Covent Garden

Father and son Carlo and Marcello Di Stefano

San Carlo Group to expand in London and Manchester

By Lauren Houghton

Italian restaurant group San Carlo has announced plans to open two more restaurants before the end of the year, Cicchetti in Covent Garden and a Fumo site in Manchester, their largest yet.

Five Guys UK reports £3.89m loss

Five Guys UK reports £3.89m loss

By Mark Wingett

Five Guys UK, the popular US burger chain, has reported a loss of £3.89m in the period to 29 December 2013, as the cost of launching in the country saw administrative expenses reach £4.58m.

Jamaica Patty Co will open its first site in Covent Garden next month

Jamaican ‘patty’ concept hits London

By Luke Nicholls

Jamaica Patty Co, a new fast-casual concept offering traditional Jamaican patties, is set to launch in Covent Garden next month as ‘the first of many across Britain’. 

Jamie Oliver Restaurants shuts three Union Jacks

Jamie Oliver Restaurants shuts three Union Jacks

By Mark Wingett

Jamie Oliver Restaurants has closed three of the four sites currently operating under its Union Jacks brand, as the company looks to concentrate on the continued roll out of its core Jamie’s Italian chain both in the UK and internationally. 

Sixtyone, Steam & Rye, The Smugglers Cove and Sign of the Don were among the big openings in November

Hospitality Openings: November 2013

By Luke Nicholls

London is again the hub of all things new in our photo gallery for November, with Angela Hartnett's second solo venture, a Prohibition era-themed bar and a cocoa-based fine-dining restaurant all featuring among the latest hospitality openings. 

The 300-cover Covent Garden restaurant is set over three floors, taking inspiration from its sibling in Chelsea

Big Easy heads to Covent Garden

By Luke Nicholls

Long-standing London restaurant Big Easy Bar.B.Q & Crabshack is doubling up in the capital with a second venue opening in Covent Garden next year.

Second Champagne + Fromage to open in Brixton

Champagne + Fromage to expand to Brixton Village

By Emma Eversham

Champagne + Fromage, the grower Champagne and cheese specialist which opened its first shop and restaurant in Covent Garden two years ago, is to open a site in Brixton Village this autumn. 

While London's burger wars reached fever pitch, a number of new restaurants, hotels and pubs & bars launched in the last month, including Aqua Shard

Hospitality Openings: June/July 2013

By Peter Ruddick

While the hospitality industry was gripped with burger fever - both Five Guys and Shake Shack opened in Covent Garden in the same week - it was another busy month for restaurant, hotel and pub & bar launches as our exclusive photo gallery shows. 

Raising the white flag: Union Jacks fell flat

Jamie turns to trattorias as Union Jacks fails to fly

By Mark Wingett

“I still worry that it’s all going to come tumbling down. I still feel like I’m 17 and I’ve got it all to prove. I have to pinch myself when I sit down and think about everything that’s happened to me. But I don’t get complacent about it,” so answered...

Heaton, Butler & Bayne and the Counter Bar will open on Tuesday 2 April, with the downstairs cocktail opening a week later

Heaton, Butler & Bayne joins Covent Garden’s restaurant revolution

By Luke Nicholls

Just days after BigHospitality reported on the recent flurry of restaurant launches in Covent Garden, Heaton, Butler & Bayne – a modern British all-day dining concept from London-based restaurateur Robert Siegler - is now set to open on the corner...

Covent Garden's image has transformed from being seen as a tourist dining backwater to a flourishing restaurant operator's location of choice

The new Soho? Covent Garden’s restaurant resurgence explained

By Peter Ruddick

It was known as the place to grab a pasty while watching the circus acts perform, a tick on a London tourist's destination list. But with a flurry of restaurant launches, most recently Keith McNally’s Balthazar, Covent Garden is once again a respected...

Fenland celery

Fenland celery returns to New Covent Garden Market

By Emma Eversham

Fenland celery, a variety of winter celery only grown in the Fens of East Cambridgeshire, is being made available to chefs operating in and around London this winter as it returns to the New Covent Garden market. 

Dishoom

Business Profile: Dishoom

By William Drew

With a second instalment of its take on India’s traditional café-restaurants about to open, Dishoom is successfully carving its own niche in the UK’s all-day dining space.

Jamie Oliver acquires Covent Garden Market Building site

Jamie Oliver acquires Covent Garden Market Building site

By Peter Ruddick

Jamie Oliver has acquired a site in the Covent Garden Market Building that was occupied by a pop-up restaurant from British chain Canteen. It is understood the celebrity chef is likely to open a Union Jacks on site, or alternatively a Jamie's Italian...

Pearls of Wisdom: Will Smith

Pearls of Wisdom: Will Smith

By William Drew

The co-owner of Arbutus Restaurant Group opened Les Deux Salons in London's Covent Garden a year ago with Anthony Demetre. They have recently refurbished Soho-based Arbutus.

Behind-the-scenes at St. Martin's Courtyard

Behind-the-scenes at St. Martin's Courtyard

By Becky Paskin

We look at how the restaurants at St. Martin's Courtyard, London's newest dining destination, are operating, and how they expect to trade once the area opens to the public

TGI Friday's fined £30k for running 'filthy kitchens'

TGI Friday's fined £30k for running 'filthy kitchens'

By Emma Eversham

The American-themed restaurant chain pleaded guilty to six food hygiene offences in court on Wednesday after inspectors found dead cockroaches, mouse droppings and grease-encrusted cabinets in its kitchens