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News for Restaurants in London
September 2010 Archive

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RESTAURANT NEWS

Openings

If you like fish and chips, then you’ll be delighted to hear that popular Geales has spawned another piscatorial delight. Just opened on the site of the unfortunately short-lived Tom’s Place of Tom Aikens, the new Geales if a copy of the original restaurant. And the fish and chips will be the same as well – a good menu of fresh fish, all from sustainable British sources, plus the favorites of fish pie and fishcakes.
 
Opening in early November, the new Thai restaurant Ora promises modern décor---a grey, sleek interior with slashes of hot pink and grand candelabras---and traditional Thai dishes from head chef Tamas Khan. Ora, 6 Little Portland St., London W1, no phone .
 
Hawksmoor Seven Dials, the second location of the steak restaurant and bar that started in Spitalfields, will open on November 1. It will feature the same topnotch steaks of the original branch, but it also boasts a new cocktail list, which features The Bridging Hour cocktail list---those you can drink between lunch and the usual early evening drinks time. There's also an 'antifogmatic' list created as 'eye-openers' for the morning after, like a Bucks Fizz adapted from a 1921 recipe. Lunch daily, Dinner Mon.-Sat. Hawksmoor Seven Dials, 11 Langley St., London WC2, 020-7856 2154.
 

News Bytes

Afternoon Tea - For Men
Here's an idea nobody's thought of before---well, not in London anyway. Sanctum Soho Hotel, the achingly trendy boutique hotel in Soho, is launching a Men's Afternoon Tea on October 1. Instead of dainty sandwiches of the smoked salmon and cucumber variety with the crusts chopped off, it'll consist of a 3-course selection of hot and cold dishes like beef and horseradish in mini Yorkshire puddings, baked chocolate fudge cake with whiskey ice cream and the like, Jack Daniels and a cigar. It weighs in at £50 plus service or £80 if you include the tasting series of Jack Daniels and a cigar. Available daily 2 p.m.-6 p.m. Sanctum Soho Hotel, 20 Warwick St., London W1, 020-7292 6100.
 
London Restaurant Festival
The London Restaurant Festival (October 4-18) is an umbrella event for all sorts of foodie and food-related happenings across London. You can go on gastronomic walks and road trips, see films themed around food, listen to debates (Is French Food a Spent Force?), enjoy the food market in Covent Garden, and a whole lot more. For more information visit http://www.visitlondon.com/londonrestaurantfestival/.
 
New Concept in Mobile Restaurants
There's currently a flurry of activity in London for all kinds of temporary and pop-up restaurants. Either chefs are bursting with talent and fizzing off in all directions, or they're worried about the future. Jun Tanaka, executive chef at Pearl Bar & Restaurant, has joined forces with Mark Jankel, who founded The Food Initiative, and they are pounding the pavement with their Airstream kitchen, cooking gourmet food for Londoners who like to eat on the run. They start off in Covent Garden on October 4 as part of the London Restaurant Festival then they go to Old Spitalfields Market until October 18. Expect top quality dishes like home-smoked salmon, with all the ingredients coming from sustainable and organic UK farms and producers. For more information, visit http://www.visitlondon.com/londonrestaurantfestival/.
 
Fifth Floor Goes Even More Glam
The Fifth Floor restaurant, one of London's most fashionable venues (both in terms of the clientele and the space), has had a revamp. It's glitzier and sharper in design, and the executive chef, Jonas Karlsson, has responded with new dishes like monkfish 'osso bucco'-style and pork belly. The Fifth Floor, Harvey Nichols, Knightsbridge, London SW1, 020-7235 5250.
 
Heston Blumenthal Comes to Town
Heston Blumenthal (The Fat Duck) has teamed up with the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park to open Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. The interior was done by Adam Tihany, featuring wood, leather and iron. The contemporary menu looks to Britain's gastronomic history: scallops with cucumber ketchup and peas, and slow-cooked short rib of beef. Ashley Palmer-Watts, group executive chef of The Fat Duck, oversees the kitchen. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, London, 20-7201 3833.
 
Chef Shuffle

Check back soon for more news.


Closings

CLOSED FOR GOOD
Take your taste buds on a walk down memory lane! Check out our exclusive closed restaurant database for London to virtually visit your favorite dining spots from the past. Aroma, R.I.P.

Check back soon for more news.

CULINARY EVENTS
Want to learn to cook
? Try new dishes? Meet a foodie friend for fun? Check out our compilation of culinary events in your area.


View our calendar of Wine Dinners & Tastings in London

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VALENTINE'S DAY WINES

Add wine to the celebration of love, curated by GAYOT´s Wine & Spirits Editor.

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CHAMPAGNE COCKTAILS

For a rosé bubbly Valentine's Day celebration.

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GAYOT'S RESTAURANT AWARDSOver the years, we have been electing restaurants to be on GAYOT's Yearly Restaurant Awards.

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