Monday Bulletin: Cod’s roe with frazzles and Alex Bond’s fried chicken shop

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

Patrick Powell’s new restaurant

Exclusive: The hotelier and developer Harry Handelsman will again team up with the Irish chef Patrick Powell to open a new restaurant at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, CODE can reveal. Their latest collaboration will be The Midland Grand Dining Room – after the hotel’s name in the 19th and 20th century – which will occupy the former Gilbert Scott space that was previously led by Marcus Wareing. Set to open early next year, the upscale brasserie will be Powell’s second project within the Gothic Revival grandeur of the Renaissance, with the Booking Office having opened in November 2021. Full story.

Norman’s X Seed Library

Shoreditch bar Seed Library will host darlings of Instagram and purveyors of modern-day caff food Norman’s for an eight-week residency from 21 September. The menu will include a cheese toastie made with farmhouse cheddar and smoked English ham, potato smiley faces with ketchup, and whipped cod’s roe on top of a pile of classic Frazzles. Usually a breakfast and lunch spot in North London, this collaboration is the first time Norman’s, founded in 2020, will be open for evening service. The cafe’s Richie Hayes and Elliott Kaye said: ‘We are very excited. To offer an evening snack menu alongside Seed Library’s excellent drinks list is an incredible opportunity’. The bar was opened by the acclaimed mixologist Mr Lyan earlier this year. 

Small plates

• The Quality Chop House has brought back its feted mince on toast for a two-week stint on the £25 set menu. You might remember the dish’s viral qualities from 2017? There could be more news from TQCH in the coming months, by the way.

• Jim’s, a 1960s caff and ice cream shop on Chatsworth Road in Clapton has permanently closed, Eater has reported. The café was bought by the motorcycle clothing brand Black Skulls London in 2017. The group has since confirmed the site has shut. 

• An Indian restaurant specialising in food from the Awadhi region will open in Marble Arch this week. BKC, which stands for Biryani Kebab Chai, is the work of executive chef Arsh Thakur, and Subjahit Mitra, who you might know from Coupette in East London. From Hot Dinners.

• Hyssop restaurant in Glossop, Derbyshire, has launched a crowdfunding appeal after its site was ‘completely devastated’ by a fire. From The Caterer.

• And we step inside The Tent, John Javier’s new restaurant on Little Portland Place in Fitzrovia. 

Fried chicken from Alex Bond

Alex Bond, the chef-patron of the highly rated Alchemilla in Nottingham, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help open his fried chicken restaurant concept, Mollis. The chef secured the site 18 months ago but has encountered challenges with building work. Bond said his budget for the project is now exhausted and he’s in need of financial backing. ‘We are on the final stretch now and have all our ducks in a row. We just need your help to get us over the line,’ he said.

Hub Box

The Cornwall-born burger bar Hub Box will be opening its first Dorset establishment in early October. The group now has sites across the South West (and one in Cardiff), and the new restaurant in Dorchester will be its twelfth. Hub Box sells burgers made with beef from the esteemed Cornish farmer and butcher Philip Warren and reported record sales of £12.6m earlier this year. London next? ‘You never know,’ a spokeswoman told CODE.

Andrew Edmunds

The Andrew Edmunds team announced the death of the restaurant’s founder on Sunday, sparking a host of tributes. Jeremy Lee called Edmunds the ‘consummate host’ and ‘a great charmer’, critic Jay Rayner dubbed him a ‘true pillar of Soho’, while Marina O’Loughlin said he was ‘the best kind of restaurateur’. Edmunds, who was also an art dealer, was born in 1943 and went on to establish, in 1986, what would become ‘one of the last bastions of old Soho’, and one widely credited to be the most romantic place to dine in London. The restaurant’s reputation is largely down to its fine ambiance, simple but elegant food, and the ever-satisfying wine list.
With thanks to Jesse Dunford Wood for the photograph.

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