Chef Behind London’s Only Michelin-Starred Pub Takes Reins at Swish Hotel Reboot

Including, appropriately, a fancy pub

Sally Abé, the chef behind the famed scotch eggs and Sunday roasts that have propelled Fulham pub the Harwood Arms to Michelin stardom, will oversee a near £2 million revamp of the food at a central London hotel. As consultant chef, she will assist on the opening of four sites at The Conrad London in Westminster, beginning with The Blue Boar, which is described as a “contemporary take on the London pub.” Abé’s stellar work at the Harwood Arms over the last half decade should soften any concerns over what “a contemporary take on the London pub” might mean in 2020.

A “glamorous new restaurant inspired by pioneering women” will follow, alongside the obligatory space devoted to afternoon tea and a cocktail bar. The pub is set to open in 2020, with the restaurant slated for spring 2021.

And in other news...

• Hospitality kingpin Jeremy King calls the government’s latest coronavirus restrictions “another knee jerk, ineffective, window-dressing, butt-covering initiative.”
• Instagram, the app for pretty dishes, is being repurposed as a rapid response platform for restaurants adapting to fast-changing coronavirus rules.
• Great British Bake Off Pastry Week was a return to the mixture of ambition, triumph, and despair that makes the show so watchable.
• Buzzy NYC ode to bistro culture Buvette will open in Notting Hill later this year.
• With Rishi Sunak expected to announce further job support for restaurants, Yotam Ottolenghi describes tier two as a “cursed” category. [BBC]
• Lauded French pâtissier Phillipe Conticini will open a second shop in Camden, in Buck Street Market. [Big Hospitality]
• Popular, freewheeling pizza chain Yard Sale will open in East Dulwich. [Hot Dinners]
• Another meal kit delivery platform is on its way: Restokit will give the likes of Michelin-starred Sabor, Gymkhana, and Trishna the opportunity to deliver chilled meals at home. [Big Hospitality]
• Good tweet: