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 […]
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 […]
Veteran celeb chef Aldo Zilli makes his return to the London restaurant scene next week with the launch on Tuesday (10 December) of Undercroft in Mayfair, a dramatic new dining venue set in the crypt of historic St George’s church off Hanover Square. The venue was heavily trailed earlier this year as the site where […]
Babbo, the former Mayfair Italian restaurant with footballing connections, completes its transfer to St John’s Wood next week, while its fellow glossy Italian Bocconcino opens a seafood spinoff in the Strand called Osteria del Mare (pictured). Launching on Monday, Osteria del Mare takes inspiration from the Tuscan coastal resort of Forte dei Marmi, with ex-Barrafina […]
Sardinian chef Achille Pinna is to open a new self-named restaurant by the entrance to Shepherd Market in Mayfair next week. Pinna is backed by prolific restaurateurs George Bukhov-Weinstein and Ilya Demichev, the duo behind Burger & Lobster and Goodman, who earlier this month launched Fantomas in Chelsea. Achille is a former executive chef at […]
Hip Shoreditch wine bar/restaurant Leroy has closed while the nearby Clove Club – heavyweight kingpin of the East London dining scene for the past decade – has separated from its Italian sister restaurant Luca as the founding team announces a splitting of assets. Leroy lost its Michelin star in March, but earned its customary high ratings in […]
Enoteca Turi, the long-running Italian restaurant with a famous wine list, has closed down quietly a year after the retirement of founders Giuseppe and Pamela Turi. The Turis launched the restaurant in Putney in 1990, transferring it successfully to Pimlico in 2015. Their personal touch – and Giuseppe’s encyclopaedic knowing of Italian wines – combined to […]
Prolific Mayfair-based restaurateur Samyukta Nair is to open her first Italian restaurant next week – Nipotina, an all-day family-oriented neighbourhood venue in South Audley Street. Turin-born chef Somaia Hammad (right in photograph) will lead the kitchen, while Luca Dusi (left), of Passione Vino in Shoreditch, has assembled a wine list featuring small and artisanal producers from […]
Peckham’s Artusi Italian restaurant is making a leap to the West End with the opening this evening of a spinoff in Theatreland. Artusi Soho has taken over the site vacated by Cafe Kitty in the Underbelly Boulevard theatre – where it will offer pre-theatre menus between 5 and 7pm at £25 for 2 courses and £30 […]
Casa restaurant in Bristol, successor to the famous Casamia from Peter Sanchez-Iglesias, has closed ‘until further notice’– without any explanation. A notice posted on the restaurant’s website this week reads: “At this moment, we are closed for future bookings. If you’re looking to book a restaurant, please check out our sister restaurant, Paco Tapas. “All vouchers […]
