Piccadilly

• XU launches its first full Taiwanese afternoon tea

  

  XU, the Taiwanese restaurant from the Bao team, has had a big focus on its traditional teas since opening but now it's putting them front and centre. During the daytime this summer (from 12-5pm) the ground floor level of the restaurant will be given over to focus on tea, offering everything from a single cup to a full on traditional tea ceremony, all headed up by the in-house tea master.

  For the full Afternoon Tea Ceremony (£39), you can try a range of Taiwanese teas,

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• The Blue Posts is about to launch a contender for best pub lunch in London

  

  London's gastropub scene has been getting a real injection of creativity of late, what with Dan Doherty and Tom Oldroyd both opening their own boozers and Henry Harris bringing his skills to a range of pubs

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• Laurent Tourondel is opening Laurent at the Hotel Cafe Royal - updated

  The Hotel Cafe Royal has created a brand new first-floor restaurant - and has recruited French chef Laurent Tourondel (who's big in the States) to look after it.

• Inside Hide - London's most jaw-dropping new restaurant

  

  Open barely more than a week and already the recipient of a lovely review in The Standard, Hide restaurant on Piccadilly - a joint venture between could-he-be-any-bigger chef Ollie Dabous and the folks at Hedonism Wines - is probably going to be the restaurant you hear most about over the

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• Test Driving Evelyn's Table - the lovechild of a chef's table and dive bar

  The team behind Palomar and The Barbary have a new counter dining spot - prepare to fall in love

• Ollie Dabbous opens HIDE at 85 Piccadilly - updated

  Ollie Dabbous is back with his latest restaurant called Hide. This time he's coming to Piccadilly and it's promising some impressive views.

• Jamie Oliver confirms closure of Barbecoa Piccadilly but St Paul's branch remains open

  

  It's been a bad couple of weeks for celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. Following news that he was closing 12 of his Jamie's Italian restaurants last month, comes the confirmation of rumours that both his Barbecoa restaurants have closed their doors.

  Fellow restaurateur Martin Williams of M Restaurants said yesterday that he wanted to buy both Barbecoa restaurants from Oliver. In a statement Williams said: "I believe there is a future

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• Jay Rayner shares his writing secrets at Brasserie Zedel

  

  If you too wish to be able to describe canapes as having “blunt acidity of the sort that polishes up dulled brass coins,” then you'll want to get yourself along to Jay Rayner’s writing workshop.

  The notorious Observer food critic (who’s been described

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• You can now buy Angela Hartnett's pasta in Fortnums

  

  Last week Hot Dinners popped into Fortnums, as you do on a Thursday night, for a pasta dinner cooked up by none other than Murano's Angela Hartnett. The object of the occasion was to launch Hartnett's new range of pastas and sauces for the Piccadilly store. And if what we had was anything to go by, you need to head down here pronto to stock up.

  Hartnett has spent time training up Fortnum’s chefs to make up pastas to her own specification - everything from

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• There's a pie and mash pairing menu hitting Piccadilly

  

  Autumn firmly has us, so the arrival of a pie and mash pairing menu in London seems perfectly timed. Celebrating the history and longevity of Pie & Mash in London, Smith & Whistle is heading into the autumn/winter season with an exclusive new pairing menu dedicated to this British classic, coinciding with British Food Fortnight.

  Each pie is paired with a unique mash and a boozy drink - and here's what to expect...

  Best of

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• Doughnut lovers celebrate - Crosstown is coming to Piccadilly

  Crosstown are squeezing in a third new opening this year, going back to its roots in Piccadilly to distribute its gloriously glazed sourdough doughnuts and cold brew coffee to its fans. Plus, they’ve launched three new flavours just for the occasion, and they sound *amazing*.

• Test Driving Xu - the Bao team 1930's style Taiwanese hangout in Piccadilly

  The team behind Bao have a new Taiwanese restaurant in Piccadilly - we pop along to see if it's a sure-fire hit

• Barbecoa - home of smoke and fire. We find out more about Jamie Oliver's steakhouses

  Jamie Oliver now has two Barbecoa restaurants in London - we went to check them out.

• Trying the El Celler De Can Roca London pop-up at Cafe Royal

  The number two restaurant on the World's 50 Best list has come to the UK for a short pop-up at Cafe Royal. We managed to snag a space at a table to see what they had on offer...

• Test Driving Cafe Monico - Rowley Leigh's return to brasserie life

  We try out the newest addition to the Soho House empire - a French brasserie on Shaftesbury Avenue