Hotel Openings

🍽 Café Boulud, headed by Michelin-starred Chef Daniel Boulud, has opened in Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh, marking its first presence in the Middle East. The 150-seat restaurant, designed by Rockwell Group, offers French cuisine with signature dishes like Lavender-Glazed Duck Breast and Potato-Wrapped Sea Bass. Executive Chef Nicolas Lemoyne, trained by Boulud and Paul Bocuse, upholds the high culinary standards. Open for breakfast (6-11am), lunch (12-4pm), and dinner (6-11pm), the café can be accessed from the hotel lobby or outside. Reservations: +966 11 2115500.

🍔 It’s Bagels, co-created by Dan Martensen and Jack Ponting, has opened its third location, this time in London's West End. After starting at the Caravan Roastery in Camden, the brand expanded to Primrose Hill in September last year and added a second site in Notting Hill during the summer. The new Soho cafe features 15 seats and a menu of fresh bagels and cream cheese 'schmears,' along with smoked fish and deli salads. GRT Architects designed the Soho location to blend New York City style with London's local aesthetic.

🏡 Pan Pacific London, a Forbes five-star hotel, unveils 42 newly renovated suites with a rich tapestry of textures and botanical motifs. Singapore-based FDAT designed the suites to enhance residential ambiance and reflect Singaporean heritage, with bespoke pieces and two distinct styles. Notable features include striking views, dressing tables, ergonomic desks, marble bathrooms, and ample walk-in wardrobes. Three new introductory packages—"Perfectly Suited" for family, business, or celebrations—are tailored to guest preferences, including the Devonshire Suite's workspace and fitness equipment, Bishopsgate family suite's 100+ square meters of play space, and the Walbrook Suite's butler service and Champagne. Guests also have access to the SENSORY Wellbeing Floor, evening turndown service, complimentary pressing, mini bar, and Dyson amenities. For restful sleep, a customisable bed, yoga, meditation, and expert-recommended refreshments are provided.

🍕 Piccolino, owned by Individual Restaurant Group, is set to open an Italian restaurant in Chichester on South Street, located at a 6,000 sq ft site previously hosting Three Joes. The restaurant will feature 110 indoor seats, 16 outdoor, and chic interiors such as a marble-topped bar and brass ceiling inlays. The menu includes Roman carbonara and 25-layer lasagne. CEO Andrew Garton aims to introduce Piccolino's finest Italian cuisine to Sussex with a launch date of 5 November.

🎲 Spiegelworld debuted its multi-concept project at 3535 Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, on Sept. 7, featuring DiscoShow, Diner Ross, 99 Prince, and Glitterloft. The venue offers a dinner-and-show experience with a 500-person-capacity disco, a 161-seat restaurant, and bars, drawing inspiration from New York's 1970s disco scene. Drinks and dishes receive modern updates with fresh ingredients, reinventing nostalgic classics like Appletinis and French onion soup mac & cheese.

🍻 Polygon Public House opens its second gastropub, The Ox, on 14th October in Clapham, London, after acquiring and refurbishing the former The Saxon. The Ox features a 4,815 sq. ft space with a main bar, 30-cover mezzanine restaurant, and a 55-capacity private events space named The Playroom. Head Chef Darren Everts focuses on seasonal British ingredients, with produce sourced from family farms in Melrose. Highlights include aged Scottish Luing beef and a Japanese double patty smash burger. The company also plans to open The Florence in Islington in 2025.

🏦 Young & Co.’s Brewery P.L.C. to open Teller’s Arms pub in Farnham, Surrey, this October. The former bank, transformed into a 168-capacity venue, includes nine boutique bedrooms and an all-day dining space. Head Chef Ryan Patterson to offer seasonal British cuisine. The Harrison agency-designed space features a roof terrace, set to receive a retractable roof by spring 2025. CEO Simon Dodd highlights the blend of history and modernity in the pub, situated an hour from London by train. Contact: [email protected], 01252 951118.

💰 XplorerGroup, a multi-brand franchise operator founded in 2023, has acquired Kall Kwik, a UK market leader in print and design services since 1979. Kall Kwik, known for adapting to community needs by expanding from printing to comprehensive business solutions, joins XplorerGroup's portfolio including ComputerXplorers, ActiveXplorers, and Discover My Franchise. Nigel Toplis, with 30 years at Kall Kwik, will stay as Non-Executive Chairman for five more years, enhancing the brand with new opportunities and recruits.

🍴 Chef Mary Nguyen, after overcoming career change and health challenges, opened her first restaurant, Parallel 17, offering Vietnamese-French cuisine in 2005. She founded The Olive & Finch in Denver in 2013, providing healthy soups, salads, and sandwiches. Despite culinary success, she faced personal struggles, including fertility issues and her twin daughters' NICU stay after birth. In 2017, a second Olive & Finch location opened. Nguyen later launched Finch on the Fly in 2019, a wholesale brand. She continues to expand her food and beverage brand with plans to open more Olive & Finch and Little Finch locations.

🍴 Cunningham Restaurant Group operates 44 restaurants in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. Founded in 1997 in Brownsburg, Indiana, with Boulder Creek Dining Company, it expanded to include Charbonos, Stonecreek Dining Company (5 locations), Bru Burger Bar, and various other brands. The company embraces local sourcing and scratch cooking. Vida's chef Thomas Melvin was a James Beard Foundation semifinalist in 2022 and 2024. The group is launching Shin Dig in Indianapolis and a Bru Burger in Fort Wayne, as well as a new catering service, in the fall. They have a centralized downtown Indianapolis headquarters with facilities including a test kitchen and a USDA-certified greenhouse.