A new Basque steakhouse has opened in the City specialising in dishes from the French side of the Basque country – and with long-term plans to showcase the first Galician Blond beef bred in the UK. Ibai, close to Smithfield Market, brings together former Chiltern Firehouse head chef Richard Foster (pictured centre) with Nemanja Borjanović […]
Jason Atherton has embarked on a dizzying reorganisation of his London restaurants that will see the closure of three ventures and the opening of at least five (depending on how you count them). The latest opening to be announced is Mary’s, a grill-led restaurant that will take over the Mayfair premises of Pollen Street Social […]
Jazz saxophonist and entrepreneur YolanDa Brown is to open her restaurant and music venue Soul Mama in Stratford this September. Originally slated for Islington, Soul Mama is set in the Gantry hotel, opposite Westfield, and will offer a menu inspired by Caribbean, African and South American cooking. The project is funded by a Kickstarter campaign […]
The Barbary is to open a new flagship on Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill in September. Inspired by the cooking of North Africa, the original was launched by Zoë and Layo Paskin in Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden, eight years ago, and was followed by The Barbary Next Door. The new venue, formerly the Maddox Gallery, is […]
Des Gunewardena has announced plans to open a multifaceted restaurant and bar next year at Olympia, the Victorian exhibition halls in west London currently undergoing a five-year upgrade costing £1.3bn. The announcement comes as Des, a former partner in D&D London, opens the first ventures of his new company D3 Collective – Engel and Jang, […]
Mercato Metropolitano (MM) Ilford will finally open next month – five years after first being announced. The wood-framed structure (pictured above during the construction) set in a disused car park in the town’s ‘cultural quarter’ offers street-food entrepreneurs the opportunity to showcase their cooking in a communal food hall – and is part of the regeneration of […]
A Japanese restaurant that has made a big splash in Taiwan and mainland China will open its first UK site in Soho’s Wardour Street next month. Kanpai Classic specialises in yakinuku, with customers cooking meat and vegetables themselves on a table-top grill. The grilling options will be led by a choice of 10 cuts of […]
JKS Restaurants is to open a large and ambitious new Indian restaurant – their first in five years – in Mayfair this September. Ambassadors Clubhouse is taking over the Heddon Street premises occupied by Moroccan restaurant Momo until 2020, and will feature a ‘maximalist central bar with a gold dome’ in the main dining room. The 140-cover […]
Florentine comfort food concept Dez Amore opens its first permanent restaurant next week, on a corner site in Chelsea with a retro-modern look inspired by Italy in the 1970s. Launched by two friends from Florence, Leonardo Masi and Simone Parentini (pictured), Dez Amore lays claim to a ‘double soul’ that combines traditional Italian cooking with […]
Irina Linovich’s vegetable-focused project Holy Carrot will open its first bricks and mortar restaurant in Notting Hill next month, with a ‘fire and ferment’-based menu from chef Daniel Watkins, co-founder of Dalston’s ACME Fire Cult. Irina launched Holy Carrot four years ago with a series of supper-club dinners, and the permanent site aims to show […]
