Monday Bulletin: Clare Smyth | Punk Royale | Claude Bosi

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

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CLAUDE BOSI

This year has seen many high-profile closures, but few as shocking as that of Claude Bosi at Bibendum in South Kensington, which announced its closure last week. The two-Michelin-star restaurant, rated ‘exceptional’ in The Good Food Guide, ceased trading on 25 August after eight years, with its oyster bar following on 31 August. In a statement posted to Instagram, Claude and Lucy Bosi said: “Despite our very best efforts, we were unable to reach a resolution with our partners and landlords that would allow Michelin House to move into its next chapter.” They stressed that staff would be supported with new opportunities within the group. The Bosis will now focus on Brooklands and their two Josephine bistros. This is the second two-star restaurant London has lost this year, following Anne-Sophie Pic’s La Dame de Pic in February.

THE ELIZABETH

The Ganymede in Belgravia is being reborn as The Elizabeth with Anthony Demetre of Wild Honey as culinary director. Expect Sunday roasts and modern bistro dishes like fish cake with bouillabaisse sauce. Opens 16 September.

CORENUCOPIA

Clare Smyth will open a new luxury bistro, Corenucopia, in Chelsea this November, her second UK restaurant after Core by Clare Smyth in Notting Hill. Smyth’s busy: her restaurant at The Admiralty Arch Waldorf Astoria will follow in spring 2026.

LILIBET’S

Lilibet’s, opening 16 September at 17 Bruton Street—birthplace of the late Queen—is an opulent new seafood restaurant by Ross Shonhan (ex-Bone Daddies). On the menu: anchovy éclairs, lobster spaghetti, and princess cake.

• Georgian gastronomy is on the up and up. DakaDaka, a new Georgian restaurant and wine bar by ex-Ennismore duo Giorgi Mindiashvili and Mitz Vora, launches in Mayfair this November.
   
• Former Timberyard chef James Murray is joining forces with the team behind Edinburgh bar Nauticus to open Dogstar in Leith this autumn.
  
  
• Stockholm-born concept Punk Royale is bringing its ‘no bullshit’ take on modern fine-dining to Mayfair. ‘Part performance, part dinner party’, it launches 12 September.
  
  
• Tickets are now on sale for Wine & Wean’s weekly baby-friendly wine-tastings in September. New venues include The Drapers Arms, Lardo and Acme Fire Cult.
  
  
• 30 years since it launched, legendary London nightclub The End is back for one weekend, taking over KOKO in Camden from 10-12 October.
  
  
• Scottish hotel group House of Gods is coming to London. The glitzy new Canary Wharf property (boasting the area’s first rooftop bar) opens 27 October.
  
  

WHAT WE’RE READING

Pub politics: giving up the word ‘gastropub’: The Good Food Guide

Inis, London E3: ‘Fresh, hyper-seasonal, and absolutely homemade’: The Guardian

Inside the world of The Great British Bake Off: Ruby Tandoh, New Yorker

The spiel has become a scourge: why are servers suddenly so talkative?: Grub Street

THE DUMBWAITER

Harry Styles and Zoe Kravitz were caught canoodling at Rita’s in Soho, according to various tabloids this week.

Congratulations to Tobias Smithson, GM of The Dover, who was voted one of the 100 sexiest Londoners by The London Standard. The Dumbwaiter concurs.

New York’s restaurateurs are spoiling us. After Keith McNally’s memoir early this year, we now have Nobu co-founder Drew Nieporent’s ‘I’m not trying to be difficult’ to look forward to in October. To Wimbledon, for Slices’ inaugural US Open watch party, with chef Neil Rankin and TopJaw regular Big Lew in attendance. To eat, Patio pizza and not a Honey Deuce in sight.