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Kitchen extractor fires close two restaurants

6 days ago | hardens.com | Hardens Bytes

Two well-known London restaurants closed temporarily this week following fires in their kitchen extraction systems – Som Saa in Spitalfields and Straker’s in Notting Hill. Straker’s will reopen as soon as possible, initially as a cold bar, following a fire that damaged parts of both the kitchen and restaurant. No injuries were reported.
Hello JoJo bids goodbye to austerity

6 days ago | hardens.com | Hardens Bytes

A new all-day bakery and restaurant pitched as an antidote to the austerity of recent years launches next week on the former site of Forza Win in Camberwell Church Street. Hello JoJo takes its name from Jo (JoJo) Lavender, co-founder with Rob Newlan. They say: “Hello JoJo is a true celebration of the very special place that we call home. Our ambition is to create a space that encapsulates the spirit of our neighbourhood and to be a place where everyone feels welcome.
New New York-style bistro for NoMad

6 days ago | hardens.com | Hardens Bytes

NoMad boutique hotel in Covent Garden relaunches its main restaurant today under a new name as Twenty8 NoMad – a New York-style bistro, reflecting the brand’s Manhattan origin. The hotel opened four years ago after a slick modern conversion of the former Bow Street Magistrates’ Court, with a spectacular restaurant in a glass-roofed courtyard called The Atrium. But despite a setting hailed as “beautiful” and “atmospheric” in the 2025 Harden’s guide, the food has been consistently “underwhelming”.
Paternoster Farm given notice by Pembrokeshire council

6 days ago | hardens.com | Hardens Bytes

Paternoster Farm, an off-the-radar restaurant near the western tip of Pembrokeshire, faces closure following the loss of its lease – just days after a glowing review in the Sunday Times brought it to national attention. The restaurant originated as a lockdown project during the pandemic, when self-taught chef Michelle Evans – a former divorce lawyer – opened a farm shop that has developed into a thriving restaurant housed in a converted cowshed at the end of a farm track.
Stevie Parle brings Wildfarmed beef to Town

6 days ago | hardens.com | Hardens Bytes

Chef Stevie Parle will next week open his first new restaurant for eight years – Town, on Drury Lane in Covent Garden, which he describes as “the biggest, most ambitious project I’ve ever done“. The restaurant will serve British ingredients cooked with Italian influences, and aims to change the way things are done in hospitality. Stevie says: “We are helping to pioneer a genuinely new approach to restaurant supply chains, built on knowing every farmer who grows what we cook.
Review of the Reviews

1 week ago | hardens.com | Hardens Bytes

Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 4th May 2025Chuck’s, Brixton David Ellis reckons “success is around the corner” for a “rotisserie restaurant that almost everyone can afford” operating out of a small and plain room in Brixton Market. Chicken, pork belly and potatoes are cooked in a rotisserie oven called Esmerelda, and served alongside excellent coleslaw and gem salads.
Pyramid restaurant drawing crowds to Stockport

1 week ago | hardens.com | Hardens Bytes

More than 10,000 diners have sampled the vast new Royal Nawaab restaurant in the ‘Stockport Pyramid’ building on the edge of Manchester, in a two-week soft launch ahead of its formal opening this month. The glass pyramid was the head office of the Co-Op Bank for 23 years until 2018, and has been converted at a reported cost of £15 million to provide a restaurant and banqueting suites that can accommodate up to 1,500 guests – with more to come as the upper storeys are refurbished.
Dorian’s new sushi bar spin-off

1 week ago | hardens.com | Hardens Bytes

The team behind Notting Hill restaurant Dorian is opening a tiny sushi bar next week, in a former antiques shop directly across Talbot Road. Eel Sushi Bar will be a 10-seat spot only for walks, operating from midday to 10pm every day under the wonderfully named former Dinings chef Nicky Noodle. Access to Dorian’s cellar means it will have what is billed as “the best wine list of any sushi bar in the world”.
Last orders at Lyle’s as James Lowe calls time

1 week ago | hardens.com | Hardens Bytes

Influential Shoreditch restaurant Lyle’s is closing down after 11 years, with founder James Lowe moving on to an “exciting upcoming solo project”. Meanwhile his original partner John Ogier, who left the business four years ago, is launching a rotisserie chicken specialist in East Dulwich.
Raising the ghost of Leroy

1 week ago | hardens.com | Hardens Bytes

Alex Grant and Simon Shand, former members of the team at Shoreditch bistro Leroy, which closed down last year, have joined forces to open a new restaurant on the same corner site. Duchy takes its name – and its gastronomic cues – from the Duchy of Savoy, the historical borderland between the south of France and northwest Italy. It will also serve ‘world class’ wines from the region, as well as a grappa selection, spritzes and cocktails.