Grace Dent paid a visit to York for The Guardian, and the new restaurant from Tommy Banks, “posterboy for British hospitality”, winner of The Great British Menu and chef-patron at the much-loved Black Swan at Oldstead. She declares Roots, in a vast converted Victorian pub York’s “new star attraction” – better even than the Jorvik […]

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Kerridge’s Bar & Grill, London SW1 Grace Dent in The Guardian is the latest critic to visit Tom Kerridge’s long-awaited London home, and she “was delighted with everything”, even the fish ‘n’ chips which cost almost £33 but came with “special, once-in-a-lifetime chips… triple-cooked with an ethereal, golden shimmer”. Kerridge’s is “a big, broad and brassy […]

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Jimi Famurewa in ES investigated the “impressively long culinary shadow” of Rita’s at their new home in Bethnal Green’s Redchurch Brewery – the original Rita’s “refined deep-cuts from American diner menus” and “a ‘why not?’ embrace of knuckleduster Asian flavours” are now “part of the general lexicon of eating out in London”. The new incarnation, in a […]

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Grace Dent in The Guardian visited Hot Manchester Newcomer Tast Cuina Catalana, one of the ” delicate, thoughtful, educational places” that is aiming to bring a true taste of Spain to Britain. It’s “forward-reaching”, “high-end, imaginative, occasionally edgy” – and huge: there’s three “capacious” floors to fill, each offering a different level of formality and adventurousness. […]

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Grace Dent in The Guardian rejoiced in the “sheer chutzpah” of chef Alex Bond at Alchemilla even before she ate a bite of the “veg-centric” menu. Bond has turned a huge, “crypt-like space… an abandoned coaching house” that had “sat unloved and festering for more than 100 years” into “a capacious, open brushed aluminium kitchen” […]

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Nicholas Lander in The Financial Times reviews Kai Mayfair, Grand Imperial at Charing Cross Hotel and Four Seasons on Chinatown’s Gerard Street, in anticipation of Chinese New Year (the Year of the Dog begins on 16 February)… “The long-established Kai Mayfair has a menu that is well attuned to wealthy clientele. While the high prices could, I suppose, […]

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