- Chef Max Coen has announced his departure from the Michelin-starred Notting Hill restaurant Dorian. Announcing the news via Instagram, Coen gave no reason for leaving the Talbot Road venue. Launched in 2022, Dorian is one of the most talked-about restaurants in London, combining old-school hospitality and high-end ingredients within a lively neighbourhood setting. The restaurant, which features dishes such as Coen’s famed mini röstis - often topped with caviar - and dry-aged steaks served with classic sauces, arrived during a period when many diners were moving away from tasting menus and looking for restaurants that offered luxury without excessive ceremony.
- Marco Pierre White has confirmed that a planned biopic of his life, which was set to be directed by Ridley Scott, will no longer go ahead. Speaking on the Louis Theroux Podcast, the chef said he chose not to renew the option on the film, which was intended to chart his journey from growing up on a council estate in Leeds to becoming the first British-born chef to be awarded three Michelin stars. The project, first revealed in 2019, had seen Russell Crowe attached to play Pierre White, but around the same time, following the chef’s visit to Australia to see the Gladiator star at his home, it was reported that Crowe and Scott had fallen out. He told Louis Theroux he ultimately had to ‘make a decision’ between Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe, adding that after spending time with Crowe and his family, he chose him. The film has reportedly been in development since around 2015. Michael Fassbender and Tom Hardy have also been linked to the project at various stages.
- Chef Sertaç Dirik and restaurateur David Carter are joining forces to open a modern Turkish restaurant in Soho this September. KID will be Dirik’s first solo restaurant following the success of his family-run ocakbaşı Mangal II. The project draws on his Turkish heritage as well as experience gained in kitchens across London and Copenhagen. Located on the corner of Frith Street and Bateman Street in a Victorian building, the restaurant will place fire at the centre of its cooking. The menu will be inspired by Dirik’s upbringing and the flavours of Central Anatolia, combining Turkish influences with seasonal British produce. Dishes will include a selection of meze and slaltas, such as çökelek cheese made in house daily, served with summer peas and carosello cucumber, alongside starter options and larger sharing dishes cooked over charcoal.
- In another high-profile departure reported this week, Pip Lacey was revealed to have left her role as executive chef at the Guinness Open Gate Brewery just six months after its opening. Lacey oversaw the food offer across two venues at the £70m microbrewery and culture hub in Covent Garden – Gilroy’s Loft and The Porter’s Table. She left the business in early June, having worked on the project for around a year, and has now handed over culinary leadership to head chef Jamian Lewis. Gilroy’s Loft is a rooftop restaurant named after John Gilroy, the creative behind some of Guinness’s most iconic advertising campaigns. It serves a seafood-led menu focused on the best of Britain’s coastal produce. The Porter’s Table, meanwhile, takes its name from the historic Covent Garden porters and offers a sharing-style menu of British dishes centred on locally sourced ingredients. The brewery said the menus and overall style of both restaurants will remain broadly unchanged.
- Britain’s oldest Indian restaurant, Veeraswamy, is heading to court this month as it challenges an eviction notice from its landlord, the Crown Estate. The Michelin-starred restaurant, which has been based at Victory House on Regent Street since 1926, is due to have its case heard at Central London County Court in a five-day hearing starting 29 June. Its £205,000-a-year lease at Victory House near Piccadilly Circus expired last summer after the Crown Estate decided not to renew it. However, ongoing legal proceedings have allowed the restaurant to continue trading while the dispute is considered by the courts. The landlord is looking to regain possession of the building as part of a wider refurbishment plan, including upgrades to office space above the restaurant that has been empty since a basement flood in 2023. Veeraswamy’s parent company MW Eat has argued the planned works could be carried out without removing the restaurant.