Here’s our weekly round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about up to 14th January 2024. ***** The Evening Standard David Ellis grumbled about the travel time to the new permanent Clapton location of chef Abby Lee’s Mambow, but even with a “bad beginning” (“queuing has not been planned for” and there was […]
Peter Sanchez-Iglesias is planning to bring celebrated Bristol restaurant Casamia back to life – 18 months after closing it down permanently as ‘financially unviable’. Posting on Instagram, he announced: “Casamia will reopen again. Unfinished business.” The restaurant was originally launched in 1997 by Peter’s parents as a relatively modest suburban trattoria, before being transformed by […]
Michael Sager of Hackney wine bar Sager + Wilde is opening a new venue near Victoria Park this month. Bar Bruno is set in a cute Victorian stable, and will serve natural wines alongside small plates with a focus on Swiss-style filled pretzels. The venture will operate as a shop by day, with everything on […]
An Italian steakhouse from Lecce in Puglia has opened a London branch in Chelsea – with little in the way of introduction or promotion. Tabisca has taken over a site near Sloane Square long occupied by Como Lario, and more recently by short-lived restaurants Liv and 1771. Tabisca’s menu showcases a selection of Italian raw and […]
Much-travelled Aussie chef Scott Hallsworth opens the second permanent venue of his pan-Asian project, Freak Scene, in Balham, south London, next week. Freak Scene Sushi & Grill launches on Thursday 18 January, and follows the first permanent Freak Scene in Parsons Green, which opened last spring in “fine form“, according to the 2024 Harden’s guide. […]
James Close is to close down his acclaimed Co Durham restaurant the Raby Hunt after 14 years and join nearby Rockliffe Hall as culinary director. An ex-pro golfer, James taught himself to cook in the kitchen of the former pub and quickly earned a reputation as a standard-bearer for gastronomic excellence in the Northeast. The […]
Highly rated Manchester pasta specialist Sud is relaunching its four restaurants as Rigatoni’s – less than a year after their last name change. Brothers Alex and Mike de Martiis (pictured above) founded the group as Sugo in 2015 with a single site in Altrincham, adding further branches in Ancoats, Sale and most recently the city centre’s […]
Prominent vegetarian restaurant Greens, of Didsbury in south Manchester, has closed down after 33 years following a 35% rent hike – while Copper & Ink in Blackheath, southeast London, is another New Year casualty of rising costs. Greens’ founder Simon Rimmer, a regular on television, announced the closure in a video posted to social media […]
Possibly London’s smallest restaurant opens in Notting Hill next week – an omakase with just six seats per sitting called Juno, upstairs at Markus Thesleff’s Mexican-Japanese mashup Los Mochis. Juno will serve a 15-course meal costing £180 in two evening sittings – at 6 and 8.30pm, Tuesday to Saturday – overseen by Los Mochis’ executive chef […]
A team who met at Larry’s in Peckham have taken over the former Nest site in Hackney’s Morning Lane to launch Big Night – billed as a ‘British izakaya’ drinking den with meals cooked over a charcoal grill. Jack O’Connor and Joshua Ralphs have between them worked at some of London’s hippest spots, including Flor, Lasdun […]
