Our mission is remarkably simple. To tell it how it is!
Le Gavroche, arguably the most important restaurant in Britain of modern times, is to close down next January after 56 years. The announcement was made by Michel Roux Jr (pictured in 1989 with his father, Albert), who took over as chef-patron in 1991 (coinciding almost exactly with the launch of our first edition, Harden’s London […]
Veteran chef Rowley Leigh is making a comeback at the age of 73 with a three-month pop-up bistro called Chez Rowley, which opens next month in Notting Hill. He describes the venture as “a bistro with nostalgic dishes and classic technique at its heart designed to be enjoyed family style. The true show stopper, poulet […]
Bob Bob Ricard, the decadently fun Soho restaurant famous for its ‘press for Champagne’ buttons on each table, is to open a spin-off rotisserie chicken specialist next month. Bébé Bob, in Golden Square, will offer ‘affordable’ wines and Champagnes, although a £75 mark-up limit indicates that some prices will be pretty high, while the chickens […]
Hit New York Peruvian restaurant Llama Inn has unveiled a London offshoot at the Hoxton Hotel in Shoreditch. The rooftop venue opens officially on 1 September, but guests can sample its menu at a soft launch until then. Co-founders Juan Correa and chef Erik Ramirez (pictured) opened the original in Brooklyn in 2015, earning plaudits […]
Maverick chef Marc Wilkinson has reopened his extraordinary one-man restaurant Fraiche at a secret address near the Shropshire market town of Oswestry – and with only eight seats, it is even smaller than before. To start with, while Marc develops the wine list, diners are invited to bring their own bottles with no corkage fee – […]
L’Atelier Robuchon is making a return to London, five years after closing down following the death its founder, the great French chef Joël Robuchon. The new restaurant is scheduled to open on 14 September in Clarges Street, Mayfair, on the site now occupied by its more casual stablemate Comptoir Robuchon. Head chef of the reopened […]
Here’s our regular round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 13th August 2023. ***** The Times “Two people at the top of their game. Near perfection.” Chitra Ramaswamy awarded what we believe to be her first 10/10 across the board this week, dining at Eòrna, a “tiny-in-numbers, […]
Southern US fried chicken gets a Tokyo makeover at a new street-food stall that has opened in Vinegar Yard near London Bridge. Lani Lam’s Japanese Chicken Shop combines Nashville-style hot chicken with Japanese ingredients, in a sandwich of classic soft milk bread. Sandos on offer include the Tokyo Hot Chicken (pineapple jam, Kewpie mayo, dark soy caramel, […]
A man has been charged with arson related to the fire that swept through the 14th-century Star Inn Harome in North Yorkshire almost two years ago. The 28-year-old man from nearby Helmsley will appear in Scarborough magistrates court on Monday. The fire swept through the old pub’s 4ft deep thatched roof in November 2021, leaving […]
An ambitious new riverside gastropub is opening in Barnes next month from locally raised Joe Grossman, the founder of the Patty & Bun burger chain, who has put together a crack team to revive The Waterman’s Arms. The mid-Victorian pub is on a prominent corner, but has struggled in recent years first as a branch […]
