The luxury Raffles Hotel at the Old War Office in Whitehall has quietly opened an all-day café in its grand courtyard, replacing the smart Café Lapérouse which closed earlier this year after a two-year stint in a newly installed glass pavilion. The new Café Ciel specialises in pastries, sweet treats and brunch, with cocktails and […]
A Thai restaurant whose “unapologetically spicy” cooking is based around pastes pounded by hand using a pestle and mortar opens tomorrow in Peckham, from a pair of chefs who have worked in some of London’s most exciting Thai kitchens. Kruk – a mash-up of Thai words ‘klook’ meaning to mix or stir and ‘krok’ meaning mortar […]
A self-service wine bar has opened in what its founders describe as a “dream” location in Newcastle. The Angels’ Share has taken over a former Boots chemist’s shop on St George’s Terrace in Jesmond, and has 36 wines available at the tap of a contactless card as well as more standard bar and waiter service. […]
Striking Chelsea restaurant Fantomas has shut abruptly after less than a year in operation, with the departure of its highly rated chef Chris Denney. The restaurant’s website said it has closed for “an exciting transformation. This autumn, we’re returning reimagined and ready for a new chapter.” For his part Chris, who made his name at […]
Gordon Ramsay and Tom Kerridge are to be dropped by Harrods as the Knightsbridge department store reverses its policy of recruiting celeb chefs to give its restaurants star appeal. The clear-out begins this Saturday with the closure of Sushi by Masa, from New York-based Masayoshi Takayama, with Kerridge’s Fish & Chips frying until the end […]
Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week to 3rd August 2025 London Standard Lil’ Nashville, Chiswick David Ellis whooped, hollered and kicked up his heels at a ‘country bar and kitchen’ in west London that is “better considered a kind of theme park ride”, offering line-dancing accompanied by Southern-style […]
Pachamama East in Shoreditch closes down tomorrow, bringing to an end the decade-old Peruvian brand from a group which has switched focus to Mediterranean cuisine in recent years. The Shoreditch site is to be re-launched by owner Rustambek Narzibekov as an as-yet unnamed Greek restaurant. The company said: “This marks the end of a defining […]
Well-known Hoxton pub the Macbeth is to reopen this month with a Portuguese-inspired menu from chef Jamie Allan, part of the team which revived the Plimsoll and Tollington’s in Finsbury Park. Jamie, who will run the pub with his friend Patrick Nolan, said the Macbeth represents “a beautiful opportunity to work in a part of […]
An upscale modern Greek restaurant has opened in Birmingham’s Colmore business district, having taken over a former All Bar One corner site in the Grade II listed Cornwall Buildings. Cylla – named after the man-eating sea monster of Ancient Greek myth, also spelt Scylla – aims to present a “sophisticated approach to Mediterranean dining”, with classic Hellenic […]
A vibey contemporary Japanese restaurant whose two floors are linked by a dramatic poured-concrete staircase opened in Soho this week. Moi (pronounced to rhyme with ‘boy’), in Wardour Street, is the first launch from an ambitious new company, Mad Restaurants, founded by entrepreneur Artem Login of the international café brand L’Eto. Former Gordon Ramsay chef […]