Jazz musician Tim Thornton this week opened a second branch of Base Face, the pizzeria he started in west London as a lockdown project in 2020 when live music was silenced by the Covid pandemic. The new site is by the River Thames in Barnes High Street – just a few doors away from the […]
Fair Shot Café, the all-day venue that provides training and jobs for young adults with educational disabilities, is moving into smart new premises in Covent Garden’s development The Yards, where it will be the West End’s first not-for-profit café. Founder Bianca Tavella, previously creative director of Petersham Nurseries, opened the original Fair Shot Café in […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
A vast new pan-Asian restaurant and basement cocktail bar, Tabu, opens tonight in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter in the premises which previously housed The Vaults nightclub. Tabu is said to be inspired by 1920s-style New York speakeasies and accommodates up to 400 guests, with entertainment including DJ sets and live performers every Thursday to Sunday. The […]
