Veteran kosher restaurateur Tony Page has transferred his flagship Island Grill at the Royal Lancaster hotel overlooking Hyde Park to Marylebone, where it has taken over the former Chotto Matte site on the corner of Paddington and Chiltern Streets. After almost five decades in the industry, Tony (left in picture) is described as “the gold […]
Highly praised chef Carlo Scotto will make his comeback this spring after an 18-month break with a new, ingredient-led restaurant at the Crazy Bear hotel in Beaconsfield – and he promises it will be a “completely different beast” from the two ambitious London restaurants where he wowed critics and diners, Amethyst in Mayfair and Xier in […]
Dynamic Glasgow restaurateur Nico Simeone has closed his fish specialist Sole Club to make way for a new pan-Asian concept, Extra_Ordinary, headed by Australian-born chef Tobias ‘Toby’ Fiegel (pictured). Sole Club, which combined experimental seafood cuisine with classic fish ‘n’ chip shop fare, opened in February last year in the Finnieston premises where Simeone founded […]
Top pizza independent Santa Maria has opened a new branch in Kew, taking over the premises long occupied by Bruce Poole’s The Glasshouse. Santa Maria has expanded very slowly since its launch by Neapolitan-born founders in Ealing in 2010, with branches opening in Fulham, Fitzrovia and most recently Islington. Combining “top-quality ingredients and fabulous bases”, […]
An upmarket pub and restaurant boasting a Basque chef, its own branded caviar and state-of-the-art draught Guinness opens in Belgravia next week. The Prince Arthur, in Pimlico Road, also has a fishmonger counter in the bar offering seafood from Spain and Cornwall to eat in or take home. The venue is divided into ‘The Pub […]
Studio Frantzén at Harrods has closed permanently after only two years, and plans to relocate to a new address in London this summer. It will be replaced by the new in-house Grill on Fifth, which opens next week. Swedish superstar chef Björn Frantzén’s London outlet has been the marquee attraction headlining the Knightsbridge department store’s […]
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 […]