- Shoreditch restaurant Lyle’s announced its shock closure with its chef and founder James Lowe preparing to launch a new solo project. Launched by Lowe and business partner John Ogier in partnership with JKS Restaurants in 2014, the modern British restaurant holds a Michelin star and is currently listed on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 51-100 list and Restaurant’s own list of the top 100 places to eat in the UK. JKS Restaurants will retain the site for a new restaurant project, with more details set to be announced in due course.
- Richard Vines, former chief food critic for Bloomberg, has died at the age of 71. Vines was a writer and broadcaster with more than 40 years’ experience, including 25 years at Bloomberg. He joined Bloomberg in 1995 as a markets editor and was named chief food critic of the publication in 2008, a post he held until his retirement in 2021. Vines served as UK chair of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants for several years during his tenure reporting on restaurants.
- Browns Brasserie & Bar is to close its original restaurant in central Brighton after more than 50 years of trading. Both the Browns restaurant and cocktail bar on Duke Street, which are connected at the back but separated on the street by a retail unit, will close.
- Lisa Goodwin-Allen has been appointed culinary director at The Beaumont Mayfair hotel in London. In the new role, Goodwin-Allen will work alongside The Beaumont Mayfair CEO Stuart Procter and executive chef Brendan Fyldes to oversee the luxury hotel’s food offering. Earlier this month Goodwin-Allen rejoined Northcote having announced her departure from the Michelin-starred restaurant in March after 23 years behind the stoves there.
- Dishoom is opening a second restaurant north of the border this summer in central Glasgow. The Indian restaurant group has secured a site in the former stock exchange on Nelson Mandela Place, agreeing a 20-year lease for a unit that will occupy 7,000sq ft across the ground and basement floors of the listed building. Dishoom is also preparing to open a restaurant in Leeds having acquired the former Flannels unit on Vicar Lane.