Mayfair

• José Pizarro is opening two restaurants at the Royal Academy

  

  Famed Spanish chef José Pizarro is opening in the centre of London for the first time - with two new restaurants at the Royal Academy. He'll have a more traditional sit-down Spanish restaurant upstairs while Poster Bar will be the Royal Academy version of his tapas bar, José.

• 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. 

• Il Borro Tuscan Bistro replaces Nobu Berkeley Street

  

  Taking the space on Berkeley street once held by Nobu, Il Borro Tuscan Bistro is a high-end Italian restaurant with strong links to a Tuscan estate and farm. And they even have their own wines.

• The White Horse in Mayfair's Shepherd Market is Hedonism Wine's first wine-led pub

  

  As of last week, Mayfair had a new pub. But this isn't any old pub, it's a Hedonism Wines pub. The White Horse has taken over the old Hatchett's site on White Horse Street and is the high end wine merchants first public house.

  What will you find in a wine-led pub? Well, for starters things like a 1974 Blandy’s Verdelho Madeira, and a Lagavulin distiller’s edition 2005 on the optics.

  There are

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• Staff shortages hit Michel Roux Jr's Le Gavroche's legendary set lunch

  

  Is this a sign of things to come? We've been hearing on the grapevine about London restaurants operating reduced hours due to staff shortages. In Mayfair, for example, La Petite Maison last week announced it would be temporarily closing on Sundays and Mondays.

  Now another Mayfair classic dining spot is joining it. In a post on Instagram last night, Le Gavroche owner Michel Roux Jr announced that, in two weeks time, his

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• Mayfair's The Windmill opens up for pies and more on the terrace

  

  We're getting ever nearer the hallowed day when we'll be able to eat inside again - but one London pub just can't wait any more. The Windmill in Mayfair is opening up its hidden away terrace space tomorrow for a preview launch of its new menu. 

  Dominic Rowntree (...

• Bibi is the new Indian restaurant from the team behind Gymkhana, Hoppers and more

  

  The team behind some of London's greatest Indian restaurants is behind Bibi, which puts its main development chef in charge of the kitchen. 

• Surprise! The Guinea Grill is opening for alfresco dining in its Mayfair mews

  

  Fans of Mayfair pub the Guinea Grill, who were perhaps disappointed when it didn't reopen for outside drinking or dining this month, will be happy at the news that landlord Oisin Rogers has changed his mind.

  Having originally decided not to opt for an alfresco experience, he's decided to open the pub's outside terrace earlier than planned. To that end, they'll be putting out tables on Bruton Place from next

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• The Dorchester unveils plans for a new roof terrace restaurant

  

  The Dorchester has unveiled its alfresco plans for London's grand reopening next month and they include the arrival of a brand new roof garden. It's the first time the hotel has expanded its outdoor plans to its roof and the space will play host to a variety of pop-ups hosted by the hotel's various chefs, from executive chef Mario Perera to The Grill at The Dorchester's Tom Booton and Jean-Philippe Blondet

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• Native returns to London - opening at Browns along with a courtyard alfresco option

  

  They closed in London in 2020 and moved out to the Osea on the Essex Coast but now Native are returning to London, taking up a space in the luxury retailer Browns' new store in Mayfair.

  The restaurant will be in the flagship Browns on Brook Street, with

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• The Chancery Rosewood unveiled as the hotel that's taking over the old US Embassy on Grosvenor Square

  

  If you've been wondering what's being planned with the old American Embassy site on Grosvenor Square (now that they have their fancy new building opposite Darby's), then wonder no longer. It's going to be a new Rosewood Hotel, called The Chancery Rosewood. That's from the same group behind Rosewood London, which features Holborn Dining Room as the main

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• Chef Alyn Williams wins his unfair dismissal case against The Westbury in Mayfair

  

  Updated 15/2/21

  Chef Alyn Williams' unfair dismissal case following his untimely departure from The Westbury Hotel was heard in court last week and the judge ruled in the chef's favour, agreeing that he had been unfairly dismissed.

  But what we're agog with are the details surrounding the event that led to the hotel and chef parting ways. According to the ...

• Test Driving Charlie's Weekend Feast Box from Brown's Hotel

  

  Promising a taste of their Mayfair restaurant at home, we take a look at British restaurant Charlie's at Brown's and their Weekend Feast Box.

• 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. 

• Maru, a 20-course Omakase restaurant will be replacing the original Taka

  

  This restaurant is taking over the space from the original Taka. It comes from the same people but will have a very different approach - all centred around a 20-course omakase-style tasting menu.