Modern Greek restaurant Ampéli has closed down and its Fitzrovia site has been taken over by a Ukrainian-owned Spanish restaurant, Boca a Boca. Ampéli was opened in 2020 by photographer Jenny Pagnoni, taking inspiration from modern wine-focused restaurants in Athens, and won plenty of press support from the FT, Guardian, Standard and Independent – and from […]
Matt Appleton and Jess Blackstone, the pair behind Highbury-based Fink’s Salt & Sweet cafés, are launching a new restaurant in the area next week. Saltine will offer coffee, pastries and grab-and-go bites during the day, but operate as a full-scale restaurant in the evening, with a menu from former St John Marylebone chef Phil Wood […]
Jeremy King has revealed the name for his revival of Le Caprice, the legendary St James’s restaurant he has resumed control after a 25-year gap: it will be called the Arlington, after the street it is in. The restaurant closed down three years ago under the ownership of Richard Caring, who retains the name as […]
London’s Theatreland will have a new restaurant next week with the opening of Cafe Kitty, from the Kitty Fisher’s group. It is part of the new Underbelly Boulevard in Soho, the first permanent venue from cabaret and festival outfit Underbelly. Kitty Fisher’s was one of the hottest restaurants in London when it opened in Mayfair’s […]
Two new Latin American restaurants are opening almost simultaneously in east London – Chakana, bringing Peruvian cuisine to Broadway Market in London Fields, and Chayote with a Mexican-Peruvian-Spanish mix in St Katharine Docks. Chakana marks the return to London of Robert Ortiz, who was the chef behind Fitzrovia restaurant Lima, which opened to wide acclaim in […]
A new wagyu-specialist Japanese restaurant opens in Mayfair next week which is expected to charge an astonishing £750 per person for a meal with wine. Aragawa, on Clarges Street, is the first European branch of a restaurant that originated in 1956 in Kobe, capital of Hyogo prefecture, and home of the best wagyu cattle – it […]
Former Pétrus head chef Larry Jayasekara has teamed up with photographic art gallerist Tim Jefferies to open his first restaurant as patron, The Cocochine in Mayfair. Opening this month, the restaurant is small but lavishly appointed, with “old school” touches such as booking by phone only, no turning of tables and a fully à la […]
Prominent Notting Hill pub the Walmer Castle is to reopen on November 1 under new ownership – its third in quick succession after a turbulent few years. The new owners are Jack and Poppy Greenall, who also own The Surprise in Chelsea – another handsome mid-Victorian tavern – and are working to resurrect it as a “traditional community […]
High-end omakase dining arrives in Hampstead this month with the opening of restaurant Iné, from the team behind Taku in Mayfair. Named after the Japanese for the rice plant before it is harvested, Iné will offer a 15-course omakase (“leave it to the chef”) meal along with a full sushi and sashimi menu at an […]
A new European-style café that morphs into an evening cocktail bar opens near the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden next Thursday, 12 October. Baudry Greene is the latest offering on Endell Street from Will Palmer and Ian Campbell, who also run 10 Cases wine bar and Parsons fish restaurant there – both of which earn […]
