- High-profile chefs including Gordon Ramsay, Tom Kerridge, Calum Franklin and Masayoshi Takayama will soon depart Harrods as the luxury department store shifts its focus to in-house dining offerings. Sushi by Masa, Kerridge’s Fish & Chips and Calum Franklin at The Georgian will have all ceased trading by the end of the month. Gordon Ramsay Burger is also set to close but not until early next year. Harrods says the move follows a strategic review earlier this year of customer preferences when visiting stores and wider industry trends, including diners opting to eat earlier in the evening. A handful of chef-led venues will remain including Mireille Hayek’s Em Sherif and Neha Mishra’s Kinoya Ramen Bar.
- JKS is set to open its first permanent restaurants in the US beginning with Ambassadors Clubhouse in New York later this year and followed by Gymkhana in Las Vegas. The group has confirmed that Ambassadors Clubhouse will open within the 1245 Broadway building in Manhattan’s NoMad district in the autumn. This will be followed in the winter by the launch of Gymkhana within the ARIA Resort & Casino on Las Vegas Boulevard. Both restaurants will adhere closely to their London siblings with Ambassadors Clubhouse New York specialising in Punjabi cuisine and Gymkhana Las Vegas serving a menu of refined Indian dishes including its signature muntjac biryani.
- Dishoom is bringing outside investment into the business for the first time, partnering with global consumer focused investment firm L Catterton. The partnership will pave the way for the Indian restaurant group to explore growth in other regions, including the US, where Dishoom is set to open a new location in 2026. While the valuation of the company has not been disclosed, a report in The Times places it at about £300m. Dishoom’s first Stateside location is expected to be in New York. The deal will not effect the senior leadership team or the day-to-day running of the business with Dishoom continuing to be led by co-founders Shamil Thakrar and Kavi Thakrar, alongside CEO Brian Trollip and the rest of the executive team.
- Chef Chris Denney has left Chelsea restaurant Fantômas having helped launch it at the end of 2024. Fantômas opened in November 2024 as a partnership between Denney and George Bukhov-Weinstein and Ilya Demichev, the due behind restaurants including Goodman, Beast, Wild Tavern, Belvedere, and Lita. The restaurant is currently closed as of 3 August but will reopen in the autumn ‘reimagined and ready for a new chapter’ although no details have been released on what form this will take in terms of name, décor or style of menu.
- Richoux, the century-old brand London patisserie and restaurant brand, is returning to the capital after a two-year hiatus with new openings near Oxford Street and Tower Bridge. The brand, which was originally founded in 1909 and has been owned by Naveen Handa’s Big Belly Hospitality group (BBR) since 202, will take over the former Pizzeria Mozza site within Treehouse Hotel London on Langham Place next month. A further site in Tower Bridge will follow soon after, with international openings in Dubai and Saudi Arabia set for 2026 in partnership with BBR Group. It comes two years after BBR’s previous iteration of Richoux closed its doors in Piccadilly having traded for just 18 months.