Stefan Chomka

Hubei

Editor at Restaurant

Editor at Restaurant Magazine

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Articles

Will Gleave: “It has this slight edge to it which is quite fun”

2 weeks ago | restaurantonline.co.uk | Stefan Chomka

I’ve known about Sargasso since it opened, and I’ve always followed what [owners] Ed [Wilson] and Josie [Stead] have been doing. I’ve always had this love for seaside places where you can cook local seafood in a simple way so I’ve had my eye on it. I used to go to Brawn [Wilson and Stead’s Hackney restaurant] as a customer and ended up working there briefly.
Book review: Sunny Days Taco Nights

2 weeks ago | restaurantonline.co.uk | Stefan Chomka

With the publication of Tacopedia almost a decade ago, you’d think there wouldn’t be the need for another book from Phaidon focusing squarely on the traditional Mexican dish of tacos, and yet here the publisher is with a new book that does exactly that.
Birmingham chef Glynn Purnell on closing his flagship restaurant and what the future holds

1 month ago | restaurantonline.co.uk | Stefan Chomka

In October you closed Purnell’s after 17 years. Tell us about thatI never had a financial backer for the restaurant—I did it off my own back. I re-mortgaged the house, maxed out my credit cards, and did it the old-fashioned way. I battled through a couple of recessions, the credit crunch, the 2008 bank collapse. Even though the industry had its peaks and troughs, it was manageable. I made a decent living, and I loved it. Brexit was difficult, but we got through it. Then Covid hit.
LUCA's Johnny Smith and Daniel Willis on their new hospitality company SMITH & WILLIS

1 month ago | restaurantonline.co.uk | Joe Lutrario |Stefan Chomka |William Reed

Nice office…Johnny Smith: We wanted to give SMITH & WILLIS a home. Somewhere to bring together everything we love about restaurants. It’s going to be the creative force that drives the business forward. We’d had our eye on this space above LUCA for a while. The day we signed, we were served notice at our old office across the road, so it felt meant to be. It has a Manchester loft vibe, which Daniel and I love.
Michael Caines appointed culinary strategist at The Stafford London hotel

2 months ago | restaurantonline.co.uk | Joe Lutrario |Stefan Chomka |James McAllister |William Reed

The group says that the appointment is an exciting new chapter for the luxury St. James’s property, which is home to The Game Bird restaurant and the American Bar. Caines - who is the chef owner of Michelin-starred hotel and restaurant Lympstone Manor - will work with the existing team to ‘shape the hotel’s culinary vision’ and ‘elevate dining experiences throughout’.
Meet the retailer-turned-restaurateur on a mission to change people’s relationship with food

2 months ago | restaurantonline.co.uk | Stefan Chomka |William Reed

Every restaurateur has their all-too familiar Covid lockdown story - of forced closure, furlough, anxiety about whether there might even be a business on the other side - but Emma Schwarz’s is slightly different. When the UK shutdown in March 2020, the former retail expert didn’t yet have a restaurant, having been locked in negotiations with two separate landlords on trying to open her first place.
Amber Francis named Great British Menu 2025 Champion of Champions

2 months ago | restaurantonline.co.uk | Joe Lutrario |Stefan Chomka |William Reed

The chef - who swapped the restaurant world for school catering in 2023 - impressed the judges with her dessert entitled ‘Books, The Mind’s Food’. Made with hay-infused set cream, fermented strawberries and a white chocolate disc, served with honey parfait and a sable biscuit sandwich the dish was inspired by writer Hannah More. She fought off competition from fellow banquet chefs Jean Delport and Sally Abé to win the award, which is determined by the banquet guests voting for their favorite dish.
Chef Martin Carabott named executive chef at Michelin-starred West Sussex hotel Gravetye Manor

2 months ago | restaurantonline.co.uk | Joe Lutrario |Stefan Chomka |William Reed

Originally from Malta, Carabott replaces George Blogg who left the property late last year. Carabott won the Roux Scholarship in 2018 aged 29, when he was senior sous-chef at Michelin-starred Mayfair restaurant Hide. After winning the Roux Scholarship, Carabott completed a stage at three Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York. He was most recently head of development at Michelin-starred Clerkenwell restaurant Luca.
Neil Rankin opens deep dish Chicago pizza restaurant Little Earthquakes

2 months ago | restaurantonline.co.uk | Stefan Chomka |William Reed

What: Located at the Railway Tavern in Dalston, Little Earthquakes is a new Chicago style pizza restaurant that follows on from a short residency of the same name at brandy distillery and bar Burnt Faith in Walthamstow in late 2024Who: It’s being led by former Temper chef Neil Rankin and From The Ashes BBQ, the barbecue business that was launched in Hackney Wick by Martin Anderson and Curtis Bell in June 2020 following a meeting in Temper the previous year.
One of a Kynd: David Taylor on his new Hampton Manor restaurant

2 months ago | restaurantonline.co.uk | Stefan Chomka |William Reed

Earlier this month David Taylor opened Kynd, a new produce-led restaurant located at Hampton Manor in Hampton-in-Arden in the West Midlands. Marking his second venture at the venue, following the opening of Grace & Savour in 2022, Kynd has replaced Smoke, the restaurant that was run by former MasterChef: The Professionals winner Stuart Deeley for three years.