A couple who met in the kitchen at St John are opening their first restaurant, Sparrow, in Lewisham at the end of March. Terry Blake and Yohini Nandakumar say they will use seasonal British meat and vegetables and cook their favourite dishes – which gives them a pretty broad canvas. Between them they have notched up experience at Bao, […]

Continue reading


In what may be an unprecedented move, Marcus Wareing has promoted husband-and-wife team Mark and Shauna Froydenlund to the roles of joint chef patrons – should that be “chefs patron” or even “chefs patrons”? – at his Knightsbridge flagship restaurant in the Berkeley hotel. Long-time Wareing lieutenants, the couple have worked at the restaurant since its […]

Continue reading


Le Gavroche, the Roux family flagship and foundation stone of modern London gastronomy, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a “Back to the Classics” menu of original dishes from 1967. The menu is available until December and costs £90 a head for five courses, bookable in advance, to be shared in the Library […]

Continue reading


Cotswolds-based MasterChef finalist and former banker Andrew Kojima is opening his first restaurant, Koj, in Cheltenham next week on the back of successful pop-up and crowd-funding campaigns. He trialled the venture – and the Regent Street venue – as a pop-up in the run-up to Christmas, generating enough interest to raise £55,000 from more than 200 backers. […]

Continue reading


West London favourite Charlotte’s Place has added a new upstairs dining room overlooking Ealing Common – in what used to be the flat where founder Charlotte Kearns lived. She opened the restaurant with her husband, John, more than 30 years ago. It is still, according to the latest Harden’s Survey, “the best in Ealing by far”. Owner Alex […]

Continue reading


Chef and food-writer Gizzi Erskine has teamed up with ramen chain Tonkotsu to produce a Korean-inspired bowl to be sold for six weeks from next Friday, March 17. Her “Twisted Tonkotsu” includes Korean doenjang miso, gochuang chilli and kimchee, along with the house broth, pork belly and whole egg. Erskine’s fried chicken wings will be […]

Continue reading


Brighton grill specialist The Coal Shed is to open a branch in London at the new One Tower Bridge development on the south bank of the Thames later this year. It will be the first foray into the capital for restaurateur Raz Helatat, six years after he launched the original Coal Shed – described by this year’s […]

Continue reading


Chewton Glen, the luxury country house hotel on the edge of the New Forest, launches its new cookery school and informal restaurant The Kitchen next week. The new-build open-plan venue, under chef Adam Hart, will serve wood-fired pizzas, burgers, “superfood” salads and comfort-food classics from Tuesday March 14. There is an emphasis on local sourcing […]

Continue reading