Alexis Gauthier, the classic French chef who has gone vegan, is to launch two new ventures from one site next month – 123V Bakery and Studio Gauthier, in the BFI building north of Oxford Street in Soho. Alexis opened his flagship, Gauthier Soho, in 2010 and announced the transition to meat-free menus eight years later, […]
Three high-profile but very different London dining destinations whose futures have all been in doubt are set to reopen in the next few weeks: Soho’s historic L’Escargot, smart Islington brasserie Bellanger, and Clapton’s funky wine bar P Franco. L’Escargot in Greek Street, the city’s oldest French restaurant (est. 1927), is to open on Wednesday 24 […]
A newly opened Korean barbecue restaurant in Soho is bringing the pyeon beak steambox to London – a three-tiered box made from hinoki wood, a type of cypress. Chungdam has taken over the site formerly occupied by Chinese restaurant YMing in Greek Street, and is named after Cheongdam-dong, an affluent – and foodie – district of Gangnam in […]
Imad’s Syrian Kitchen, the tiny West End restaurant founded by a refugee from war-torn Damascus, is expanding into bigger premises to offer a wider range of dishes. Imad Alarnab fled his home in 2015, leaving a flourishing restaurant business behind, and cooked for fellow refugees before rebuilding his career as a restaurateur in London. His […]
Veteran Soho restaurant Quo Vadis is to double in size following a major refurb in January. Owners the Hart Brothers say the work will provide a “grander and more spacious restaurant” befitting the cooking of acclaimed chef-partner Jeremy Lee (pictured). Having opened in 1926, Quo Vadis is rare among older restaurants in that it trades […]
Soho gastronomic landmark I Camisa is to close down after Christmas – just seven years short of its centenary – unless a buyer steps forward to save it. Famous for its sandwiches, the Old Compton Street deli is a relic of central London’s Italian community and a much-loved feature of ‘old Soho’. Gianni Segatta, a director of […]
The Spanish gastro group Brindisa is opening a tiny Basque-style tapas joint in Soho this month. Bar Kroketa is by the entrance to Kingly Court in Beak Street, and is scheduled to launch on 12 December. The snack menu will be dominated by a chalked-up and frequently changing list of croquetas, ranging from sobrasada and […]
Luke Selby (pictured with his brothers Nathaniel, left, and Theo, right) of Evelyn’s Table in Soho has been appointed to succeed Gary Jones, who has stepped down after more than two decades as executive chef at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons near Oxford. For Luke, it marks a return to a kitchen where he […]
London’s first new West End theatre for 50 years opens tomorrow (15 October), which should increase footfall in the centre of the city still suffering from the ravages of the pandemic. The Soho Place theatre – or @sohoplace as owners Nimax rather irritatingly prefer it to be known – will have a 70-cover restaurant called Stars, with […]
The death was announced this week of Andrew Edmunds, whose self-named Lexington Street restaurant has been a favourite Soho destination for 37 years for people in the arts and the wine trade – and, famously, for those with romance in mind. Andrew pursued twin careers – each with singular success – as a restaurateur and also as […]
