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 […]
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 […]
Less than three months after closing his highly rated Islington restaurant 12:51, chef James Cochran is opening a new venture nearby – a ‘bistro pub’ called The Brave in a revamped Essex Road boozer. “We’re creating something really special here at The Brave,” says James. “Given all the love we received from locals when we closed […]
A new Lebanese restaurant from industry veteran Pierre Hobeika opened this week in Barnes – a part of southwest London with no other Middle Eastern cuisine available. Omm, meaning mother in Arabic, has taken over a generous corner site in White Hart Lane long occupied by local favourite Annie’s, and more recently by the short-lived Farmer’s […]
Two chefs who were part of the opening team at Stockport’s high-flying foodie hotspot Where The Light Gets In eight years ago have teamed up to launch their own restaurant and wine bar, Cantaloupe, in the Cheshire town. Josh Reed-Cooper and Mike Thomas stayed in touch while working their way through some of greater Manchester’s […]
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 […]
The team behind Berkshire’s The Woodspeen will tomorrow open a contemporary restaurant and cocktail bar called The Braywood on the site of the historic Royal Oak in Paley Street near Maidenhead. Formerly owned by chat-show host Michael Parkinson, the Royal Oak was run by his son Nick for two decades and in 2018 hosted the […]
A ‘beak-to-tail’ restaurant offering 17 different cuts of chicken cooked on skewers over a custom-made hibachi grill opened this week on the edge of the City in Holborn. Hotori, in New Fetter Lane, is a yakitori specialist – a popular style of eating in Japan – although unlike most in its country of origin it also serves […]
Fooderati favourite Australian chef David Thompson made his long-awaited return to the London food scene this week with the launch of Long Chim – 12 years after he closed Nahm in Belgravia and relocated to Bangkok. Billed as a modern interpretation of the cooking found in Bangkok’s markets and alleyways, Long Chim – meaning ‘come and […]
Mitch Tonks (right in picture) is taking over the site of Mark Hix’s (left) Oyster and Fish House in Lyme Regis, which he will relaunch next year as part of his growing Rockfish group. Mark will close the restaurant after 16 years on 7 December. He lost his London restaurant empire during the Covid pandemic, […]
