⦿ Jay Rayner of the Guardian reviewed Radici, the new Islington Italian from Francesco Mazzei of Sartoria in Mayfair and, before that, L’Anima in the City. “Taglierini, fagioli and pancetta. That’s ribbons of a thin tagliatelle-style pasta, white beans and bacon, in a dense, starchy broth of such intensity and such conviction, you could be forgiven for […]
Cargo 2, the second phase of the multi-restaurant (with a bit of retail) development using smartly reconstituted shipping containers at Bristol’s Wapping Wharf, is to open on May 26. Headliners are led by Spuntino, the first offshoot of the Italian-American small-plates specialist in London’s Soho, which will feature a US diner-style interior. Local acts are well represented, […]
The owner of Mayfair seafood restaurant Assunta Madre has been arrested in his native Italy on money-laundering charges. Gianni Micalusi was arrested with his two sons, his bank manager and accountant and is accused by Rome prosecutors of laundering nearly €900,000 in cash from “illegal activities”. He was remanded in custody. Micalusi, a rotund 52-year-old former fisherman, […]
The Ned, a new hotel and membership club boasting no fewer than nine separate restaurants, has opened in a disused bank building plum in the middle of the City of London. Named after its architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens, the grand building was opened in 1924 as the City headquarters of the Midland Bank. The £200m hotel conversion is […]
Hard-up London pastry fans are in for a treat in the next few days, as two businesses are handing out free samples in a burst of early-summer generosity. First, the Dominique Ansel Bakery in Victoria will celebrate the fourth anniversary of the invention of the “cronut” – a cross between the croissant and the doughnut […]
Cult chef Ben Spalding is to operate a three-month “punk tapas” pop-up called Small Plate Sessions at the Last Days of Shoreditch street-food site on Old Street this summer. A veteran of Simon Rogan’s Roganic, Per Se in New York and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Spalding made his name with a short-lived residency at the John Salt pub in […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer reviewed London Shell Co, a floating restaurant aboard a 30-year-old barge which is moored at Paddington over lunch and voyages along the Regent Canal while serving dinner in the evening. “It began as a pop-up on dry land, led by actor-turned-sommelier Harry Lobek and his sister Leah. In the small, diesel-powered […]
All-day restaurant The Vincent in Hackney Downs is the latest project from the trio behind the Sebright Arms live-music pub in Bethnal Green. Charles Ross, Richard Temple and Jamie Hempseed plan to open The Vincent this month, serving pastries and coffee in the morning and brunch at weekends. The lunch and evening menu, also available to take away, […]
The team behind hit Hackney venue Pidgin are to open a modern British interpretation of a Chinese dim sum restaurant in Mayfair, with service based around trolleys and trays laden with small plates. Magpie launches in Heddon Street, off Regent Street, next month. True to its name, dishes will be “stolen” from an eclectic range […]
MasterChef 2015 winner Simon Wood is to open an ambitious high-end restaurant in his native Manchester this summer. The 40-year-old former data manager (left in photo) will serve an unfussy modern interpretation of traditional flavours from an open-theatre kitchen. Menus will range from set lunch and pre-theatre to a la carte and a tasting selection with new dishes. […]
