Monday Bulletin: Arôme | Dim Sum Duck | MAZA

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DIM SUM DUCK

Get in line. Dim Sum Duck, home to one of London’s longest queues, has opened a second restaurant, just one minute away from its original King’s Cross Road location on nearby Pentonville Road. Fans can expect ‘the same menu, the same signatures’ only in a more spacious setting with with room for larger tables (it remains walk-in only, however). Dim Sum Duck opened in 2020 and has received almost universal praise since. The Good Food Guide declares it a local gem ‘cheap, delicious and authentic; while Time Out say it is ‘rightly hyped’. Whether the second sites will reduce queuing or simply result in two long queues around King’s Cross instead of one, is yet to be ascertained.

[Photo credit: @ks_ate_here]

LE CAFE BY NICOLAS ROUZAUD

Fêted master pâtissier Nicolas Rouzaud, best known for his patisserie at The Connaught, has opened his own within the historic 19th Century Burlington Arcade in central London. Brioches à tête, in sweet and savoury forms, are the signature.

MAZA

Christina Mouratoglou and Adrien Carré of Notting Hill’s Mazi and Suzi Tros are stepping outside W11 for MAZA, a new Greek restaurant (with vinyl listening bar playing vintage Greek records) opening this March on Mayfair’s Bruton Place.

ARÔME

There’s no such thing as too much honey toast. Ellen Chew and Alix Andre have secured a third site for their popular café Arôme Bakery in Chinatown. The new site which will focus on grab and go opens on Shaftesbury Avenue this spring.

• 2016 is trending, including at Clipstone in Fitzrovia which launched that year. To celebrate, a three-course menu of Clipstone hits at £20.16 from now to December.
  
  
• Two international twists for the Sunday roast fans: Mangal II in Dalston is opening Sundays for the first time to do roasts with ‘an Anatolian edge’, while The Macbeth in Hoxton is doing Portuguese.
  
  
• MasterChef: The Professionals winner Alex Webb has opened his debut restaurant Orion in Wimbledon. On the menu, his as-seen-on-TV lobster and prawn toast. 
  
  
• Ruben’s Reubens kicks off a three-month residency at Firestarter at The Star by Liverpool Street this Wednesday 4 February. Expect BBQ trays of ribs, brisket, and homemade sausages by Ruben Dawnay (CODE’s 30u30, Class of ’23).
  
  
• Pour Choices, the low intervention wine fair, returns to Hackney Bridge in London on 18 April. Get booking – early bird ticketing ends today.
  
  
• Phil Howard is marking the close of the winter truffle season with a week of truffle-friendly specials at Elystan Street from February 16-21. You pick your truffle (it’s £35 for a 50g specimen); the chefs do the rest. If any’s left over, it’s yours to take home.
  
  
• Trivet in London Bridge has a new head chef: Adam Tooby-Desmond joins from Dinner by Heston Blumenthal.
  
  
• JKS Restaurants’ Ambassadors Clubhouse in New York has an opening date. It opens at 1245 Broadway in NoMad on 11 February.
  
  
  

WHAT WE’RE READING

16 of our favourite French bistros: The Good Food Guide

Wild Cherry is ready for its close-up: The New Yorker

Why even great restaurants are closing in 2026: Forbes

Where have all the vegans gone?: London On The Inside Substack

THE DUMBWAITER

The countdown is on to Food Fight, the white-collar boxing gala in aid of Prept. Foundation’s food education programmes, which takes place at Old Billingsgate Market on 2 March. In the ring, some of the UK’s most celebrated chefs including Jason Atherton and Woongchul Park. Choose your fighter.

Madonna was in Margate this week visiting her friend, artist Dame Tracey Emin. The Queen of Pop appears to know what’s what; she is said to have eaten at Cantina Caruso, Bottega Caruso’s little sister, for the second time in three months. A ray of light in the off season.

Lily Allen teased fans with her ‘Choux’s Madeline?’ announcement this week. London’s bakery watchers knew there was only one secret location cool enough for her signing: Maison Bertaux in Soho.

The headlines this week have said it all: fans slam outrageous ticket prices; thousands left disappointed; tickets gone in sixty seconds. No, not Harry Style’s Together, Together tour but NOMA’s 2026 LA residency, which sold out in a minute even at $1500 a pop.