Is it a slow news week when one of the biggest stories it that - drumroll - Gordon Ramsay is going to start tweeting? The chef announced the news on Chris Moyles' Radio One show saying: ''I've gone on a Twitter course. I'm just going through all the stages in terms of prep, properly understanding it. I'm doing it personally. ' The launch - as it's now being referred to - takes place 1 February. We wait with baited breath...
Second Polpo round the corner?
Russell Norman has made no secret of his desire to open a second restaurant, following in the footsteps of hugely successful Polpo. Back in November he told us there were 'certainly plans to open a second one' adding that it 'wouldn't be a carbon-copy' of Polpo. Now it seems as if he may have found the spot to do it. Tweeting today Russell said: 'saw a great site yesterday for a new project of ours. Will keep you all posted.'
Jamie's US alliance
Another upcoming restaurant creating a lot of buzz is the one being opened up by Jamie Oliver and New York chef Adam Perry-Lang, 'a great, great chef' in Oliver's words, in the One New Change developement by St Paul's.
Perry-Lang tells NY's Grub Street more on what we can expect; 'The new place will be all about the influences from around the world of international barbecues. The dishes on the menu will originate from the diverse equipment and different woods and charcoals we will be using. Wood burning ovens, robata grills, tandoors, open pits and slow burning smokehouses, to name just a few.'
Perry-Lang, a protege of Daniel Boulud made a name for himself with his Daisy May's BBQ USA. Heston Blumenthal called his steaks 'the best in the world'. The London restaurant is expected to be the first in a series and has been two years in the planning.
Keep an eye on our regularly updated feature for news on upcoming London restaurants.
Dining and football
Oliver's restaurant may look out over St Paul's but if you're a footie fan you might be interested by another restaurant with a view opening in Holloway in the next couple of years. In plans submitted this week for a student accommodation tower block being built by Arsenal are details that the 23rd floor of the scheme is going to be a public bar and restaurant with views over the Emirates Stadium.
Outside London
The chef of Liverpool restaurant Panoramic, which was roundly rubbished by the Guardian's Matthew Norman as 'wilfully incompetent' has spoken out against locally sourced food. In an interesting deviation from the norm, chef Christ Marshall tells Eat Out magazine; 'I think the we-buy-local stuff is all a little bit overrated to be honest...I'm not going to pay through the nose just because it's grown 10 miles away. We're a business, not a charity.'
And finally...
We're a bit late to this story, but we really like the idea of the Ogori mystery cafe in Kashiwa, Southern Japan where the hook is that you get to eat what the person before you has ordered. It's a neat idea and one which makes everyone order something nice for a complete stranger - great food karma.
