French

There’s no denying this city’s ongoing love affair with classic French restaurants, and we're here to shine a light on where to go for traditional French cuisine in London.

Covent Garden institution Le Garrick has announced a one-day only treat for diners: to celebrate its 40th birthday, the French restaurant is turning back the clock to 1986 and adjusting its prices accordingly.

Whether you wish to don fluorescent legwarmers, dust off the lace gloves and tease your hair to gravity-defying proportions is entirely up to you, but the year 1986 certainly brings on fond memories for many. For Le Garrick, 1986 is the year it emerged as a little pocket of Paris in London’s West End. It’s still an independently run business (no mean feat in this part of

Milk Beach has a big restaurant in Soho, but they originally began life in Queen's Park. However, that first Milk Beach is about to be reborn in a new guise, Bar Blondie. 

The new Bar Blondie will be a wine bar that's run by Elliot Milne (who's behind Milk Beach) with award-winning sommelier Alexandra Price (previously Bar Crispin and Plates). Leaving behind the Australian influence of Milk Beach, this time the bar is looking to Southern Europe for inspiration. 

That means the menu here will now take its cues from French and Italian cuisine, with dishes

Five months ago, the French tapas spot Cépages quietly closed its doors in Notting Hill. Its founders decided they were leaving London to return to France to tend to their vineyard there (fair enough, really!). But what might have meant the permanent closure of this popular wine bar took an interesting turn when it was taken over by French chef, and MasterChef The Professionals finalist, Gaston Savina. He's now reopened it with a fresh new look and menu.

It's a neat closing of the circle for Gaston who first worked at the wine bar 12 years ago. "Cépages was one of the first

The team behind The Prince Arthur Belgravia, as well as Arthur's Market in Chelsea, are getting ready to open their next restaurant. This time around, they're going back to Belgravia and are teaming up with boutique hotel The Lowndes Hotel to launch Avi Bistrot. 

This will be a French/American brasserie, with a fair bit of showing from the caviar that was liberally used over at the Prince Arthur. At Avi, you'll find it on dishes like their New York fried chicken & caviar as well as caviar fish and chips. Elsewhere on the menu, you'll find the LA brioche noire lobster roll,

Orrery in Marylebone has relaunched under new chef Pierre Minotti, who intends to win it a new Michelin star. We went down to see just how much has changed and how his Michelin hopes are faring.

After nearly four years, Bar Des Pres is on the move. It's staying within Mayfair, though, just moving from Albemarle Street to South Audley Street. 

Taking over the space that was once Socca, this gives Cyril Lignac's restaurant a light-filled corner space. If you went to Socca in the past, you'll see that they've also dramatically changed the room, adding a large counter seating area (which was always one of the highlights of the Albemarle Street location). Meanwhile, the back area of the restaurant, which was always a tricky space to fill given that the main restaurant was

You know it's all such hooey when chefs say they don't care about Michelin stars. So we applaud the new chef taking over Marylebone stalwart Orrery, who is making no apologies for saying that his ambition is to get Michelin recognition.

Pierre Minotti (formerly at Alex Dilling at Hotel Cafe Royal) is so convinced of his offering that he's putting his name on the restaurant and it'll now be known as Orrery by Pierre Minotti. And now we can exclusively reveal his grand plans for the restaurant.

To start with, there will be a promenade element, as we've seen in places like

The current business climate for restaurants in London is brutal. And we're particularly sad to be reporting on the demise of one of the city's longer-standing restaurants, Club Gascon.

In an email sent to regulars last night, the restaurant's owners, Chef Pascal Aussignac and Vincent Labeyrie, said that it was "With both gratitude and a heavy heart, we share that Club Gascon will be closing its doors following dinner service on 28 March.

"From the very beginning, our approach to dining was driven by passion and creativity - offering guests the freedom to explore three to

What was once Smokehouse has been transformed into Islington's newest French restaurant, Bistro Sablé. As locals, we went along to see just how the transformation has changed things. 

Every January brings with it a reason to go out and eat cake. The Galette des Rois is a French creation designed to celebrate Epiphany. If you're searching for one in London this January, here's where to start...

The team behind Basque-inspired successes Lurra and Donostia have turned to Coastal France for their latest, opening on Chiltern Street. We went to one of Marylebone's fanciest streets to check it out. 

French restaurants have been a booming business on London's dining scene in 2025, and the latest to join that trend is Mazarine. 

This comes from the team behind Sparrow Italia and is run by ex-LPM chef Thierry Laborde (who was previously head chef of Le Gavroche). It's taking a southern/coastal approach to French cooking, so expect things here to have

They've long held a reputation as being one of the best places in Paris to enjoy gluten-free breads and pastries. Now Parisian bakery chain Copains has set its sight on London. To kick off their cross-Channel takeover, they're starting with two bakery openings, in Covent Garden and Islington. Both will be the brand's first bakeries outside of Paris.

In Covent Garden, they've taken over the lease of a shop

Islington locals will be well aware of Smokehouse, the pub/restaurant on Canonbury Road that's been open for just over a decade (originally launched by Neil Rankin). And that's particularly because of its lovely terrace, hidden from the busy road by plenty of greenery. 

Well, now Smokehouse's time is up as it's just been replaced by something quite different. It's