- Bouchon Racine has been crowned The UK’s Best Restaurant at this year’s National Restaurant Awards, announced on Monday night at a ceremony held at Magazine in London. Led by chef-restaurateur Henry Harris, the celebrated dining room located above The Three Compasses pub in Clerkenwell has been a firm fixture on the list since opening in 2022 - and this year finally secured the top spot. Harris, alongside business partner Dave Strauss, has earned widespread acclaim for his deeply comforting French cooking, warm hospitality, and unwavering sense of charm, delivering simple dishes, inspired by the bouchons of Lyon and classic Parisian bistros, with precision. Ranked fifth last year, Bouchon Racine took the crown from French fine-dining restaurant The Ritz. In a first for the awards, Osip and The Ritz shared second place. Other awards on the night included Restaurateur of the Year, which went to Adam Byatt; Outstanding Industry Contribution, awarded to chef Simon Rogan; and Chef of the Year, claimed by Nieves Barragán Mohacho.
- Romy Gill is set to relaunch The Pem at Conrad London St. James this autumn, reopening the Westminster venue as a regional Indian restaurant. The appointment marks Gill’s first permanent restaurant kitchen in six years and ‘marks the next evolution’ of The Pem’s story. Gill’s menu will span the diverse regional cuisines of India, from Punjab and Bengal to the coastal flavours of Kerala and the spice traditions of Rajasthan. There will be ‘rich curries, smoky grills and slow-braised dishes’, alongside ‘newer creations inspired by her travels across the country’. The Pem originally opened in 2021 as a modern British dining destination led by Sally Abé, who departed early last year. The restaurant was launched with an all-female leadership team, including chef Laetizia Keating and restaurant manager Emma Underwood.
- The future of Soho institution Balans is in doubt following an email saying it is ‘no longer trading’. In the message, the company - which first opened in Soho back in 1987 - said that all creditors will be contacted in due course. Balans currently operates two sites, Balans No. 60 in Soho and another in Kensington, with both listed as temporarily closed on Google. At its height, the group ran eight restaurants across London, including a venue at 34 Old Compton Street, as well as locations in Shepherd’s Bush and Stratford. In May 2020, Balans put its then seven-strong portfolio up for auction due to trading difficulties during the Covid-19 pandemic. After securing a cash injection and successful lease renegotiations across the majority of its estate, the group managed to reopen five sites that summer once lockdown restrictions were lifted. However, the Shepherd’s Bush restaurant closed later that year amid further restrictions, and both the Stratford branch and Balans No. 34 in Soho have since shut, with the Old Compton Street site having been taken over by Frites Atelier.
- Andy Burnham has announced he would abolish business rates for cafés and cut them by 20% for pubs and music venues if he were to become prime minister. The Greater Manchester mayor - who is expected to challenge Keir Starmer’s leadership should he win as the Labour candidate in the Makerfield by-election - has also pledged to abolish business rates for shops and raise the threshold at which small businesses begin paying them from £12,000 to £18,000. The proposed tax relief would apply only to single-site operators, in a bid to focus support on family-run shops and hospitality venues rather than larger chains. Chef Tom Kerridge, who is spearheading the #VATsTheProblem campaign calling for VAT on hospitality to be reduced to 10%, has urged the sector to back Burnham, describing him as “somebody who understands nightlife, food, hospitality and entertainment, he sees it as the lifeblood of creativity”. The #VATsTheProblem petition has now surpassed 200,000 signatures, moving closer to its target of one million supporters.
- High-profile US chef Daniel Rose will make his UK debut later this year with the opening of a French brasserie at the upcoming St Regis London hotel in Mayfair. Le Perroquet, located on the corner of Conduit Street and New Bond Street, will serve from breakfast through to dinner, with a menu centred on classic French dishes. Rose will partner with executive head chef Robert Aikens - brother of Tom Aikens - on the project. At Le Perroquet, he plans to focus on ‘the foundations of French cooking’, with the restaurant designed to suit both relaxed drop-ins and longer, more celebratory meals rather than positioning itself purely as a special-occasion destination. A Chicago native, Rose trained at the Institut Bocuse and went on to open SPRING in Paris and later Le Coucou in New York, which earned a Michelin star and a James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. Aikens, meanwhile, previously spent three years at Le Gavroche under the Roux brothers before building his career in the US, where he held senior roles, including executive chef at Lake Placid Lodge and later oversaw operations at The Rainbow Room and Bar 65 at Rockefeller Center.