From Sessions in Scotland to Corbin & King’s expansion, here is the latest hospitality news from the CODE Bulletin

Catch up on the latest industry news stories of the week from the CODE Bulletin

Sessions in Scotland

The team behind the much-admired Sessions Arts Club in London will open “a sanctuary for creatives” on Scotland’s northern coast in June. Boath House, near the rural town of Nairn, east of Inverness, will feature two restaurants, rooms, a walled garden, and cabins set within “extensive grounds”. It will be the second project from one of the most lauded trios in modern hospitality – chef Florence Knight, the artist and restaurateur Jonny Gent, and architect Russell Potter – and one which has been “built on the pillars of art, food, music and supplies”, an announcement said, “mirroring the practice and ethos of Gent’s Studio retreat”. Read more.

Corbin & King

Plans to expand the Corbin & King restaurant portfolio, now under the total ownership of Minor International, appear to be underway. CODE has seen a new briefing from a major property advisor to the hospitality and leisure sector detailing the group is looking for further sites in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dublin, Ireland. A source at the group told us he has been asked to find suitable locations for Corbin & King on behalf of Minor International, which paid more than £60m to take on the restaurant business in full last month. Read more. 

Akub

The Franco-Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan will make his London debut next month with a Carousel residency between May 3-7. Eater said the menu will focus on six cities: Jerusalem; Jericho; Gaza; Nablus; Jaffa; and Bethlehem, home to his restaurant Fawda, which opened in 2016. Dishes will include a “make your own” version of hummus, a dandelion salad, and prawn stew. Kattan’s week in Fitzrovia will precede the launch of his London restaurant, casually mentioned in the FT in September. Alongside a group of investors, the chef will open Akub (named after a wild Palestinian herb) in Notting Hill in the next couple of months. “The idea of bringing the tastes of Palestine to London is extremely exciting,” he said. “The food scene in the UK is one of the most dynamic worldwide, but it doesn’t have a modern Palestinian restaurant.”

Small plates

Riverside restaurant Le Pont de la Tour will launch Le Pont de la Tour Bistrot on May 12, 30 years after the original first opened. Housed in the restaurant’s former bar, the new venue has been inspired by classic French bistros and brasseries, with a menu designed by executive chef Tony Fleming. We like the sound of the morel omelette, the mussel and saffron soup, and the live jazz.

Din Tai Fung will reportedly open at Centre Point almost five years after first planning to do so. The dumpling specialist has taken on the former Vivi space at the development next to Tottenham Court Road station. It will follow the group’s first UK restaurant in Covent Garden, and its recent opening in Selfridge’s. 

London has been without the Modern Pantry since December 2020. The restaurant’s founding chef Anna Hansen had left in 2019, 11 years after it opened. Big Hospitality has said a comeback, by way of D&D London and in a space inside The Zetter Hotel in Clerkenwell, is happening. 

Farin Road

After a successful series of supper clubs and events, the chef Tunde Abifarin has announced his modern, “pan-African” pop-up concept Farin Road will take on a permanent residence at the independent Tani Modi cafe in Edinburgh next month. Abifarin’s menus are “rooted in sub-Saharan Africa”, with dishes such as kachumbari from Tanzania, agashe from Sudan, and chakalaka from South Africa. The chef, formerly a senior sous at a branch of Bread Street Kitchen in the Scottish capital, said he also draws inspiration from the cooking in parts of South America, and throughout the Caribbean. He said: “The vast Scottish larder tells an African tale. Farin Road finds its origin in the abundant Scottish larder, which is readily available to the kitchen. The team have taken a bold leap into the uncharted world of curating the cuisine of the African continent in a new way.”

Margot Henderson

The renowned chef Margot Henderson is set to open her first restaurant outside London, a pub with rooms called The Three Horseshoes in Somerset in November. The dog-friendly opening, in the rural village of Batcombe, will serve “heartfelt and wholesome” food in “cosy surroundings”. Diners can expect beamed ceilings, open fires, and Margot’s robust British cooking. “If it’s a pint at the bar and a bite you’re looking for, the pub will have a selection of bar snacks available such as crisp pigs skin, smoked cod’s roe and potted pork”. Margot has been busy, having also opened Margot’s Pride, a deli and sandwich shop at JKS’ new Arcade Food Hall, with son Hector.

Monica Galetti

Monica Galetti has announced she will leave MasterChef: The Professionals to focus on her family and restaurant. Galetti has co-hosted the show for 14 years but will step back from filming after this year’s series. She said: “My family needs me, my restaurant needs me, and trying to balance long filming days over the next three months with all my commitments meant that something had to give. So, for the moment, my focus has to be…my loved ones and rebuilding my kitchen team who have had a battering… Those in the hospitality industry know just how tough it is at the moment. To my MasterChef family, crew and friends, I’m so sorry that I won’t be with you this year but I hope to be back soon…” Full post.

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