What we’re reading
Published 8 January 2026
Editor’s pick: new openings to get excited about in 2026
Chloe Hamilton, editor at CODE’s sister publication, The Good Food Guide, knows her onions. She shares her picks for the coming year in restaurants, from a rustic trattoria in Hackney to a new home for one of the UK’s most talented fine-dining chefs.
Notes from a small Island: Kiki’s Lounge, Isle of Man
Drew and Jamie, founders of Kiki’s Lounge on the Isle of Man, have made a virtue of operating on a small island, focusing on staff welfare, training and autonomy to build a cocktail culture on the island. Here’s why Kiki’s was named one of CODE Hospitality’s Happiest Places To Work in 2025.
Ozempic user actually spend more dining out; smart restaurants are adapting.
Behind the paywall, an up-to-date report from the US on Ozempic users’ restaurant spend. The 59% of Americans who now say they want more “flexible, customizable or innovative portion size options” in restaurants goes up to 73% for users of GLP-1 drugs. Worth a read.
Barang, London: ‘I now trust this restaurant with my life’
Joel Golby, the funniest of the The Observer’s roll call of reviewers, goes to Barang, Tom Geoffrey’s Cambodian residency above The Globe Tavern in Borough. The scallop with tamarind butter and venison laab ‘heavy breathing with herbs and red chilli’ convince him Barang needs a permanent home: “Some of London’s best restaurants started like this. Barang is up next.”
The UK risks slipping from buzzing to bland as hospitality bills bite
Botivo co-founder Imme Ermgassen, one of CODE’s Women of the Year 2025, on the creeping homogenisation of UK hospitality. She warns that rising costs, lack of government support and pay-to-play dominance by global brands are squeezing out independent venues and flattening creativity.
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