Nottingham chef Louisa Ellis, a past winner of MasterChef: The Professionals, has launched a ‘food and event-focused’ project in a former Methodist church in the city. Destination 105, in Lady Bay’s Trent Boulevard, does not operate as a conventional restaurant. Instead, it hosts one-off ‘dining experiences’ ranging from tasting menus, three-course menus and Sunday dinners […]

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Mayfair restaurateur Samyukta Nair (left in photo) opens her latest restaurant, Koyn Thai, in collaboration with Bangkok-born chef Rose Chalalai Singh (centre) this Sunday, 16 June. The restaurant is taking over the basement dining room of Samyukta’s Japanese restaurant Koyn, off Grosvenor Square, with Koyn executive chef Rhys Cattermoul (right) running the kitchen. Each restaurant […]

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Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 9th June 2024 Evening Standard The Counter, Soho David Ellis expected great things from the second helping of Kemal Demirasal’s upscale Turkish cooking following his success of the first Counter in Notting Hill last year – “God it was […]

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Disfrutar in Barcelona has secured the number one crown at the 2024 World’s 50 Best Restaurants shindig in Las Vegas, on a list dominated by restaurants from the Spanish-speaking world. Runner-up was Basque restaurant Asador Etxebarri, with Diverxo in Madrid placed fourth and restaurants from Lima (Maido), Mexico City (Quintonil) and Buenos Aires (Don Julio) […]

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Chef-patron Steven Smith has left Freemasons at Wiswell, the fine-dining pub in Lancashire’s Ribble Valley that he has established as a regional star over the past 15 years. Born and raised in nearby Blackburn, Steven plans to open a new venture in the region, although he has no concrete plans as yet. Head chef Matt […]

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Chef Tom Brown is to close his highly rated restaurant Cornerstone in Hackney Wick, citing rising costs and diners’ changing preferences. Instead, he will focus on Pearly Queen, the more relaxed fish restaurant he opened in Shoreditch last November. Launched in 2018, Cornerstone is one of the most lauded restaurants of the past decade and […]

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Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 2nd June 2024 Evening Standard The Hero, Maida Vale “This might just be the best-looking pub in the world”, pronounced David Ellis in his review of the latest project from the team behind the Pelican in Notting Hill and the […]

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International Korean chef Akira Back makes his London debut at the new Mandarin Oriental hotel in Hanover Square, Mayfair, next Wednesday, 3 June – more than two years after it it was announced. He will operate two restaurants – Akira Back (pictured), reinterpreting Korean and Japanese dishes, and Dosa, a 14-seat chef’s table offering contemporary Korean […]

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