Indonesian restaurant Toba opened this week in St James’s Market just off Piccadilly Circus from Pino Edward Sinaga, a former manager at the Chiltern Fire House and Annabel’s, Richard Caring’s private members club in Mayfair. The move into London’s West End marks a significant step up for Pino, who has operated a street-food outfit called […]

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Sake No Hana, the smart Japanese restaurant occupying an unusual Grade II-listed Modernist building in St James’s, has been quietly closed down by its owners, the Hakkasan group, bringing to an end its 13-year run. Opened in 2008 by Jamie Barber of Mayfair’s Hush and his business partner Evgeny Lebedev, owner of the Evening Standard, […]

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The Duck & Waffle 24-hour high-rise restaurant in the City is launching a more casual spin-off, Duck & Waffle Local, in the new St James’s Market development behind Piccadilly Circus on May 3. The new branch is designed to be “fast and accessible”, with customers ordering at a counter overlooking the kitchen before being shown […]

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⦿ Marina O’Loughlin of The Guardian reviewed Lorne 7/10 in Victoria, which lived up to the impressive CV of its founding partners, Katie Exton (sommelier and front of house) and Peter Hall (chef), who have worked at the Square, the River Cafe, Chez Bruce, Brawn and San Francisco’s celebrated Benu. “It’s the beef short rib that would make me a […]

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One of central London’s longest-established Japanese restaurants, Matsuri in St James’s, has closed down after 23 years to be replaced by an updated new establishment from the same owner. The teppanyaki and sushi bar has inspired pretty solid feedback for its “authentic” feel from the Harden’s Survey in recent years, but little in the way […]

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Former long-serving Gordon Ramsay chef James Durrant is to launch a new restaurant, the Game Bird, at the Stafford hotel in St James’s. Best known for its American Bar, the Stafford is a classic central London bolt-hole, tucked away from the crowds of Piccadilly beside Green Park. Durrant’s menu will feature plenty of game, including grouse, Rhug estate […]

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