Islington

• Llerena is Islington’s new tapas bar (and they’ve got loads of jamón)

  Delicacies from western Spain, ingredients from expert jamón producers Jamon y Salud and a *very* summery drinks menu mean that Llerena a fantastic little addition to Islington’s ever-growing collection of restaurants.

• Farang is going permanent in Highbury - we catch up with Sebby Holmes to find out more...

  

  Ever since it opened early last year, the praise has flooded in for Seb Holmes's Farang in Highbury. With a background of Smoking Goat and The Begging Bowl, as well as a lot of street food under his belt Holmes brought some properly authentic Thai food to the area. 

  However - there was always the worry that it wouldn't be a permanent venture. Farang was set up on the

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• St Paul cafe is coming to Highbury

  Replacing Nanna's in Islington is St Paul, a new all-day cafe. Expect cakes, pastries, small plates and more.   

• Test Driving Linden Stores - Islington gets another winner

  Linden Stores in Islington turns out to be a great wine shop mixed in with some wonderful small plates - we're pretty happy with our new local.

• James Cochran closes his Islington restaurant

  

  James Cochran's Islington restaurant has closed within four months of opening. The restaurant, which was upstairs at the Angel Shopping Centre in Islington, quietly closed its doors a few weeks ago. But following various enquiries on and off social it seems the restaurant has finally put up a notice confirming its closure.

  Odd thing though. When you look for information on his website, there's simply a notice that "This popup location has now

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• Linden Stores wine shop and restaurant comes to Highbury

  Taking over the spot vacated by Prawn on the Lawn, this is a new wine shop and restaurant in Islington - run by half of both Oklava and Boustead & Bidois.

• Islington’s Thai Square reopens nearly a year of post-flood refurbishment

  

  Lots of us will remember when last year, a burst water main led to some pretty epic flooding around Islington’s Upper Street. The cost of the damage caused ran into the millions, and of course, affected the area’s abundance of

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• Borough Wine & Beers' next residency is Elaine & Pete's Dining Room

  

  The chef from Dalston’s A Little Of What You Fancy is the latest to step into the residency role at Borough Wines & Beers downstairs brewery.

  Elaine Chalmers, along with her long-term associate chef Pete Le Faucheur will be setting up Elaine & Pete’s Dining Room in Brewery Below.

  It’ll be a seasonal, regularly changing menu with some intriguing ingredient combinations, like

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• Motu are expanding their delivery service to Islington and Swiss Cottage

  

  It's good news for North Londoners today as JKS Restaurants (the family behind Gymkhana and Trishna, among others) has just said it'll be opening two new Motu Indian Kitchen sites this autumn, in Islington on October 17th and Swiss Cottage on November 3rd. That brings what they term their 'refined' versions of Indian takeaway classics to area ranging from Camden and Holloway to Hamstead and Finchley Road.

  Both sites of the delivery-only service will feature dishes that are

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• Tel Aviv chef Oded Oren is popping up with Lebanese wines at Borough Wine and Beers

  

  Islington restaurant and micro-brewery Borough Wine & Beers has been keeping busy this year with a series of excellent pop-ups. They're showing no sign of letting up for the time being too. Now they've announced that the next to join will be Oded Oren, an Israeli chef who's previously worked down south in the well-received Louie Louie. 

  This time

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• Grain and Graze is a Merchant Gourmet Islington pop-up restaurant

  

  Online retailer Merchant Gourmet (where you can buy all manner of pulses and grains) are getting into the restaurant business with a pop-up space in Islington. It's working as a companion to their website so, as you might expect, those grains and pulses are heavily featured on the menu.

  While it's a strongly vegetarian affair, it's not completely veggie either with a few meat dishes cropping up. And for

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• fodder returns to Borough Wine & Beers with local-led menu

  

  Missed fodder’s three-day pop-up in Borough Wine & Beers subterranean nano-brewery? Good news: they’re returning to Brewery Below for a whole month this time, bringing a brand new menu packed with wild, foraged ingredients *and* a new chef.

  This time around Ollie Downey will be joining Michael Thompson in the kitchen, bringing together their joint Claridge's experience to roll out a menu that’s full of food themed around the changing seasons. You can

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• James Cochran N1 is coming to Islington's Angel Central

  Following up from the success of James Cochran EC3, the chef is bringing his N1 incarnation to Islington's Angel Central. 

• Manze pie and eel shop on Islington's Chapel Market to close

  Sad news as the traditional English pie and eel shop which has been trading as Manze since 1902 blames business rates for decision

• The Great Chase on St John Street offers ethically sourced food and booze-free drinks

  As much as possible is ethically sourced at this new restaurant on St John Street from a former Dean Street Townhouse chef, with an alcohol-free drinks menu that’ll delight non-drinkers.