From Sundays at Manteca to Clare Smyth’s new cookbook, 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

Bottle + Rye

Robin Gill is opening a Brixton bar and an Italian in Kensington. Read more here.

The Gladwin Brothers

Find out about the Gladwin Brothers’ next launch here.

Sunday service

Manteca was one of London’s standout restaurant openings last year and so news that it will begin opening on Sundays for family-style sharing lunches is welcome. Chef Chris Leach said he will be “taking cues from the convivial family feasts he encountered on his travels through Rome and Napoli, revolving around quality produce and hearty cooking”. Cured meats and pastas will be available but Sundays will mostly centre around lasagnes, herb-stuffed porchettas dotted with salsa verde, and billito misto, a dish of tenderly boiled meats rarely found in Britain. Manteca’s will include cotechino sausage, beef tongue, and chicken, and come with mostarda, salsa rossa, and horseradish cream for lubrication. Head of wine Emily Acha Derrington will be uncorking different magnums each weekend. Pleasing.

Ukrainian beer 

The beer importer Euroboozer is in the process of bringing around 45,000 pints of beer from the Kyiv-based brewery Varvar Brew to support Ukraine. Varvar has been forced to close since the invasion, but still needs to sell its stock to pay taxes and wages, and to raise money for food and medicine. Martin Dawson of Varvar Brew told the Thinking Drinkers: “Our brewery has been unable to operate since the war began and we have stock in our warehouse in Kyiv that we are desperately looking to sell. The situation in Kyiv is unpredictable, and we don’t know exactly how many days we will still be able to get our hands on our beer. Hopefully each and every beer that leaves the country can provide real enjoyment but also play a role in keeping our fight at the front of people’s minds. Our beer is made with a tank full of Ukrainian passion and the finest ingredients so we don’t want to see it destroyed.” When the beer arrives, Euroboozer will need pubs, bars and restaurants to buy it, and all profits will be given to the Drinkers for Ukraine campaign.

Acme Fire Cult

Acme Fire Cult, a new live fire concept from chefs Andrew Clarke and Daniel Watkins, will open its first permanent restaurant at 40FT Brewery in Dalston on April 1. A collaboration with Steve Ryan of 40FT, Acme Fire Cult will “offer a new approach to BBQ, where vegetables take centre stage and where food and drink are intrinsically linked”. Brewing by-products such as yeast and spent grain will be used in ferments and hot sauces, while ancho chillies and other ingredients will help flavour new beers in turn. 

Thomas Straker

Thomas Straker, a chef who made his name on TikTok over the course of the pandemic – lockdown specifically – will open a restaurant under his own name in Notting Hill this June. Straker, who has worked at The Dorchester, Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner, and Elystan Street, will launch Straker’s with a menu featuring the likes of gnocco fritto with guanciale or clams, and whole grilled sea bass with white peaches and green beans.

Clare Smyth

Clare Smyth is about to release her first cookbook. “I have some exciting news to share with you”, she said on Instagram. “My first book is available to preorder online through Phaidon.com”. It’s called CORE and will be published in July. 

Crocadon Farm

The former L’Enclume and Fera chef Dan Cox is edging closer to opening a cafe and restaurant at his farm in Cornwall. Read more about his new partnership with livestock farmer Tim Williams and gardener, grower and cook Claire Hannington-Williams on the CODE website.

Asma Khan

Asma Khan is looking for a new location for Darjeeling Express, which will be closing on July 4. She mentioned she “may have to move” on Saturday Kitchen last weekend and confirmed the news on Twitter a few days later. Khan said she wants to find a site that will showcase “the real stars of the show… my women in the kitchen”. She said: “At the moment we are in a kitchen which is in the basement, which is true for most West End places. Anyone who knows anyone wanting to lease a restaurant, I’m in the market, which will allow me to have an open kitchen so my women can be visible. We are, at the price point and the kind of place that we are, the only Indian restaurant in the world with a female founder and an all-female kitchen… I need to show them off because they are my pride and joy”. Khan also just appeared on the Off Menu podcast.

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