A new French deli, bakery and ‘canteen’, Café François, is to open next week in Borough Yards, taking over the two-storey former Paul Smith shop on the edge of Borough Market. It is a spinoff from Maison François in St James’s, founded four years ago by François O’Neill and already established as a West End […]
The brothers behind Blanchette in Soho have opened a new live-fire grill restaurant in Kingly Court called Goldies. Yannis and Max Alary say: “Combining flame with sustainable local produce, our menu will provide dramatic and smoky sensations, with twists on classic dishes and our twice-fried Goldies frites.” While 10-year-old Blanchette – named after their mother […]
A modern French bistro with a focus on affordability opens in the leafy southwest London borough of Richmond this month. Chef John McClements, who ran the local Ma Cuisine group for three decades, has come out of retirement to launch the project. Mignonette is just five minutes’ walk from Richmond station on the Kew Road, […]
A new Basque steakhouse has opened in the City specialising in dishes from the French side of the Basque country – and with long-term plans to showcase the first Galician Blond beef bred in the UK. Ibai, close to Smithfield Market, brings together former Chiltern Firehouse head chef Richard Foster (pictured centre) with Nemanja Borjanović […]
Dubai-based British-Nigerian chef Izu Ani opens his first London restaurant under his own name tomorrow – a French-inspired operation in Knightsbridge. La Maison Ani, in the Carlton Tower Jumeira hotel, is the second branch of a brand he launched in Dubai last year with Russian restaurateur Evgeny Kusin. It marks the second London opening from […]
A new floating Franco-American brasserie will open in Canary Wharf this summer, under chef Robert Aikens (pictured), the identical twin brother to Tom Aikens of Muse in Chelsea. Marceline, which is scheduled to open in August, will occupy the upper level of a floating pavilion in the Wood Wharf development, with Greek restaurant Hovarda below. […]
The family behind longstanding Kensington Italian restaurant Il Portico has launched a new venture almost next door, focusing on the food of southwest France and the Pays Basque. La Palombe, which opened this week opposite the Design Museum, has taken over the site of Pino, an Italian enoteca also owned by the Chiavarini family, which […]
A new Franco-Irish brasserie has launched in Old Spitalfields Market. 65A Spitalfields officially opens next Tuesday, 12 September, but diners can sample it today with food at a 30% discount during the soft launch. The restaurant is owned by Irish-born entrepreneur and publican Patrick Frawley, with executive chef Maura Baxter running the kitchen. It takes […]
L’Atelier Robuchon is making a return to London, five years after closing down following the death its founder, the great French chef Joël Robuchon. The new restaurant is scheduled to open on 14 September in Clarges Street, Mayfair, on the site now occupied by its more casual stablemate Comptoir Robuchon. Head chef of the reopened […]
The team behind highly regarded central London trio Portland, Clipstone and the Quality Chop House are to open what promises to be a smart French bistro in Goodge Street, Fitzrovia. 64 Goodge Street will launch at the height of les vacances on 7 August under group executive head chef Stuart Andrew, a key member of […]
