Refurb

• Calum Franklin to run the evening menu at Harrods' The Georgian revival (with pies)

  

  One of London's oldest dining rooms is about to reopen after a major makeover, and with a very well-known London chef to boot.

  The Georgian restaurant in Harrods has been welcoming guests for afternoon tea since it first opened way back in 1911. Since then it's played host to royalty and celebrities and had a number of refreshes over the years from the addition of Art Deco skylights in the 1920s to the most

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• Endo at the Rotunda is closing for a big revamp

  

  Every year, just before the new Michelin stars are announced, there's some buzz about who might be getting a new star. And this month, when it came to potential new two starred restaurants, Endo at the Rotunda was definitely a name being bandied around.

  While they didn't get that

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• Lavazza brings in Michelin-starred chefs for its new-look London store

  

  After quite the makeover Lavazza's flagship London store has reopened and now boasts a cafe, cocktail bar and restaurant. The store, opposite Liberty, has also brought in various chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants to work on the pastries and dishes they'll be serving up.

  Now when you walk through the door you'll find a caffetteria, pasticceria and gastronomia inside. In the first, it'll be

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• Restaurant Story is getting ready to unveil its £2.5 million makeover

  

  Updated 22/11/23 with reopening date

  In the nine months since he closed his Restaurant Story in Bermondsey for a massive £2.5 million refurbishment, chef Tom Sellers has kept himself busy. First, he opened Story Cellar in Covent Garden, followed by ...

• SOLA in Soho is about to get twice as big

  

  Updated 27/10/23 with opening date

  Big changes are coming to Soho's Michelin-starred SOLA - it's about to become twice the size.

  The restaurant has been a fairly compact one to date (the open kitchen itself took up a fair chunk of space), seating only 24 people. The coming changes - the restaurant is closing for two months during the renovation - mean that it's about to get an entirely new

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• The Walmer Castle is reopening in Notting Hill with (another) new owner in charge

  

  Another day, another news story about Notting Hill. That part of London is on fire at the moment when it comes to interesting food and drink openings. Today we bring you news not of a new opening but a reopening. Two prominent teams have so far failed to turn The Walmer Castle into a thriving business. First up we had David Beckham

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• Camden's KOKO will reopen with a rooftop restaurant, pizzeria and a cocktail bar in its dome

  

  Following both fire and flooding - not to mention the issues facing live entertainment over the pandemic - it's fair to say the past few years haven't been great ones for iconic music venue KOKO. But this week the team behind it revealed their plans to reopen in Spring following quite the makeover.

• Langan's Brasserie gets ready to reopen following a major refurb

  

  Updated 8/10/21 with menu details

  Langan's Brasserie was one of the true legends of the London dining scene, with the restaurant being the place to be seen at back in the 70s and 80s. Originally launched by Peter Langan in partnership with Sir Michael Caine it was one of the main celeb hangouts of its day.

  Since Langan's death in 1988 though, the restaurant slowly lost its lustre and it

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• Kitchen Table is coming back with a completely new look (and a new bar)

  

  It closed along with everything else when the pandemic hit last year, but now Kitchen Table is returning and it's got a brand new look. 

  James Knappett and Sandia Chang's restaurant still retains the big counter around the kitchen where all the action happens - but big changes have been made. It now seats 18 (that's down one) and the previous steel counter has been

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• J.Sheekey is reopening with a weatherproofed year-round terrace

  

  It was one of the last places we visited before the Christmas lockdown, but fans of Covent Garden restaurant J. Sheekey will be aware that the restaurant had yet to reopen its doors this summer. Turns out a 125 year old restaurant needs a bit of work done to look its best, so they've been spending that time giving it a bit of a refurb.

  To that end, Sheekeys is getting ready to open again this month and probably the biggest

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• The Cavendish relaunches with ex-Oystermen and Hartnett chef and new look

  

  Over in Marylebone, gastropub and dining room The Cavendish is about to reopen and is setting out its stall as a serious destination for food. Key to that is who they've put in charge of the kitchen. Executive Chef Alex Povall was most recently Head Chef at The Oystermen, but before that spent years working under Angela Hartnett at her restaurants.

  At his new digs in Marylebone, Alex will reference his most recent position, by featuring

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• Queen's Park restaurant Milk Beach is expanding - with more alfresco seating and a new bar

  

  A lot of restaurants in London have taken the enforced downtime of lockdown to take stock of their business. And over in Queen's Park, Aussie restaurant Milk Beach has decided that expansion is the way forward.

  The team behind the all-day restaurant, which is tucked away on Lonsdale Road mews, have taken over next door Hugo's Restaurant. They'll be doing renovations over the coming two months, during which time they'll run as an outside shop

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• Gaucho's redesigned Charlotte Street restaurant will have a beef bar for counter dining

  The Gaucho group is back from administration woes with a new CEO and a new concept, starting with a reinvention of its Charlotte Street site.

• Soho’s Ember Yard restaurant gets a big refurb and a new menu

  Ember Yard, the fourth of the Salt Yard Group’s Spanish-Italian’s restaurants, will re-open its Soho doors with a new design and new menu after a month-long refurbishment.

• Mark Jarvis and Xavier Rousset take over Gunmakers in Marylebone

  

  Updated 13/1/19 with menu

  He may have left the sadly departed Neo Bistro and Stem behind (with Anglo still going strong), but Mark Jarvis has already started on his next venture. He's joined forces with Xavier Rousset (Blandford Comptoir and Cabotte) to re-open Gunmakers in Marylebone, a pub that's been around for 300 years at this point. 

  The plan is to open a 40 cover restaurant below the pub and add six bedrooms upstairs too. It's

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