Belfast-born chef Chris McClurg and his partner Alice Stewart this week launched their ambitious debut restaurant at the Regency House boutique hotel in the city. Chris was previously chef patron at Paul Ainsworth’s No 6 in Padstow, Cornwall, which appears regularly on the Harden’s 100 list of the UK’s best restaurants. He stepped down in […]
Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 12th July 2026 Financial Times Margaret’s, Cambridge Jay Rayner gave a big thumbs-up to this “diffusion” restaurant from chef Sam Carter and his wife Alex Olivier, apparently named after a regular at their “more grown-up” venture Twenty-Two, which is […]
Aberdeenshire-born chef Orry Shand opens his debut restaurant next week – Falls by Orry Shand on Royal Deeside, about 20 miles from Aberdeen. Orry trained in top Scottish kitchens including Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles and Number One at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh, and came to prominence as Scottish National Chef in 2019 and UK […]
Veteran Edinburgh vegan and vegetarian restaurant Hendersons this week launched its first venue outside the Scottish capital – in Glasgow, home city of founder Janet Henderson. Janet founded Hendersons in 1962 but it closed down during the Covid epidemic in 2020 before being revived two years later by her grandson, Barrie Henderson (pictured with co-owner Clara […]
Chef Andrew Wong is shifting his celebrated Chinese restaurant A Wong to the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Mayfair for a six-week residency this summer, to allow for a through renovation of his Pimlico HQ. A Wong is a regular in the upper reaches of the Harden’s 100 list of the UK’s best restaurants, offering a […]
Chef Paul Ainsworth and his wife Emma are this month relaunching the St Enodoc Hotel at Rock, across the Camel estuary from their flagship restaurant No 6 in Padstow, as their Cornish mini-empire grows to Rick Stein-like proportions. The couple took over the 21-bedroom hotel – best known for hosting Nathan Outlaw’s superlative seafood restaurant in […]
Johnny Boy’s, an all-day neighbourhood restaurant serving comfort food inspired by the multicultural communities of Southern Californian, opens today in Stoke Newington. Founder Julian Dennis, known in east London for his Chinese restaurant Facing Heaven and dive bar Easy 8 in London Fields, was born in Los Angeles to a Portuguese mother and Puerto Rican […]
A modern French brasserie launches next week on Sloane Square in Chelsea after finding its feet with an extended soft opening. Brasserie Olivia has taken over the corner premises formerly occupied by the David Mellor cutlery shop, lavishly converted with retro-modern interiors incorporating a seafood bar, lobster tank and semi-open kitchen. Downstairs in the basement […]
A new generation of chefs are creating culinary mashups that challenge traditional notions of authenticity – and transport diners from Austin, Texas to Afghanistan or from Mexico City to Malaysia through the magic of flavour Fusion food has attracted a lot of flak over the years. It’s been condemned as culinary vandalism, as cultural appropriation, as […]
Your round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 28th June 2026 Financial Times Teal by Sally Abé, Hackney Jay Rayner was mightily impressed by the “earthy” English food filtered through the sensibility of classical French cuisine at this new spot from chef Sally Abé (ex-Savoy, Claridge’s and […]
