Gaucho will open its new 120-cover restaurant on St Andrew Square in Edinburgh in mid-November—its first restaurant in Scotland. It will join other brands on St Andrew Square including Dishoom, Wagamama and Wahaca. Gaucho’s chief operating officer Tracey Matthews said: “Right in the heart of Scotland’s cosmopolitan capital, the iconic St Andrew Square provides an iconic location for Gaucho to open our flagship Scottish restaurant and bar.”
Brewery Camerons has opened its 14th Head of Steam venue, at a pub previously run as The Abbey on Hanover Street in Liverpool.
Loungers has applied for permission to open in Witham in Essex, local media report. It plans to convert an old bank building in the town that has been closed for two years.
Greene King says it is to open eight new Farmhouse Inns—in Edinburgh, Lincoln, Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham, Quedgeley near Gloucester, Peterborough and Worcester. It continues an expansion of the Farmhouse Inns brand, which now has 61 sites.
Mitchells & Butlers will continue the roll-out of its Miller & Carter steakhouse brand with a new opening in Worcester Park in south west London on 27 October.
Bistrot Pierre has announced an opening in Preston in spring 2018. It has taken on a 19th century Baptist church opposite the Fishergate shopping centre. It will have space for 200 covers after a refurbishment, and will become Bistrot Pierre’s fourth restaurant in the north west. Co-founder Rob Beacham said: “We’re very excited to be opening in such an incredible space… We’ve never opened a bistrot in a church before so I thoroughly look forward to supporting its restoration and breathing a new lease of life into such a fabulous old building.” Bistrot Pierre opened its latest new restaurant in Middlesbrough last Friday (22 September).
US burger concept Smashburger opens at the Gallagher Retail Park near Birmingham on Thursday (5 October). It will have space for 120 people. It becomes Smashburger’s fifth UK restaurant, joining sites in Bath, Brighton, Milton Keynes and Newcastle.
Cut + Grind, a new better burger concept, is to open at the Urbanest student accommodation development in King’s Cross in the next few weeks.
Caribbean concept Cottons has officially opened its new restaurant and bar at St George’s Wharf in Vauxhall. It has a rum shack and terrace as well as restaurant, and a breakfast and brunch menu.
SSP has partnered with TV chef Paul Hollywood on a new concept called Knead at Euston station in London. It has a small seating area as well as an on-the-go offer. SSP and Hollywood plan to open more joint sites if it proves successful.
The Revolution Bars Group has applied for permission to open in Salisbury, the local newspaper reports. It has submitted plans to convert the Pizza Hut restaurant there.
Tapas concept Camino will open its fifth restaurant in Shoreditch on Monday (2 October). It will have 80 covers inside and a terrace with space for 75 more. The first four Caminos are in King’s Cross, Monument, Bankside and Blackfriars.
Nottingham’s Indian restaurant Tamatanga is opening a second site on Navigation Street in Birmingham on Monday (2 October). It will be a 140-cover restaurant with a bar, and will open all-day, from 7am for breakfast.
A new restaurant and bar called Burger and Bubbles is opening in Beckenham in mid-October. It will specialise in burgers and cocktails.
Brakspear has taken its managed estate to ten with the addition of two of its leased and tenanted pubs: the Little Angel in Henley-on-Thames and the Dog and Duck in Wokingham. The first will continue to operate along its current lines, but the second will reopen in November after a major refurbishment.
Paris soba noodle restaurant Yen is to open a sister site on the Strand in London in November. It will sell Japanese dishes including sushi, sashimi and tempura as well as handmade noodles.
Stonegate Pub Company opened a new Slug & Lettuce bar in Piccadilly in Manchester on Sunday (24 September). It the result of a £400,000 spend on a site previously occupied by Missoula. Slug & Lettuce has also just reopened In Liverpool after a £350,000 refurb, which includes new ‘birdcage booths’.
Fuller’s has reopened its Tea Merchant pub in Canary Wharf as The Merchant. It has a new bar area with a wider craft beer range, plus a new function room, games room and outside seating. It will be open seven days a week and for breakfast. Fuller’s Inns managing director Jonathon Swaine said: “This has been a great site for Fuller’s since we took it on—but The Merchant really brings the pub up to date.”
Albion & East has just opened its second restaurant—Canova Hall in Brixton. The 200-cover venue provides workspaces during the day as well as drinks and entertainment at night. Albion & East’s first venue is the Martello Hall in Hackney.
