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 […]
Former Whatley Manor chef Martin Burge has joined the Farncombe Estate at Broadway in the Cotswolds, where he will preside over five restaurants in three hotels. Bristol-born Burge put Whatley Manor in Wiltshire on the culinary map during a multi-starred 14-year reign which ended with his departure last November. The Harden’s Survey praised his cooking […]
Piccadilly’s long-running Japan Centre is to move into salubrious new premises off Leicester Square in September. Based on the Japanese concept of a “depachika” – the basement food hall in a department store – it will feature a 100-seat dining courtyard, along with specialist rooms offering Japanese teas, sake and miso, the latter available direct from the […]
Former Danesford House head chef Adam Simmonds has opened a 12-month pop-up in Soho to test the market ahead of a permanent opening in the capital. Test Kitchen, near Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in Frith Street, will be just that – a counter where diners are expected to feed back to chefs on the dishes […]
Brighton’s Chilli Pickle has reached its £700,000 crowdfunding target to bankroll an expansion into four “affulent market towns” in southern England. The first new branch is expected to open this summer. Chef Alun Sperring and his wife Dawn opened the original Chilli Pickle, serving authentic regional Indian cuisine, in Brighton’s Lanes in 2007. Having twice outgrown its surroundings […]
Simon Rogan has announced he will leave Fera, the restaurant he set up at Claridge’s in Mayfair three years ago, at the end of April. The restaurant’s current team will continue operating under head chef Matt Starling, a Rogan protégé. Meanwhile, Rogan is looking for permanent London premises to rehouse a revival of Roganic, the temporary restaurant […]
