert’s in Earl’s Court, part of Italian […]
As the country mourns Queen Elizabeth II this week, a select group of restaurants she visited are no doubt reviewing their own royal memories. For security reasons as well as to preserve the mystique of royalty, Her Majesty was a very infrequent diner in restaurants – and when she did so, it was usually in a […]
The Castle Hotel in Taunton (above) has joined chef Tom Kerridge in offering bargain-price lunches for the month of September to lift the country’s mood during the current cost of living crisis. The fixed-price menu of two courses for £15 or three for £20 will be served in the hotel’s restaurant Brazz from Tuesday to […]
London’s thriving Nigerian restaurant scene received a double boost this week with the news that hit Brixton restaurant Chishuru is looking for bigger premises while an ambitious new dining and entertainment venue will open near Smithfield Market in Farringdon. The Patio is taking over the former site of Bird of Smithfield, a five-storey building that […]
Spectacular hand-pulled noodles can be watched as well as eaten at a new restaurant in Chinatown, called Kung Fu Noodle because the cooks look like they are practising chopping movements from the martial art made famous in the 1970s through Bruce Lee’s films and Carl Douglas’s hit single. The noodles, from Gansu province in northwestern […]
