Monday Bulletin: Little Beast | Bancone | Pablo’s
Published 26 October 2026
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BANCONE
Bancone, one of CODE’s Happiest Places to Work 2026, in partnership with Planday, is on the expansion trail. First up, a new London restaurant on the former Debenhams site off Oxford Street, slated to open in the first week of December, ahead of two new locations on the other side of the Channel in Paris next year. The new ‘NoHo’ restaurant, north of Oxford Street, will serve the group’s signature fresh pasta dishes, including silk handkerchiefs with walnut butter and confit egg yolk, and beef caramelle with roasted tomato and Barolo, alongside a new dish created for the opening: Ravioles du Dauphiné with Taleggio, pumpkin and soft herbs, featuring raviolis with different fillings served together in a complete sheet. Bancone co-founders David Ramsey and William Ellner launched the first Bancone in Covent Garden in 2018. The new London site will be the group’s seventh.
OSTERIA PANZANO
Restaurateur Arjun Waney of Zuma, LPM etc will open a 100-cover Italian restaurant, Osteria Panzano, in Belgravia in mid-November. Joining the team is Paolo Parlanti, Waney’s own former private chef. Wintry highlights will include ribollita and black truffle cacio e pepe.
PABLO’S
Pablo’s, the breakfast bao specialists with six stores across the North East and Edinburgh, are marching south. They’ll open a London site at BLOODsports, Covent Garden, in January 2027. That’s just the start: five more sites are in the pipeline for mid-2027.
THE WALMER CASTLE
Public House Group is at it again. BNF Hospitality has acquired Notting Hill’s historic Walmer Castle, appointing PHG as operator. The pub will continue with its existing team and offering. The group’s estate now stands at eight including The Horses, its latest opening in Clerkenwell.
Kelly’s Cause is holding a Women’s Safety Workshop (Men Only) in South London on 9 November. There are still a few (free) places left; register here.
Sandwich Sandwich has opened in Birmingham. That’s eight sites now for the Bristol brand.
Oren Delicatessen opens its new Hampstead outpost on 1 November, selling its signature fluffy pitas, silky hummus, chocolate babka, and schmaltz herring in challah buns.
SINO’s Polina Sychova and Eugene Korolev will open a coffee shop and bakery, Sit With Us, in Notting Hill in November. They’ll serve ‘buckwheat clouds’ and poppyseed pains suisses.
Restaurateur Gobind Chona has chosen Marylebone for the second branch of Oorja, opening on 1 November. Former Oudh 1722 and Jamavar chef Jadhav Tukaram will lead the kitchen.
Nowhere does Beaujolais Nouveau Day like Sune. There’ll be lunch on the day (19 November) with Sargasso’s Will Gleave, then it’s outside for hot dogs, oysters, and the annual barrel-bottling party.
Kamu’s residency at The Sun & 13 Cantons in Soho gets underway this week, serving traditional Sri Lankan lamprais, mutton rolls and kottu roti alongside its own line of pub grub. Think Colombo cheeseburgers with seeni sambol.
Meanwhile at Jazu in Deptford, former Brat and Bao chef Alexander Ferro is popping up from 27 October to 7 November with modern Macanese Gwei-Lo.
Medlock Square at the Etihad Campus is Manchester’s newest entertainment destination. The latest opening is Little Beast, a 105-cover modern British restaurant by MasterChef: The Professionals winner, Daniel Merriman.
WHAT WE’RE READING
The Lake District – where to eat, stay and visit: Good Food Guide
The Horses review – lunch with an influencer, TopJaw’s Jesse Burgess: The Times
It’s sliced cheese on bread. And it’s rocking Copenhagen’s world: The New York Times
THE DUMBWAITER
Chef Daniel Calvert has very clear rules at his new Tokyo restaurant Chez Calvert. No strong fragrances – that’s a given at this point – but no denim clothing “to prevent color transfer onto our furniture”?! The Dumbwaiter’s Japanese selvedge jeans will have to stay in their bag…
Has Skua in Edinburgh found the solution to the recruitment crisis? The Dumbwaiter learns that since opening its knife shop, Messer, two years ago, the team has had unexpected success recruiting chefs who only came in for a new knife. Opening a corkscrew shop to attract waiting staff is surely next.
Could you be the new face – or, rather, eyes – of Renegade? The urban winery in London is looking for models of all ages, races, and genders for its 2026 vintage. They stress that it is not a beauty competition (The Dumbwaiter might not bother then…). Deadline to apply: 1 November.
