Restaurants

Originally exclusive to the country’s wealthiest, Chinese poetry and music sources suggest dim sum was first enjoyed over 2500 years ago. While dim sum is most commonly linked with Cantonese cuisine, the first dim sum is said to have been made in northern China, eventually served in tea houses along the famous Silk Road. On discovering that tea aids digestion, these tea houses began to serve bite-sized snacks to “touch the heart” (the most common translation of ‘dim sum’) rather...

Tying in with International Women’s Day (8th March), Ladies of Restaurants - a collective of women working in hospitality, launched to support women in the industry - will host a weekend of events in London, Liverpool and Manchester. Taking place between Thursday 7th to Sunday 10th March, Ladies of Restaurants’ first International Women’s Day Weekender will strive to celebrate and support women in the hospitality industry with four exciting events scheduled to take place. Beginning in Liverpool, a L.O.R.’s of...

Following the warm reception to his first solo venture on Bermondsey Street, Spanish chef José Pizarro has since opened two additional London restaurants and plans to takeover a pub in Esher, Surrey. Formerly occupied by Claude Bosi, the Swan Inn will re-launch as a ‘Spanish pub’ next month, with José intending to bring the best of his London restaurants while maintaining a British pub feel. Signature tapas dishes will feature on the menu alongside a selection of classic pub dishes...

With a long, colourful history, the hamburger has become one of the world’s favourite fast foods. While the exact roots are much-contested, the US has become synonymous with the dish, with more than 40 billion burgers consumed annually. On this side of the Atlantic, however, London also has its fair share of exciting burger restaurants, with Burger & Beyond having recently joined the proverbial pile, opening a permanent site on Shoreditch High Street. While minced beef has been enjoyed for...

Food waste is a pressing global issue with no sign of slowing down. At least one third of the world’s food produce is discarded: that’s enough to feed 870 million people (a figure greater than the entire population of Europe). Here in the UK, 40 per cent of all fruit and vegetables are rejected before reaching shelves, considered ugly, misshapen, too big or too small; yet they remain absolutely edible. Former Head Chef of Petersham Nurseries, Skye Gyngell aims to...

Touted as “the only place to eat Red King crab in London”, Fancy Crab specialises in the most prized of three traditionally Alaskan king crab varieties. Fished from the cold waters of the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway and Russia, the restaurant receives the crab directly from their supplier to ensure peak quality, our waiter, Castro, explains. Red king crab fishing is a dangerous, gruelling business. Usually carried out between October and January, the process has an alarming...

Celebrating Chinese New Year (Tuesday 5th February, 2019), the restaurant group behind high-end Chinese restaurants Yauatcha and Hakkasan has launched a series of commemorative promotions. Each taking place until Sunday 24th February, both of London’s Hakkasan restaurants will welcome the Year of the Pig with a unique reinvention of the classic fortune cookie, with renowned author Will Self having written 88 different fortunes, which are wrapped around Hakkasan’s macarons. Yauatcha, on the other hand, has collaborated with celebrated design team,...

With plenty of exciting launches constantly taking place across the Capital, we pick London’s best new restaurant openings taking place over the coming month. Yeni - Soho Aiming to introduce London to the flavours and culinary traditions that reflect Istanbul’s rich heritage as the meeting point of Asia and Europe, the team behind Yeni Lokanta will open a Soho restaurant next week. With the Istanbul restaurant having become a cult success, since opening in 2013, Cem Bilge and chef Civan...

With restaurants in Manhattan’s Upper West Side and Greenwich Village, Ed Shoenfield and Executive Chef Joe Ng’s RedFarm has become a New York institution. Joining Balthazar, another New York export, on Russell Street, RedFarm’s first international venture opened last summer, taking over a three-floor site near Covent Garden. With over 40 years of restaurant experience (and 55 restaurants to his name), Brooklyn-born Shoenfield has paired his experience of America’s Chinese food scene with dumpling expert Ng’s contemporary culinary flair, ultimately...