Gastroblog
As has been threatened for a number of days now, London is confirmed as being raised to Tier 3 restrictions from midnight on Wednesday morning on 16 December.
Put simply, it means that all restaurants, bars and pubs have to shut - and are back to only deliveries and takeaways. Essentially it's the same as Lockdown 2.0.
Obviously, this is a terrible blow for the hospitality industry in London, par…
Read more: London is heading into Tier 3 from Wednesday - restaurants must close again
Model Mandy Lieu is behind the transformation of this Westbourne Grove spot into an all-day restaurant and deli aiming to connect Londoners with where their food comes from.…
Isn't that the way? You wait ages for a Greggs and then two come along at once...
Yes, if you've been hankering for a Steak Bake around King's Cross or St Pancras of late - there are two new Greggs in the station! The first opened on Saturday in the lower ground The Circle in St Pancras, while the second opens today on the first-floor concourse.
They'll have all the Greggs delights you want…
New to Coal Drops Yard in King's Cross (and takeaway only) is Hiden Curry Lab, a very dayglo yellow shop selling Japanese curry. It's taken over the space that used to be Bodega Rita's and is apparently an homage to Japan's many 'hole-in-the-wall' speciality restaurants.
The menu is the simplest possible. There are two forms of Japanese curry and rice (and pickles), either beef or vegan, created…
Read more: Hiden Curry lab is the latest addition to King's Cross' Coal Drops Yard
His pop-ups have been a huge success and now, with the final stop of a crowdfunding campaign, Imad Alarnab is bringing his Syrian food to Soho.…
Read more: Imad's Syrian Kitchen settles down in Kingly Court
Throughout December there's now an additional reason to head out to Hackney Wick. Perenially popular restaurant Moro has just started a pop up in Autumn Yard. The yard itself is right on the river Lea opposite the London stadium and is a joint venture between Sam Clark of Moro and Morito and Nina Tolstrup of Studio Mama.
The winter popup at Moro's unit places piri piri chicken and squid at the he…
This is the second Crazy Pizza to hit London, coming from ex-Formula One boss, Flavio Briatore. Expect similar pizzas to the original, just around the corner from Harrods.…
Read more: Crazy Pizza has Knightsbridge as its second London restaurant
A Hot Dinners exclusive
We're all about hositality folk doing their best in these tough times, so we have to applaud Mayfair's Guinea Grill which today expands across the road for a festive popup.
The pub has taken over the old Pizza Express site opposite them on Bruton Place as the Guinea Express popup in the run up to Christmas. The idea is the extra space will allow them to have 60 more diners…
Read more: Guinea Grill launches the Guinea Express - a Tier 2 pop-up in Mayfair
The Nook in Islington launched quietly in the pandemic - and turns out to be an absolute neighbourhood gem.…
Read more: Test Driving The Nook - an Islington neighbourhood restaurant par excellence
This new neighbourhood pub and restaurant is taking over a Grade II listed building in Camden and will have both a big focus on natural wine as well as a very handy heated courtyard. They'll even be serving Sunday roasts that you can carve at your own table. …
After almost 48 years in the role, Fay Maschler is ending her tenure as the Evening Standard's chief restaurant critic and Jimi Famurewa is taking over the job. The position is seen as being one of the most influential on Londoners' dining habits and as Maschler has been in the job for just shy of half a century this is a big deal.
Famurewa has been reviewing for the paper for a…
Read more: Jimi Famurewa takes over from Fay Maschler as the Evening Standard's restaurant critic
London is overrun with fantastic burgers these days, so it's pretty rare that a new one comes along with a genuinely interesting story behind it. But a new venture called Ground, from The Ethical Butcher’s Farshad Kazemian and Lily Bovey (of street food stall Stakehaus) certainly sounds like it will be worth trying. In a nutshell, the pair have teamed up to create a burger that is ‘climate-positi…
Read more: The Ethical Butcher launches climate-positive burger brand Ground
The ULI team take their brand of Southeast Asian food to Chelsea…
Read more: HUŎ in Chelsea is a new restaurant from the ULI Notting Hill team
Another Japanese udon chain has set its sights on London, this time choosing St Pancras as its base (as part of the food outlet section at the north end). As reported first by Big Hospitality, Kineya Mugimaru is opening in the station concourse.
The noodle bar already has 500 stores across Japan, Hong King and the US - so we wouldn't expect this to be their only London site either, particul…
Read more: Kineya Mugimaru udon noodles arrive at St Pancras
Aparthotel company Locke are clearly worth watching. Their Bermondsey building houses the new Dairy, their Aldgate hotel is currently the new home for plant-forward popup Alter and now they have released details about their imminent opening in Dalston.
Their fourth site is Kingsland Locke and, in addition to the apartments, it houses a microbrewery, gin distillery, coffee shop and a new restauran…
