Bleecker has opened its fourth restaurant. The Westfield London site, in White City, is the group’s biggest to date. It joins the likes of Pastaio, Pizza Pilgrims, and Copper Chimney, providing much-needed energy in an otherwise sparse part of town. While the restaurant will be considerably bigger, the menu will be the same as at […]
Following the relaunch of Covent Garden’s Opera Tavern, Urban Pubs and Bars, which acquired Salt Yard Group last year, will reopen Ember Yard. The Italian-Spanish restaurant in Soho “is going through an exciting transformation”, the owners say, and will offer a revamped menu when in November. Ember Yard opened back in 2013 and has long […]
Duddell’s, the London offshoot of the renowned, Michelin-starred Hong Kong restaurant of the same name, has closed after two years. In a statement, the restaurant said it was looking for a new Mayfair site for the project. No timeframe was given. Duddell’s, which closed this week, was housed in St Thomas’ Church in London Bridge […]
A former Fat Duck junior pastry chef is suing her past employer for £200,000. Sharon Anderson has claimed cooking in Heston Blumenthal’s famous restaurant left her with chronic wrist pain, and said “fast, arduous and repetitive” food preparation left her with a serious strain injury. Ms Anderson is suing for damages and is arguing that […]
Rosa’s Thai is continuing its national expansion with aplomb as the brand sets itself up to open in Manchester. The Thai chain will launch in Spinningfields in a spot vacated by the Handmade Burger Company, the Manchester Evening News first reported. Rosa’s Thai, which started as a single restaurant in East London in 2008, now […]
American burger chain Shake Shack is opening at UK airports after a new partnership between TRG Concessions and Diverse Dining was launched. The first opened at Gatwick Airport’s North terminal this week and will operate seven days a week, from 4am until the last flight departs. UK brand operator Diverse Dining currently operates ten Shake […]
Harden’s regular round-up of the restaurant critics’ musings, from the week ending 20 October 2019. Pilgrim, Liverpool For Grace Dent of The Guardian, “2019 has been a year of loitering confusedly in food halls, gob ajar, trying to decipher where one eats, sits, orders and pays”. Her latest (but less confused) visit was to Duke […]
Smoke & Salt founders Remi Williams and Aaron Webster, who opened a small plates concept at Pop Brixton in June 2017, are launching a crowdfunding push to finance their first bricks and mortar site. The pair are hoping to open in Tooting, south west London, after seeing success and accolades running their temporary project in […]
Protesters have planned a peaceful demonstration outside the first UK Chick-fil-A restaurant, which launched in Reading this week. Demonstrators will visit the site on Saturday, led by LGBT+ groups which have called for people to boycott the fast food outlet. The chicken chain has long been the subject of controversy due to links with anti-LGBT […]
Flamboyant television chef Gino D’Acampo, who may or may not pretend to sound more Italian than he is, will open a My Restaurant-branded site in Birmingham this month. D’Acampo is to launch a mega 165-cover restaurant in the former Allied Irish Bank branch on Temple Row in the city centre on October 31. There will […]