We round up the latest restaurant news, from the opening of a new site from the team behind Salon and Levan, to Bibendum’s Claude Bosi getting denied permanent residency in the UK.
News:
Claude Bosi: Bibendum chef Claude Bosi, who has lived in England for 23 years, has had his application for permanent residency rejected by the Home Office. Bosi, who was born in Lyon in France, posted on Instagram that his application for permanent residency post-Brexit had been refused.
His restaurant, Claude Bosi at Bibendum, currently has two Michelin stars. He has been told he has 14 days to re-apply for residency.
Riff restaurant: Valencia’s Supreme Court of Justice dismissed a case against a Michelin-starred restaurant in the city, following the death of a woman after dining at the establishment last February.
Riff restaurant in Valencia made headlines last year after a 46-year-old woman died after dining at the eatery with her husband and son. 28 others, who had also been eating at the restaurant between 13 and 16 February, suffered minor symptoms of food poisoning.
The case has now been dismissed after the woman was found to have died of natural causes. She had suffered from acute respiratory failure as a result of a pre-existing condition. Food safety officers, who visited the restaurant after the incident, had failed to find any obvious explanation for the poisonings. Head chef and owner of the restaurant Bernd Knöller believes the mild poisonings were caused by morel mushrooms.
L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges: L’Auberge du Pont de Collonge in Lyon, run by famed French chef Paul Bocuse until his death in 2018, lost the third Michelin star it has continuously held since 1965.
In a controversial move by Michelin, the renowned Lyon restaurant has been demoted to a two-star rating due to the food quality being “no longer at the level of three stars”.
Bocuse’s family were reportedly “upset” by the decision, as the restaurant held its three-star accolade for a record-breaking number of years.
Openings:
Townsend: Restaurant and café Townsend, run by director Nick Gilkinson of Anglo and Garden Café fame, is to open its doors at Whitechapel Gallery in February. Heading up the kitchen will be ex-head chef of Petersham Nurseries, Joe Fox. The modern British cuisine will include dishes such as Mayan gold potato, with egg yolk, Berkswell and winter truffle; fragrant curried veal sweetbread, with cauliflower, sprout tops and burnt onion; roast haunch of venison for two to share, with ruby beetroots, wild cabbage, ale-braised onions, sour cream and horseradish; and ginger and treacle pudding with clotted cream.
Hoppers King’s Cross: JKS Restaurants are to open a third Hoppers site in King’s Cross next month. Inspired by the home cooking and roadside stalls of Sri Lanka and southern India, the third incarnation takes inspiration from the Soho original. Exclusive dishes include bar bites jaffna isso vade with curd chilli and mussel hodi and string hopers as well as sharing dishes including southern fish cury, blue swimmer crab kari and black pepper curry leaf prawns. The site in Pancras Square will also feature an extended bar, serving up two Hoppers brewed beers.
Larry’s: Yet another site opening in south London’s Peckham, Larry’s is brought to us by the creators of Salon and Levan – Nicholas Balfe, Mark Gurney and Matt Bushnell. Inspired by New Cork cafés and bars, it will be open all day, serving coffee and pastries, deli-style sandwiches and sharing plates. Located next door to sister site Levan, Larry’s is named after 1970s dance music pioneer and DJ Larry Levan. Dishes include sandwiches on focaccia such as a meatball melt with pickles and aged Gouda; Waldorf salad with poached pear, walnut, celery and blue cheese dressing; and veal schnitzel with red cabbage remoulade and fermented chilli mayonnaise. A changing wine list will consistently feature two wines of each colour and style: white, red, orange, rosé and sparkling. Priority will be given to low-intervention producers.
New menus:
Fenjiu afternoon tea: Chinese baijiu producer Fenjiu has partnered with luxury department store Harrods to create an exclusive afternoon tea menu to celebrate the Chinese Near Year. Available until 16 February, it includes bespoke chocolates in the design of Mahjong tiles, a patisserie selection inspired by Chinese good luck symbols, a selection of savoury sandwiches including duck and hoisin, and scones served with Harrods apricot jam that has been infused with Fenjiu baijiu. This will be all served with a cocktail called Wealth and Fortune, made with Fenjiu Bamboo 5-Year-Old, Longjing tea cordial, white wine, bergamot liqueur, pear liqueur and lemon juice.
Closures:
Tom’s Kitchen: Chef Tom Aiken has closed the last of his casual dining restaurants this month. The Chelsea site, on Cale Street, was opened in 2006. There was once a total of five Tom’s Kitchen sites in the UK, as well as one in Istanbul. Aiken has recently opened a new fine dining restaurant called Muse in Belgravia.
