Gastroblog
One of the most interesting developments we’re seeing in the London restaurant scene right now, is the increase in restaurants coming up with innovative ways to get the punters in, particularly on quieter days of the week.
This rise in food and wine-pairing evenings, tutored wine tastings, special menus with lectures serve a number of functions. They give Londoners a chance to chat and connect ove…
Reaction to the publication of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2010 List has, in the main, been pretty much what you'd expect. First off, thousands of restaurant collectors and foodie tourists stormed the online booking system at winner Noma – 100,000 of them to be exact – only to find that the last time there was a free table was on the night just after the award was announced.
It all must h…
Read more: Reaction to the World's 50 Best Restaurants 2010 List
Exciting news for Islington residents as the site of a once well-loved restaurant, Gill Wing Cafe, has an exciting new future as a neighbourhood Italian with two River Cafe and Fifteen alumni behind it.
Jordan Frieda, formerly front-of-house at The River Cafe has teamed up with chef Tim Siadatan - one of the original trainees at Fifteen who has since worked at both St John and Moro to open their o…
Read more: Fifteen and River Cafe alumni opening Italian Trullo restaurant in Islington
It's been twenty years since Brindisa first began importing the best of Spanish food and drink to London. Now, in addition to their Borough Market stall they have three Tapas restaurants, one of which - Casa Brindisa in South Ken - plays host to a series of Supper Club and Masterclass tasting evenings.
Each event focuses on a different area of Spanish food and wine and Hot Dinners was invited to…
When we set out to the Arch London hotel to review the election éclairs – a very topical take on the hotel’s bar snacks which had been creating something of a stir in London’s bar circles – we didn’t expect to find a hidden gem of a bar and restaurant that we’re slightly loath to tell anyone about.
Opened at the tail-end of last year, this hotel is the brainchild of the family behind the utterly d…
As the chef behind the only new British entry in this year’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Claude Bosi was in a pretty good mood when Hot Dinners spoke to him this morning.
So how are you feeling this morning?
Fantastic. We’ve only been in London for two years, so I’m really pleased – for us as a team it’s fantastic.
Did you know ahead of the ceremony last night where you’d been placed?
I knew I wa…
Read more: Claude Bosi talks to Hot Dinners about joining the World's 50 Best Restaurants
The organisers for this year's World's 50 Best Restaurants awards must be heaving a sigh of relief. First there was the volcano which threatened to keep the best chefs in the world from heading over to London for the restaurant world's Oscars. Then came rumours of a leak of the results, just days before the ceremony - although that proved incorrect in the end.
But it all went well on the night, as…
Well I think we can guess some of the restaurants taking part in Action against Hunger’s ebay auction in conjunction with tonight’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards. The auction is offering restaurant collectors the chance to bid for one of 40 meals for two at restaurants from the San Pellegrino list. There’ll also be extras such as a glass of fizz in the kitchen with the chef or a signed book t…
Read more: Bid for dinner at Noma and other World Top 50 Restaurants
Hot Dinners meets Manhattan chef Daniel Boulud to find out what Londoners can expect when he opens his first UK restaurant, Bar Boulud London at Knightbridge's Mandarin Oriental Hotel in May…
Read more: Talking to Daniel Boulud - New York's greatest chef comes to London
When Hot Dinners attended the press launch of the 2010 London Restaurant Festival, organisers Fay Maschler and Simon Davis were keen to keep details of some of the key events to themselves, so they could feed us choice titbits between now and October.
Happily critic AA Gill has no compunction about keeping schtum and blithely reveals in his review of Bistrot Bruno Loubet this week that he's been a…
Read more: AA Gill approached for London Restaurant Festival 2010 debate
Looking for some last-minute inspiration on where to dine out for St George's Day? We asked the five English restaurants given the highest cumulative critic score on Hot Dinners what they recommended on today's menu.
Harwood Arms Fulham
'We have six small Yorkshire rhuburb doughnuts with spiced sugar and whipped cream which come warm from the oven.'
The Old Brewery Greenwich
'Definitely The 'London…
It certainly is a boom time for London restaurants, and particularly for the big names. We've had Bruno Loubet's recent success and Gordon's generally well received Petrus (even if AA Gill wasn't too happy) with Bar Boulud London just around the corner. There are much anticipated upcoming London homes for Michel Roux Junior, Pierre Koffman and Heston Blumenthal.
But if you want to really show of…
Read more: Tom Aikens to launch two restaurants at Somerset House
Jellymongers and orchestrators of frankly bizarre food and drink events, Bompas and Parr, are opening up a politically-motivated pop-up in Soho tomorrow. The Parliamentary Waffle House at 66-67 Broadwick Street will be open between 22 April and the night of the election.
For just £5, the 'meal deal' ticket on sale here at Ticketweb will earn you the right to a Parliamentary waffle, scoop of ice cr…
Read more: Bompas and Parr open election waffle house in Soho
There’s good news for carnivores in the capital with two new steak restaurants opening their doors this year. If you can't wait for Hawskmoor to open its second restaurant, on the corner of Shelton Street and Langley Street in Covent Garden, in September, you can try the first London branch of JW Steakhouse which will be opening at Grosvenor House.
JW’s chef will be Paul Hallett, formerly of the…
Update - as the restaurant is now open - read the reviews of Koffmann's.
According to news from Richard Vines at Bloomberg this morning, Pierre Koffman is returning to the kitchen full time with a brand-new London restaurant. The new restaurant is to be called "Koffman's" and will open in the Berkeley Hotel basement, in the space recently vacated by the Boxwood Cafe.
Koffman joins Bruno Loubet as…
Read more: Pierre Koffman returns to the London restaurant scene
