French

• Test Driving Bouchon Racine - Henry Harris's triumphant return to the kitchen

  

  Henry Harris has returned to the stoves with his revival of Racine as a bouchon in Farringdon. We went to see if the magic was still there. 

• Henry Harris is back with Bouchon Racine and the Three Compasses in Farringdon

  

  Updated 2/11/22 with pub opening date

  It's been seven long years since chef Henry Harris closed the doors of his much-loved restaurant Racine in Knightsbridge. But now we can bring you the great news that Racine is coming back, albeit in a slightly different guise. Harris has joined forces with hugely respected restaurant director Dave Strauss (who you might remember from his decade at Goodman

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• Patron Next Door in Kentish Town will feature a speakeasy lounge and secret garden

  

  26/9/22 - Updated with photos

  Kentish Town's popular French restaurant Patron has found an easy way around the problem of too many customers and not enough room - knock through into the shop next door.

  Having taken over the old vape shop next door to them on Fortess Road they've expanded into that. There's more dining space at the front (the renovations revealed some beautiful details from when the space was a

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• Cafe Royal scoops ex-Greenhouse chef Alex Dilling for brand new restaurant

  

  15/8/22 - updated with more details on the opening

  After the shock closure of the Greenhouse, along with its stablemates The Square, back in 2020, all eyes were on the restaurant's chef Alex Dilling to see what he did next. Fast forward two years and the answer to that is he's opening a brand new restaurant at the Hotel Cafe Royal.

  Called Alex Dilling at

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• Test Driving Le Pont de la Tour Bistrot - more affordable, still with a fantastic view

  

  Classic Thames-side restaurant Le Pont de la Tour has converted its bar into a Bistrot, with a slightly more affordable menu. We went down to grab a space on the terrace and check it out. 

• Mon Plaisir

  London's oldest French restaurant

• Gazette Chancery is a new trad French brasserie for Chancery Lane

  

  City workers looking for a new place to have a business lunch or after work catch up should try out new French brasserie Gazette which has just opened up off Chancery Lane in the old Vanilla Black spot.

  The restaurant comes from Walter Lecocq, who worked with Alain Ducasse and Gordon Ramsay and was GM at Richard Corrigan's Lindsay House before setting up Gazette with Pascal Even in 2007. Since then, the

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• Les 2 Garcons bring traditional French food to Crouch End

  

  It looks as though Crouch End has just got itself a rather interesting new restaurant. Les 2 Garcons opened up a few weeks back, taking over the old Nickel site on Crouch Hill (Nickel's moved to bigger premises across the road).

• Test Driving Otto's - an oasis of classic hospitality

   

  Famed for both its service and its tableside theatrics - we take a look at the classic French restaurant Otto's in Holborn. 

• Test Driving Bar Des Pres - a Paris import for French chef Cyril Lignac with a London edge

  

  French chef Cyril Lignac is a big deal the other side of the Channel. Now he's opened his first restaurant in London. We went along to Mayfair to see what it had to offer. 

• Top French chef Cyril Lignac is opening Bar des Prés restaurant in London

  

  Top French chef Cyril Lignac is hoping his brand of Parisian cool will sit well in London with this Mayfair restaurant being his first international opening. 

• The Conticini Café at Camden's Buck Street Market sees top pastry chef Philippe Conticini settle in North London

  

  Top French pastry chef Philippe Conticini must really like Camden. He's chosen that part of town to open his second patisserie there this year. Having opened a Salon de The in the North Yard of Camden Market mere weeks before lockdown, this new 40-seater Conticini Café at the Buck Street Market will be a more casual affair. You'll be able to buy his pastries, but there'll also be an on-site boulangerie, freshly baked

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• Test Driving Galvin at Home - posh French on your table in minutes

  

  Enjoy haute French food at home with this clever, but easy to follow meal box from the Galvin brothers. 

• Test Driving Maison Francois - an instant hit in St James

  

  This modernist French brasserie serves up all the classics and has a very useful downstairs bar too. 

• Otto's is getting ready to reopen but you can try their duck press next week

  

  Although it's been more than two months since lockdown ended for restaurants, there are still quite a few that have yet to reopen their doors fully.

  One such establishment is Otto's on Gray's Inn Road, which has forged one hell of a reputation for itself for all the Gueridon service it does at your

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