An ambitious new West African restaurant has opened with little fanfare in Baker Street. Shakara, close to Marylebone’s Chiltern Firehouse, offers cooking inspired by Nigeria, Ghana and The Gambia accompanied by live music. Chef Ayo Adeyemi has helped curate the opening menu following a two-year stint at highly rated restaurant Akoko, while former MasterChef: The […]
A new restaurant channeling a retro take on the French Riviera will land at The Berkeley hotel in Knightsbridge this month. La Môme, a spinoff from an original in Cannes (pictured), has taken over the premises occupied for 15 years by chef Marcus Wareing’s high-profile flagship. Twin restaurateurs Ugo and Antoine Lecorche launched the original […]
A “no-nonsense music pub” serving “old-school pub food” opens in a historic Camden setting next week from the people behind Le Bab and Kebab Queen. The Dark Horse has taken over the Grade II-listed former horse hospital and stables in Camden Market from The Farrier, which closed just two months ago. “The Dark Horse is […]
A dining pub promising “traditional but gastro” cuisine opens next week in Oxfordshire within walking distance of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons – with a former Manoir chef running the kitchen. The Bat & Ball in Cuddeston is a 16th-century coaching inn that was closed down in 2023 by its previous owners, Admiral Taverns – sparking a campaign […]
Russian restaurant Zima has opened a new branch in Notting Hill, a decade after the Soho original launched next-door to Ronnie Scott’s jazz club. The Christmas opening came just two months after the sudden death of founder Alexei Zimin at the age of 52, while visiting Belgrade in Serbia. A writer-turned-chef and television personality, Zimin […]
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 […]
Chef Isaac McHale (left in photo), co-founder of Shoreditch gastronomic powerhouse the Clove Clove, is to open a more informal offshoot just around the corner called Bar Valette, serving simple dishes inspired by French and Spanish coastal cuisine. Scheduled to open next month in the former premises of Two Lights (also backed by the team […]
Chef George Barson has joined Higher Farm regenerative project near Castle Cary in Somerset, where he is developing a new restaurant that is set to open next year. West Country-bred George made his name at Kitty Fisher’s in Mayfair’s Shepherd Market before heading back west to Bath three years ago to head the kitchen at […]
A new bakery-cum-restaurant intriguingly named Don’t Tell Dad will be unveiled next week in Queen’s Park, west London, with meals offered at half price during a soft launch for bookings between 20 December and 12 January.. The venue marks the realisation of a long-held dream for Daniel Land (pictured centre left), co-founder of Italian fast-food […]
