Monday Bulletin: Singburi 2.0 and Claridge’s Bakery

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

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Singburi

What does it take for a cash-only BYO Thai restaurant in Leystonstone to break the internet? The announcement of its surprise relocation to Shoreditch, that’s what. Singburi 2.0, as it’s informally dubbed, opens this spring in Montacute Yards, hard by Shoreditch High Street Station. The new restaurant is a joint venture between long-time Singburi head chef Sirichai Kularbwong and two friends, Nick Molyviatis (Kiln, Oma) and Alexander Gkikas (Catalyst). The trio hope to “distil the essence” of the original which Kularbwong’s parents Tony and Thelma opened as a fish and chip shop in 1999, little expecting it to morph into a cult restaurant and the capital’s hardest-to-book restaurant bar none. Singburi’s Zone 1 iteration will lose some but gain far more, notably a drinks list and, fingers crossed, an online booking system.

Claridge’s Bakery

Claridge’s in Mayfair is opening a new bakery with acclaimed British baker Richard Hart on board as executive baker and creative director. Claridge’s Bakery, slated to open on Brook’s Mews in late summer 2025, will “celebrate the art of British baking” and honour the hotel’s own baking heritage. Which is delicious news for fans of bloomers and Belgian buns, custard tarts and iced fingers. The bakery marks Hart’s return to the UK after decades working overseas, as head baker at Tartine in San Francisco, founder of Hart Bageri (in partnership with Rene Redzepi) in Copenhagen, and, most recently, as founder of the Green Rhino panaderia in Mexico City. In other Maybourne news, the luxury hotel group has also announced that it will open its first Paris property, The Maybourne Saint-Germain, in 2027.

Small Plates

• Bubala, the beloved Middle Eastern restaurant with sites in Soho and Spitalfields, is to open a third site in King’s Cross this April. The new 90-cover site, with room for 30 more on the terrace, will serve old favourites like tamari oyster skewers and confit latkes plus new creations from the wood-fired oven. Bubala was judged one of CODE’s Happiest Places to Work in 2024.
   
• Elsewhere in KX, Victor Garvey of SOLA in Soho gets his name on the awning at The Midland Grand. Taking over from Patrick Powell (now culinary director of Shoreditch’s Knave of Clubs), Garvey, in partnership with hotelier Harry Handelsman, relaunches the restaurant on February 25 with a classical French-inspired menu to befit the opulent surrounds. Think butter-poached lobster finished tableside with pressed lobster jus.
   
• Shaun Moffat, former exec chef of the Edinburgh Castle in Ancoats and winner of Manchester’s Chef of the Year 2024, is opening Winsome this spring in the centre of the city. Winsome will be a ‘guest-focused restaurant with northern hospitality at its heart’. Drinks by Tom Fastiggi, ex-Schofield’s Bar.
   
• Bartenders! Mixologists! Entries are now open for Diageo World Class 2025, one of the most prestigious events in the cocktail calendar. Previous winners include Ryan Chetiyawardana and Kwant’s Erik Lorincz. Competitors are invited to create a new cocktail with The Singleton Single Malt Scotch Whisky or Don Julio Tequila, and submit their entry to the Diageo Bar Academy Platform by February 28. Prizes include an all-expenses paid trip to the final in Toronto and — such luxury — a personal stylist for the event.
  
  
• And so we bid au revoir to two French imports: Anne-Sophie’s Pic’s La Dame de Pic, whose final service after eight years is on February 15; and the Moma Group’s Cafe Laperouse, which didn’t quite make it to two years at The OWO.