Hall & Woodhouse has just opened a major new-build pub and restaurant at the Wichelstowe Canalside development near Swindon.
Dishoom and Vinoteca are both in talks to open at the 1 Chamberlain Square development in Birmingham later this year, local media report. Dishoom has moved beyond London with restaurants in Edinburgh and Manchester, while for Vinoteca it would be a first opening outside the capital.
Franco Manca has submitted a licensing application for a potential restaurant opening on Church Street in Cardiff, according to local media.
Asia’s biggest esports café brand Wanyoo Café has opened its first European site at Shaftesbury’s Central Cross development within Chinatown London. The 5,330 square feet site has a coffee and food bar alongside a 12-station esports area, public gaming space and an area for mobile phone gaming, plus private gaming rooms, projector screens for streaming esports tournaments and co-working spaces. Andrew Price, asset executive at Shaftesbury, said: “We are incredibly excited and proud to welcome Wanyoo Café’s debut European site to Chinatown London, which we are certain will quickly establish itself as the city’s leading gaming destination.”
Marston’s is opening a new pub restaurant in Newton Leys near Bletchley in April. It will be called The Turing Key after codebreaker Alan Turing. The pub will have a chicken rotisserie.
The Old Spot Pub Company, a managed group run as part of the Ei Managed Investments operation, will open two new pubs in the next few weeks: The Emperor in Farnham Common in Buckinghamshire and the Star of the East near Limehouse in London. The openings take the group’s estate to seven pubs. Dave Ford of Old Spot Pub Company said: “So far the reaction to our pubs has been extremely positive, trading has been good and we’re on track with our growth plans. We have many more openings in the pipeline for 2019.”
JD Wetherspoon plans to open a new pub at the Plymstock Broadway precinct in Plymouth. It wants to take on empty units there, alongside a gym and two retailers, though contracts have yet to be exchanged. Wetherspoon has five other pubs in Plymouth.
MEATliquor is reopening its flagship restaurant on the site of the former Match Bar on Margaret Street in Marylebone in April.
On the go sushi box brand Kokoro is to open at the Festival Place shopping centre in Basingstoke.
The Out of the Woods Restaurant Group has opened a fourth restaurant and bar: The Oak SW11 near Battersea Bridge and adjacent to Battersea Park. The 3,500 square feet spare has a bar, lounge, dining room, private dining area and a mezzanine level, and specializes in Mediterranean-style small plates and pizza. Out of the Woods also operates the Oak W2 on Westbourne Park Road, The Oak W12 in Shepherd’s Bush and The Bird in Hand in Brook Green.
The Adventure Bar group has just opened its second Tonight Josephine cocktail bar on Hoxton Square in Shoreditch. The original bar is in Waterloo.
Whitbread is opening a new Bar + Block steakhouse restaurant and bar on the ground floor of a Premier Inn hotel on Newgate Street in Newcastle. Construction on the site is beginning soon after plans were approved by the city council.
Sichuanese restaurant JinLi has opened a second restaurant at Shaftesbury’s Central Cross development. The 4,300 square feet operation has 150 covers and is called JinLi Chinatown. It joins the original JinLi on Leicester Street.
Italian artisan bakery and pasticceria Signorelli has opened a third site at International Quarter London, the mixed-use development in Stratford. It joins brands including Pret and Tonkotsu at the Quarter. Figo, a restaurant from the team behind Bella Vita in Hackney, will follow soon. Signorelli will offer cake masterclasses and event catering as well as eat-in food.
The team behind Kutir restaurant in Chelsea opens a new concept called KoolCha at the Boxpark development in Wembley on Sunday (9 February). It will have 60 covers and will be the only sit-in operation at Boxpark.
Taco Bell is opening on Argyle Street in Glasgow—a second site in the city.
Bath pizza restaurant Dough is to open a sister site on Baldwin Street in Bristol city centre in March.
Cardiff Italian restaurant operator Giovanni’s is opening a third site in the city in Cardiff Bay called Piatto Pasta House. It is scheduled to open by the end of February. Giovanni’s also has restaurants at The Hayes and Park Place in Cardiff.
