The team behind Shoreditch restaurant Nest will relaunch it next week as a ‘British bistro’ called Tavern, while Mayfair restaurateur Samyukta Nair has revived her Thai restaurant Koyn under the name Miko Mei Fair – as hospitality owners shuffle their packs in response to customer demand. Nest established the reputation of chef Johnnie Crowe with his […]
Former Cycene chef Theo Clench is to relaunch the chic Mayfair open-fire restaurant Humo next week as Igni, a little over a year after the departure of launch chef Miller Prada. As suggested by the new name (from the Latin ‘ignis’, meaning fire), the restaurant will continue its culinary approach, although Theo has warned guests […]
Richard Caring has pulled off one of the biggest deals in restaurant history, with the much delayed sale of his hospitality group bagging him a billion-pound profit after two decades of ownership. Following protracted negotiations since late 2023, it was revealed last weekend that he had sold his majority share in the group for a […]
The Aegean too hot in August these days? Never mind: a trio of smart new tavernas in central London will make it easier than ever for stay-at-homes to enjoy a taste of Greece this summer. First to launch this week was Maza in Bruton Place, off Berkeley Square, from Christina Mouratoglou and Adrien Carre, the […]
From an impoverished childhood in Sri Lanka, chef Larry Jayasekara has completed an extraordinary journey to running The Cocochine in Mayfair, where guests feast on immaculately prepared European cuisine accented with South Asian flavourings. HARDEN’S caught up with him at the restaurant as its second anniversary approaches this month. Larry grew up in a small […]
DakaDaka, an ambitious Georgian restaurant from a newly formed hospitality outfit, opens tomorrow in Mayfair’s Heddon Street foodie enclave, tucked away off Regent Street. Taking over the site formerly occupied by hit restaurants Manteca and Fallow, DakaDaka is the debut London project from Berkeley Square Hospitality, headed by Georgians Giorgi Mindiashvili and chef patron Mitz […]
Ambitious French seafood restaurant Mazarine opened this week in Hanover Square, Mayfair, under former Le Gavroche head chef Thierry Laborde. Mazarine is from restaurateurs Khaled Dandachi and Fred Srouchi, the duo behind nearby Italian Sparrow Italia, who say the new venture is “conceived and curated with the discerning guest in mind”. Khaled added: “Mazarine in […]
Restaurateur Martin Kuczmarski is launching two new retro-inspired Italian venues in quick succession – Martino’s in Sloane Square, Chelsea and Dover Street Counter, a few doors down from his flagship off Piccadilly. In both cases Martin has followed the low-profile but high-impact process that proved such a success last year with Dover Street, one of the […]
After more than 30 years as leader of the gastronomic pack in the West Country, Michael Caines has made his London debut as a chef-restaurateur this week at the Stafford hotel in St James’s. The new venture brings a flavour of his native region, with the menu name-checking fish and seafood from Brixham in Devon […]
Two new London restaurants which open on the same day next week have been named in honour of the late Queen Elizabeth – Lilibet’s in Mayfair (pictured) and The Elizabeth in Belgravia – in the same month that the £20,000 a night Elizabeth House penthouse suite was unveiled at the new Chancery Rosewood hotel in Grosvenor Square. […]
