Hard-up London pastry fans are in for a treat in the next few days, as two businesses are handing out free samples in a burst of early-summer generosity. First, the Dominique Ansel Bakery in Victoria will celebrate the fourth anniversary of the invention of the “cronut” – a cross between the croissant and the doughnut […]
Cult chef Ben Spalding is to operate a three-month “punk tapas” pop-up called Small Plate Sessions at the Last Days of Shoreditch street-food site on Old Street this summer. A veteran of Simon Rogan’s Roganic, Per Se in New York and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Spalding made his name with a short-lived residency at the John Salt pub in […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer reviewed London Shell Co, a floating restaurant aboard a 30-year-old barge which is moored at Paddington over lunch and voyages along the Regent Canal while serving dinner in the evening. “It began as a pop-up on dry land, led by actor-turned-sommelier Harry Lobek and his sister Leah. In the small, diesel-powered […]
All-day restaurant The Vincent in Hackney Downs is the latest project from the trio behind the Sebright Arms live-music pub in Bethnal Green. Charles Ross, Richard Temple and Jamie Hempseed plan to open The Vincent this month, serving pastries and coffee in the morning and brunch at weekends. The lunch and evening menu, also available to take away, […]
The team behind hit Hackney venue Pidgin are to open a modern British interpretation of a Chinese dim sum restaurant in Mayfair, with service based around trolleys and trays laden with small plates. Magpie launches in Heddon Street, off Regent Street, next month. True to its name, dishes will be “stolen” from an eclectic range […]
MasterChef 2015 winner Simon Wood is to open an ambitious high-end restaurant in his native Manchester this summer. The 40-year-old former data manager (left in photo) will serve an unfussy modern interpretation of traditional flavours from an open-theatre kitchen. Menus will range from set lunch and pre-theatre to a la carte and a tasting selection with new dishes. […]
Cartel, a new taqueria and late-night tequila bar in Battersea, is the latest in the new wave of Mexican taco joints that is sweeping across London. Named in what seems a clear reference to the Mexican narco wars involving drug cartels that have cost 100,000 lives in the past 10 years, the venue must also be an early front-runner in the “poor taste […]
Michel Roux Jr, from the cooking dynasty that has personified French cuisine in Britain for half a century, is to oversee an establishment serving traditional English food. The Wigmore bar, in Regent Street’s grand Langham hotel, will offer dishes inspired by the English pub and tavern, such as raised veal and ham pie and devilled lamb’s kidneys – although diners will […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer reviewed Koj, MasterChef finalist and former City banker Andrew Kojima’s “cheerfully low-key” Japanese comfort food joint in Cheltenham. “Koj Fried Chicken – work out the initials yourself – is halfway between the softness of American southern fried, and the full-on crunch of Japanese karaage. Sesame flavoured mayo sends it happily on its way. […]
The inaugural English Sparkling Wine Show will take place in Shoreditch at the end of May. It is organised by Fabio Adler, whose new venture Mousseux Anglais aims to champion Anglo sparklers. Guests at the show, to be held in the Apartment at the Hoxton on Wednesday May 31, will be able to taste wines from Digby, Herbert […]
