Jason Atherton’s former Mayfair flagship, Pollen Street Social, reopened without advance publicity this week as Motcomb’s Tavern, the latest incarnation of the long-running establishment that closed in Belgravia earlier this year. The move ends Jason’s association with the site where he launched his stellar career as a restaurateur in his own right, after leaving Gordon […]

American luxury lifestyle brand RH – fka Restoration Hardware – is planning to open an eating, drinking and shopping complex in Mayfair incorporating a restaurant, a coffee shop, three bars and a rooftop terrace. The company has submitted plans to Westminster council to transform three Grade II-listed buildings off Savile Row, previously occupied by Abercrombie […]
Veteran celeb chef Aldo Zilli makes his return to the London restaurant scene next week with the launch on Tuesday (10 December) of Undercroft in Mayfair, a dramatic new dining venue set in the crypt of historic St George’s church off Hanover Square. The venue was heavily trailed earlier this year as the site where […]
Babbo, the former Mayfair Italian restaurant with footballing connections, completes its transfer to St John’s Wood next week, while its fellow glossy Italian Bocconcino opens a seafood spinoff in the Strand called Osteria del Mare (pictured). Launching on Monday, Osteria del Mare takes inspiration from the Tuscan coastal resort of Forte dei Marmi, with ex-Barrafina […]
Provençal bistro Socca in Mayfair has closed down suddenly, in what is an unusual backward step for its co-founders Samyukta Nair and Claude Bosi – separately, two of London’s most prolific restaurateurs in recent years. The pair announced the move without any notice on Saturday (30 November), saying “It is with a very heavy heart that […]
Sardinian chef Achille Pinna is to open a new self-named restaurant by the entrance to Shepherd Market in Mayfair next week. Pinna is backed by prolific restaurateurs George Bukhov-Weinstein and Ilya Demichev, the duo behind Burger & Lobster and Goodman, who earlier this month launched Fantomas in Chelsea. Achille is a former executive chef at […]
Silva, a new ‘day-to-night’ restaurant, opened yesterday in a Mayfair mews from first-time restaurateur Daria Grebenyuk. She recruited experienced hands led by head chef Slawomir Sawicki (ex-of Eric Chavot, Galvin at La Chapelle, Arts Club) and former Sir Terence Conran partner Peter Prescott to bring the project to fruition. Silva – from the Latin word for […]
Prolific Mayfair-based restaurateur Samyukta Nair is to open her first Italian restaurant next week – Nipotina, an all-day family-oriented neighbourhood venue in South Audley Street. Turin-born chef Somaia Hammad (right in photograph) will lead the kitchen, while Luca Dusi (left), of Passione Vino in Shoreditch, has assembled a wine list featuring small and artisanal producers from […]
Former Galvin at Windows head chef Joo Won is to open his first restaurant, Cálong, in Stoke Newington, combining classical French techniques, seasonal British produce and his Korean culinary heritage. Cálong is taking over the premises in Church Street occupied for nine years by Rubedo, a European bistro and natural wine bar that signs off […]