Chef Niaz Caan has opened his first restaurant as patron at the age of 23 – at the Lyceum Theatre in the heart of the West End. The 120-capacity Paro is inspired by the cuisine of Calcutta and West Bengal. Niaz began his working life in Brick Lane at 14, where he rose to become executive […]
Veteran chef Rowley Leigh is making a comeback at the age of 73 with a three-month pop-up bistro called Chez Rowley, which opens next month in Notting Hill. He describes the venture as “a bistro with nostalgic dishes and classic technique at its heart designed to be enjoyed family style. The true show stopper, poulet […]
Bob Bob Ricard, the decadently fun Soho restaurant famous for its ‘press for Champagne’ buttons on each table, is to open a spin-off rotisserie chicken specialist next month. Bébé Bob, in Golden Square, will offer ‘affordable’ wines and Champagnes, although a £75 mark-up limit indicates that some prices will be pretty high, while the chickens […]
L’Atelier Robuchon is making a return to London, five years after closing down following the death its founder, the great French chef Joël Robuchon. The new restaurant is scheduled to open on 14 September in Clarges Street, Mayfair, on the site now occupied by its more casual stablemate Comptoir Robuchon. Head chef of the reopened […]
Southern US fried chicken gets a Tokyo makeover at a new street-food stall that has opened in Vinegar Yard near London Bridge. Lani Lam’s Japanese Chicken Shop combines Nashville-style hot chicken with Japanese ingredients, in a sandwich of classic soft milk bread. Sandos on offer include the Tokyo Hot Chicken (pineapple jam, Kewpie mayo, dark soy caramel, […]
An ambitious new riverside gastropub is opening in Barnes next month from locally raised Joe Grossman, the founder of the Patty & Bun burger chain, who has put together a crack team to revive The Waterman’s Arms. The mid-Victorian pub is on a prominent corner, but has struggled in recent years first as a branch […]
Jamie Oliver has confirmed that his new Covent Garden restaurant will open in November under the name ‘Jamie Oliver at Catherine Street’. The launch marks the TV chef and writer’s return to the British restaurant scene after the collapse of his mini-empire four years ago – amid heavy hints that other openings will follow. The […]
Chef Paul Foster’s debut London venue GrassFed opened this week in a reclaimed Camden railway arch – a far cry from the historic timbered premises of his acclaimed restaurant Salt in Stratford-upon-Avon. As the name suggests, GrassFed showcases British beef and other meat, with a particular focus on ethical sourcing, sustainability and regenerative farming techniques. Much […]
A new neighbourhood restaurant bringing “sexy but healthy” food to Barnes opens next week. The Farmer’s Mistress has taken the White Hart Lane site long known for its branch of Annie’s, and more recently the short-lived Camile Thai. Founder Joanna Gascoigne, who already has a Farmer’s Mistress branch in Battersea, has transformed the interior of […]
South London chef Dom Taylor has opened an ambitious Caribbean restaurant in the West End’s luxury Langham hotel as the prize for winning a televised competition hosted by Michel Roux Jr. The Good Front Room opened the day after the result of Channel 4’s Five Star Kitchen was announced, taking over the Langham’s Palm Court […]