Monday Bulletin: A second Holy Carrot & The Brilliant Restaurant to close

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

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Holy Carrot

Irina Linovich and Daniel Watkins, the founder and chef patron respectively of Holy Carrot in Notting Hill, have secured a second site for their plant-based restaurant in East London. It will open in Old Spitalfields Market in late 2025. Linovich, a former Vogue Ukraine fashion producer, started Holy Carrot as a pop-up in Knightsbridge back in 2021, and opened the concept’s bricks and mortar flagship, with Watkins (ex-Acme Fire Cult) as executive chef, on Portobello Road in July 2024. The brand is known not only for innovative ‘fire and ferments’ vegan dining, but also for its sleek minimalist interiors and clever cocktails, created in collaboration with A Bar With Shapes For A Name. Holy Carrot is rapidly establishing itself as one of London’s most progressive and ambitious vegan restaurants. It has recently launched a weekend brunch menu featuring the likes of toasted brioche and koji ‘honey’ tofu and a fried mushroom burger with mapo gravy.

The Brilliant

The Brilliant Restaurant is closing its doors after 50 years in Southall. Founded in 1975 by Gulu Anand, who runs the restaurant to this day with his daughter, chef Dipna Anand, The Brilliant is a central part of British-Indian culinary history. King Charles famously declared it his “favourite curry house” and many an international foodie has made a detour there en route to Heathrow for its signature masala chicken and karahi gosht. Guests have until 7 April to pay one last visit. It’s not the end for The Brilliant, however. The brand lives on in the form of the Brilliant Punjabi and Brilliant Oriental food trucks, The Brilliant School of Cookery, and Brilliant Gastro, which Dipna Anand will open in mid April in The Green Quarter, Southall. Says Dipna: “The Brilliant brand has gained an iconic status in Indian dining, and we have to ensure that it is constantly evolving.”

Small Plates

• Lisa Goodwin-Allen is leaaving Northcote in Lancashire after 23 years to explore new opportunities. During her time there, Goodwin-Allen won BBC’s Great British Menu; was crowned Chef of the Year at The Cateys; and named one of CODE’s Women of the Year.
   
• Also moving on is Sally Abé who’s leaving The Pem at Conrad London St James Hotel after four years as consultant chef.
   
• Hannah, Daisuke Shimoyama’s critically acclaimed kaiseki restaurant at County Hall on London’s South Bank, is relocating. It moves to The Stratford Hotel in Stratford in May. Its last service in SE1 is 31 March.
  
  
• In other E20 news, Jikoni’s Ravinder Bhogal and Nadeem Lalani Nanjuwany will be going into the new V&A East when it opens in spring 2026.
  
  
• Happy 10th Birthday to Berber & Q in Haggerston. By way of celebration, Josh Katz has assembled a group of fellow live fire enthusiasts for a monthly Sunday lunch series. First up: Jake Norman from Ottolenghi on 30 March.
  
  
• Toklas in London is holding a Chocolate Market on Saturday 29 March. Artisan chocolatiers and bakers from around the UK including Manchester’s Dormouse and London’s Finks will be there with bars, bonbons and bakes.
  
  
• Gunpowder’s Harneet Baweja and Jane Alty, founder of The Begging Bowl, are joining forces on Thai fried chicken restaurant, Fortune Fried Chicken, opening 2 May at Spitalfields Market. Heads up: they’re giving away 500 free chicken burgers on 30 April.
  
  
• London hospitality’s top Irish talent gathered at The Marylebone last week for the announcement of Hot Dinners’ annual Murphia List. This year’s new entries include Chishuru head chef Christine Walsh and The Yellow Bittern’s Hugh Corcoran.
  
  
• Following on from its 2024 Walthamstow residency, Little Earthquakes, the deep dish pizza collab between Neil Rankin and From The Ashes BBQ, is back. Its new home, as of 20 March, is the Railway Tavern in Dalston.