Franco Manca owner appoints advisers for possible sale February 20, 2026 The group which owns pizza chain Franco Manca and The Real Greek restaurants has hired advisers to review its strategic options in a possible first move of a sale or restructuring. Fulham Shore said on Friday it had appointed advisors Alvarez & Marsal, and reports say a sale could be on the table. The UK’s [...]
Victor Garvey’s mad new MATER1A concept is a Willy Wonka-esque theatre of gastronomy February 18, 2026 MATER1A, 115 Westbourne Grove, W2 4UP | ★★★★★ | Cuisine: Japanese, fine dining, tasting menu A benefit of having written restaurant reviews for 15 years is that you begin to see the overarching warp and weft of the business, the trends that slowly emerge and dissipate, the way hospitality gradually evolves, holding up a mirror [...]
Valentine’s Day: Fancy a romantic bowl of chocolate spaghetti? February 13, 2026 What could be more romantic than a meal out in Soho, a bottle of red wine and a nice bowl of chocolate spaghetti? Well, I can think of a few things… The ‘spaghetti bucatini’ at 27 Old Compton Street is being sold not as a dessert but a main course: thick strands of pasta slathered [...]
Bar of the week: Why Three Sheets is a little slice of old Soho February 10, 2026 Three Sheets Soho | 13 Manette St, W1D 4AP This new column celebrates the great drinking holes of London, the pubs and bars that keep the capital lubricated despite the government’s best attempts to send them crashing out of business. Last week I profiled The rising Sun, the Victorian gin palace that claimed our Best [...]
Pay now, drink later: A beginner’s guide to En Primeur wine January 29, 2026 It’s Burgundy En Primeur season in London for the 2024 vintage. En Primeur means buying the wine before it is finished and bottled. You buy before you try. Sounds risky, so why would anyone do it? Well, it gives the buyer early access to the wines, ensuring themselves a few bottles before they hit the [...]
Alta review: Serious Spanish food amid the Carnaby crowds January 28, 2026 Alta, Kingly Ct, Carnaby, W1B 5PW | Nearest Tube: Oxford Circus With its jolly pink furniture and candy-striped awnings, Kingly Court has an air of unreality. It’s a Disneyfied version of what food culture might look like if it were imagined by a private equity firm, a place designed to house tourists grappling with their disappointment [...]
London’s top gastropub revealed: Has your favourite made the cut? January 27, 2026 Piccadilly Guinness emporium the Devonshire has been voted the best gastropub in the country, with the capital dominating the list. The Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs awards saw the Devonshire usurp last year’s winner The Unruly Pig in Suffolk, which fell to second place. The Red Lion and Sun in Islington took the final place [...]
DakaDaka review: The comfort food we all need right now January 27, 2026 DakaDaka, 10 Heddon Street, W1B 4BX | Nearest Tube: Piccadilly Circus Heddon Street has developed its own culinary microclimate. Whether by luck or design, it has become a place where you can almost guarantee a decent plate of food, with its current crop of restaurants including Sabor (superlative Spanish), Fonda (respectable Mexican) and Casa do [...]
Elevate your dishes the Italian way with a refreshing Menabrea January 21, 2026 Eleanor Quigley, brand manager at Menabrea, tells us why Menabrea lager can be an alternative to wine when pairing with food, and gives us six options to try Wine may be first to mind when pairing drinks with food, but beer can provide a refreshing alternative. Like wine, beer’s varied flavour profiles and styles can [...]
Why The Ivy is a bastion of hope and quality during a bleak month January 19, 2026 The start of the year is an especially tough time for hospitality as people watch the pounds when it comes to both their wallets and weight. This kind of abstinence is even more of a travesty in London, a city packed with the most incredible restaurants, with a rich history of social eating and drinking. [...]