- A 32-day aged Irish angus striploin that is available in Lidl in Ireland has been named as the World’s Best Steak following the results of the 2025 World Steak Challenge. The steak, from producer Dawn Meats, was also named Europe’s Best Steak and the World’s Best Grass-Fed Sirloin, at an award ceremony held in London on 10 November at steakhouse Smith & Wollensky following a two-day judging process in September at Vlees & Co steakhouse in Amsterdam.
- Islington restaurant FKABAM will close at the end of the year after a decade of operation. The restaurant, run by Lee and Kate Tiernan, will have its last service on 20 December as the pair ‘hit pause’ on operating their project.
- The trio behind Farringdon’s Cloth have become the new custodians of storied City venue Simpson’s Tavern. Known as London’s oldest chop house, dating back to 1757, the site sits among a network of narrow alleyways just off Cornhill and was once a favourite haunt of William Thackeray and Charles Dickens. Owing to legal complications, the Simpson’s Tavern name cannot be used, with the new restaurant set to trade as Cloth Cornhill when it launches next year.
- Clare Smyth’s Oncore restaurant, located within the Crown Sydney resort and casino complex, will close early next year after a four-year run. The three Michelin-starred chef’s first and only venture outside the UK, Oncore was critically acclaimed, earning three hats — signifying “world class” — from The Good Food Guide, Australia’s most recognised and influential restaurant rating system. Neither Smyth nor Crown Resorts, the owner of Crown Sydney, has given a reason for the closure.
- Will Jenkins will open a neighbourhood restaurant and bar in Margate this weekend. Almost two years in the making, Willy’s will open its doors at the Margate House Hotel in Cliftonville on 15 November, serving classic British dishes ‘reimagined with wit and flair’. Located within the townhouse hotel, which opened in summer 2023, but also a standalone restaurant, Willy’s will be led in the kitchen by Mark O’Brien, whose CV includes The Dairy and ZRC Birch under Robin Gill and more recently at Whitstable bistro Samphire, where he was head chef for two years.