⦿ Fay Maschler of the Evening Standard reviewed Elystan Street 4/5, Phil Howard’s new restaurant in Chelsea, where she ate some “sublime” dishes but gasped at the prices and missed having a tablecloth. “Smoked mackerel velouté with Porthilly oysters — from the River Camel estuary — with leek hearts and eel toast is a secular […]
The Raby Hunt near Darlington was the biggest winner in yesterday’s (snooze-worthy) 2017 UK and Ireland Michelin Guide announcements, with chef James Close bagging his second star. Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck in Bray returned to three-star status, having been omitted from last year’s guide during its residency in Melbourne. There were no other multi-star promotions this […]
David Muñoz, the flamboyant Spanish chef who won three Michelin stars in four years for his Madrid restaurant DiverXO, is to open his long-promised London offshoot, StreetXO, in Mayfair in November. He aims to “shock, surprise and delight” diners through both the theatre and flavour of his Asian-inspired fusion dishes. StreetXO will be set up […]
The kitchen at Jamavar London, an upmarket Indian restaurant opening in Mount Street, Mayfair in mid-November, will be headed by Rohit Ghai, formerly of Gymkhana – a good indication that it will be more than simply an outpost of a successful international brand. There are five branches in India, where Jamavar is the signature restaurant of the ultra-luxury […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer sweated his way joyfully through a chilli-spiced dinner at Thai pop-up-turned-permanent Som Saa near Spitalfields Market, which he described as “an action movie full of crash, bang and wallop.” “The food wanders restlessly from north to south. It is a deliriously fearsome bash of fire and sour and salt and smoke.” ⦿ The Guardian’s […]
Cerebral foodies will gather at the LRB Bookshop near the British Museum next Thursday, September 22, to discuss the gastronomic debt England owes to French cuisine. Speakers will include chefs Stephen Harris (pictured) of Whitstable gastropub superstar the Sportsman, hailed for his “phenomenal” cooking by the Harden’s Survey, and Alexis Gauthier — one of those debts in person […]
Fred Clapperton has been appointed head chef at Drake’s in Ripley, Surrey, in succession to founder Steve Drake, who has left following his divorce from Serina. The couple founded the restaurant in 2004, winning praise from the Harden’s Survey for “adventurous” and “memorable” modern British cuisine. Clapperton, 28, joined Drake’s four years ago and has taken charge […]
The kitchen at Pied à Terre became a waterbath-free zone last week when founding chef Richard Neat returned to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Fitzrovia gastronomic temple. “I’m a dinosaur – I don’t like gadgets,” Neat declared as he led current head chef Andy McFadden and his team through a menu of his greatest hits, […]
⦿ Clipstone in Fitzrovia, which is still basking in AA Gill’s ecstatic review in the Sunday Times last week, attracted further praise this time around, the Observer’s Jay Rayner finding its food “delightful, with a few excursions into bliss and ah”. “From the short list of cold cuts and crudos comes a plate of lardo, the cured back fat of […]
Brexit could destroy the British restaurant industry if it becomes impossible to hire European staff, Bruce Poole warned as he received Lifetime Achievement recognition at the inaugural Harden’s London Restaurant Awards on Monday September 12. “I’d like to say, in light of recent events, that without these young European people we’d be fucked,” he said […]
