Isle of Wight-based chef Robert Thompson is to be chef-patron of the new North House boutique hotel and restaurant in Cowes, he has announced on Instagram. Originally from Bedfordshire, Thompson worked under legendary chef Germain Schwab at Winteringham Fields in Lincolnshire, taking over the kitchen at the age of 23 when Schwab retired. He moved […]
Chotto Matte, the Peruvian-Japanese fusion Nikkei concept from former Nobu and Hakkasan honcho Kurt Zdesar, is to open a second London branch in Marylebone on 28 April – and has signed up for footballer-turned-entrepreneur Gary Neville’s St Michael’s development in Manchester. Meaning “wait a moment” in Japanese, Chotto Matte is wasting little time in becoming a […]
A boutique wine hotel and restaurant is to be developed at the historic Archbishop’s Palace in Maidstone as the hub of a wine tourism industry in Kent on the lines of California’s Napa Valley or Western Australia’s Margaret River. Under ambitious plans agreed by Maidstone Council and entrepreneur Richard Balfour-Lynn, founder the Balfour winery in […]
The next month sees the opening of two ambitious new seafood restaurants in Glasgow, reflecting a nationwide shift in tastes towards fish and seafood. First out of the traps is Shucks, from the Charalambous brothers Paul and Chris (left and right in picture) with head chef Shaun Haggarty (centre) – the team behind Cal Bruich, Glasgow’s […]
Glynn Purnell, whose Purnell’s in Birmingham city centre is hailed as the second best restaurant in Britain in the new Harden’s 2022 guide, is to open his first venue outside the city in Henley-in-Arden next month. The Mount by Glynn Purnell is a refurbished historic pub – formerly the Butchers’ Social – on the high street […]
A Lancashire village known for its delicious ducks is soon to have an ambitious new restaurant – with foraged ingredients expected to highlight the menu. Ye Horns Inn at Goosnargh, near Preston, is to reopen in March with Yorkshire-based forager Alysia Vasey as operations consultant and Sean Wrest (both pictured) as head chef. Sean, formerly head […]
Israeli-born Australian chef Roy Ner opened his first restaurant in Europe this week, Jeru in Berkeley Street, Mayfair, bringing his luxurious interpretation of Middle Eastern cuisine to London. The smart restaurant was designed by Melbourne’s Studio Y and has a downstairs cocktail bar, Layla, along with a bakery at the front producing such delicacies as […]
US-style BBQ and crabshack Big Easy is to open its first venue outside London next month at the Bluewater shopping centre in north Kent. Set over two floors, it will accommodate 236 diners and offer them a choice of 500 bourbons, tequilas and whiskeys, as well as a separate rum bar. The original Big Easy […]
Rising young star Adam Handling will plant his flag in the West End on 1 September by opening his second restaurant under The Frog name, in Covent Garden. The new venue is the flagship of a planned group, serving a “more formal” version of the cooking he has developed at The Frog E1, which opened in Spitalfields last year. […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer reviewed Plot in Tooting, “a sliver of a restaurant serving terrible cocktails and great food in one of south London’s traditional covered markets”. “Thick curls of squid, crusted with a chorizo crumb on a salad of tomatoes that taste of something, is a bit of textural fun. It’s followed by a dainty […]
