Joe Lutrario

The future of high-end Chinese restaurant Gouqi has been secured following a successful pre-pack sale. Earlier today (26 May) Restaurant reported that the central London venue had filed notice to appoint administrators. The process was led by Opus Restructuring and Insolvency, safeguarding around 30 jobs.

Story chef Tom Sellers has confirmed the team that will lead his upcoming restaurant at the Carbis Bay Estate in St Ives. The kitchen will be overseen by Tom Anglesea as executive chef - who already oversees Sellers’ Dovetale restaurant in Mayfair - supported by former Scarlet Hotel chef Jack Clayton and former Ynyshir and Gwen chef Corrin Harrison.

Some of the loudest voices in the industry are being a bit childish over Great British Summer Savings Scheme.

Frog and Ugly Butterfly chef Adam Handling has launched an online caviar business. Pitched at consumers rather than restaurants, Ahrelia Caviar will offer the luxury ingredient at ‘unrivalled prices’.

French brasserie operator La Nouvelle Garde has confirmed that its debut London restaurant will launch in early July. First revealed at the end of last year, Brasserie Olivia will open on Sloane Square in a site previously occupied by Côte. Founded by Charles Perez and Victor Dubillotin in Paris in 2019, La Nouvelle Garde now operates nine brasseries across France.

The co-owner of Leeds restaurant Bavette on Vin Jaune, Campania-based winemaker Antonio Gismondi and his family’s vineyard in the Loire.

Anna Higham, founder of Quince Bakery, has launched a crowdfund for a second location in Islington. Clementine will carry the ‘same philosophy’ as her highly rated New North Road venture into a café setting. Open for breakfast, brunch and lunch Wednesday to Sunday, the site will be located directly opposite Quince.

High-profile north London Malaysian restaurant Sambal Shiok Laksa Bar has closed after eight years of trading. Chef-founder Mandy Yin - a former lawyer who launched Sambal Shiok as a street food business before opening the Holloway Road restaurant - cited “mounting economic pressures” behind the decision to call time on the project. “Sambal Shiok’s closure reflects structural cost pressures facing the UK’s independent hospitality sector rather than any single event. The numbers stopped working,” she says.

The viral comedian has made his restaurant debut in London via a link-up with the team behind Chinatown’s YiQi, SanHao and The Eight. Located on Macclesfield Street, the restaurant takes its name from the Malay word for “friend” and is a collaboration between Ng and the team behind YiQi, SanHao and The Eight, including top chef Daren Liew.

China-born modern tea concept HEYTEA is set to open a second site in London’s Chinatown this summer, taking its total number of locations in the capital to six. Located at 118-120 Shaftesbury Avenue, the 2,600 sq ft venue will serve a range of fresh fruit teas, milk teas and matcha-based drinks.