- Crisp Pizza founder Carl McCluskey is joining forces with the team behind popular London gastropub The Devonshire to open a new pub in Mayfair. The Marlborough will open at 24 North Audley Street in the autumn and see Crisp relocate from its current home at The Chancellors in Hammersmith, where it was launched by McCluskey in 2021. McCluskey, who will be leading the new venture with the support of The Devonshire founders Oisín Rogers, Charlie Carroll and Ashley Palmer-Watt, described it as a ‘bigger pub with a bigger oven and separate basement restaurant space’. Crisp is one of a growing number of pizza operators in the capital, and beyond, to have found viral fame on social media through its focus on New York-style pies with a thin, crispy base.
- Akira Back’s restaurants at the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair in London have closed and relaunched under new concepts after the hotel ended its partnership with the high-profile Korean chef. In a press statement, the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair confirmed that Back concluded operations at the luxury Hanover Square hotel on 29 July, little more than a year after launching his eponymous restaurant there. The space that previously housed Akira Back London relaunched earlier this week as The Restaurant at Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, which is billed as a ‘refined yet relaxed dining concept’ that will fuse Mediterranean cuisine with Japanese and Korean cooking techniques. Dosa by Akira Back, the 14-seat chef’s table that opened within the hotel in September last year, has also relaunched under a refreshed name and menu led by chef Jihun Kim.
- L’Osteria, the Germany-based Italian casual dining brand backed by Gail’s and Big Mamma owner McWin, is to acquire a majority stake in Pizza Pilgrims for an undisclosed sum. Pizza Pilgrims will maintain its independence as a brand, with Gavin Smith and Sophie Gilchriest stepping up as CEO and CFO respectively, while founders Thom and James Elliot continue their involvement. - The partnership aims to leverage L’Osteria’s experience to enhance Pizza Pilgrims’ business and expand their Neapolitan hospitality to more locations. The deal will see Pizza Pilgrims partner with L’Osteria as it looks to embark upon its next stage of growth, including international opportunities in Europe and further ‘measured expansion’ in the UK.
- Top pizzaiolo Michele Pascarella is evolving his London-based restaurant group Napoli on the Road through the introduction of a fine dining experience at its soon-to-launch Soho site. The Wardour Street restaurant, which is set to open in the autumn, will be Napoli on the Road’s third location in the capital and operate alongside its sites in Chiswick and Richmond. Split over two floors, Napoli on the Road Soho will serve an à la carte menu on the ground floor that, as with its sibling sites, will feature fritti and antipasti alongside a regularly changing selection of seasonal pizza toppings. The basement of the restaurant, meanwhile, will house a newly developed tasting menu concept that promises to ‘afford pizza the same care and creativity as a fine dining experience’ with detailed course explanations and wine flights.
- The Chancery Rosewood has unveiled further details about the culinary line-up that will launch within the £1bn luxury hotel and leisure redevelopment of the former US Embassy in London’s Mayfair. As previously announced, the hotel will be home to Tobi Masa, the latest London opening from chef Masayoshi ‘Masa’ Takayama, one of the most influential figures in modern Japanese cuisine; as well as the first London location for high-profile New York restaurant Carbone. Joining them will be southern Mediterranean restaurant Serra; tearoom and ‘dessert salon’ Jacqueline; rooftop destination the Eagle Bar; and café and delicatessen concept GSQ. Conspicuous by its absence from the press announcement is a mention of Richard Caring’s Le Caprice, which had been expected to take over a prime site on the southeast corner of The Chancery Rosewood.