Fraiche, the tiny Merseyside restaurant that topped the Harden’s Best UK Restaurants list in 2020, is to close permanently at the end of September. Chef-patron Marc Wilkinson announced the news in a Facebook post, bringing to an end his 18-year run in the Wirral village of Oxton. Famously operating as a one-man brigade in the […]
Here’s our regular summary of what the national and local restaurant critics have been writing about in the week ending 12 June 2022. ***** The Observer “Can you enjoy a good meal in a bad building?” Jay Rayner was in Edinburgh pondering an odd question; it was pertinent as the restaurant he reviewed, Ka Pao […]
Singaporean pastry chef Cherish Finden is to open her own pâtisserie in the City of London next week, serving her take on savouries such as sausage shokupan and pork floss buns as well as original creations including a chocolate teapot and lemon and raspberry-flavoured mini handbags. Shiok! – pronounced “shook”, a Singlish term of approbation meaning […]
Ikoyi, the high-flying restaurant bringing West African flavours to London’s West End, is to move from its small premises in St James’s, behind Piccadilly Circus, to a bigger site nearby. Yet to be confirmed, the mostly likely candidate is the Brutalist landmark 180 The Strand building, recently converted into a cultural centre. If Ikoyi does […]
Andrew Sheridan, the chef behind the experimental Birmingham venue About 8, has opened a neighbourhood restaurant in his home village of Barnt Green, Worcestershire. Launched this week, Black & Green serves up to 16 diners, with five- and six-course tasting menus at £55 and £65. Focusing on “humble local ingredients”, Black & Green is a […]
Salon in Brixton Market, the former pop-up that graduated into an influential wine-focused restaurant over the course of a decade, is to close down permanently in the face of challenging trading conditions. Its founding trio – Nicholas Balfe, Matthew Bushnell and Mark Gurney – went on to open restaurant Levan and the more casual diner Larry’s […]
Corbin & King restaurants have been rebranded by their new owners as the Wolseley Hospitality Group, after the renowned Piccadilly restaurant that is the jewel in the company crown. The move is a logical step following the departure of founders Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, who were ousted in April following a bitter struggle with […]
Here’s our regular summary of what the national and local restaurant critics have been writing about in the week ending 5 June 2022. ***** The Observer “Restaurants of such class turning up in locations such as this” are a positive effect of the pandemic, according to Jay Rayner who was in Sheen, west London, at […]
A 1950s-style Hong Kong tea restaurant in London’s Chinatown is on course to take customers back in time this summer (pictured Queen’s Road, the main thoroughfare of the Crown Colony). The Eight – a lucky number – will serve dishes influenced by the port city’s mixed population, including signature abalone noodles, rickshaw noodles and rice wrapped […]
A new seafood restaurant specialising in cooking over charcoal opens this weekend in Glasgow city centre. Scamp is from the team behind Glasgow small-plates venues Eighty Eight and Hooligan, and takes over the Renfield Street premises formerly occupied by Charcoals Indian Restaurant. Head chef Craig Maclennan said: “With Hooligan being wine-focused and Eighty Eight vegetarian […]
