⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer visited 108 Garage off Portobello Road in Notting Hill, where he said “dribblingly positive reviews, of which this is another, have stacked up” – despite the lack of pre-opening publicity. “There is a touch of the Italian to the menu here, but also a touch of a bunch of other things besides. What […]
The taco’s rise to prominence in London continues, with Club Mexicana moving permanently into the Haggerston cocktail bar Pamela on January 17. Club Mexicana founder Meriel Armitage has pioneered a vegan take on taco classics, testing the market as a street-food vendor with Kerb and Street Feast. Two of the best-reviewed London restaurant openings in […]
⦿ In The Observer, Jay Rayner reviewed Aquavit, the St James’s offshoot of an “award-garlanded” Swedish restaurant in New York – “And, oh boy, check out that swagger.” It turned out to be “a proper Nordic noir thriller but for all the wrong reasons… It’s altogether more Trump Tower than Wallander. Everything is shiny and golden […]
Sam and Eddie Hart, the brothers behind the soaring Barrafina group, opened their latest venture this week, the Mexican-inspired El Pastor taqueria near Borough Market. “Al pastor“, or shepherd-style, is where the taco meets the kebab – a Mexico City staple with its origins in the Arab shawarma. Sam Hart acquired a taste for the style while […]
Quo Vadis, the Soho veteran rated as “particularly charming” by the Harden’s Survey, reopens on Monday after a six-week nip and tuck which will allow its hip young stablemate Barrafina to bunk up in the same address in Dean Street when its lease in nearby Frith Street comes to an end in November. The re-shuffle of Sam and Eddie […]
On the former site of the Hart brothers’ basement tapas joint Fino, comes a new Uzbek restaurant backed by international restaurateur Sanjar Nabiev and industry consultant Charles Oak (whose credits include Pied à Terre, Gleneagles and many more). The new Fitzrovia venue, Samarkand, is named after Uzbekistan’s city on the Silk Road – the ancient […]