Hotel Openings

🖤 Uchi West Hollywood, a Japanese restaurant in Los Angeles, features live-edge wood from fallen street trees sourced by Angel City Lumber as spatial dividers in its 5,200-square-foot space seating 160 guests. The wood, from 25 Aleppo Pines across 14 neighborhoods, amounts to nearly 26 tons, cut into 42 logs with an average diameter of 30 inches and a length of nine feet. Local artists and artisans, including ORA, contributed to the earth-toned interior, which includes a custom light fixture by Kazuki Takizawa and concrete planters by SBLA.

🍻 Honey Spencer, a UK natural wine authority, expanded her career after a 2011 encounter with unpredictable natural wine. She authored "Natural Wine, No Drama" and co-founded Sune, a natural wine restaurant in East London. Sune debuted on the UK's top 100 restaurants list in summer. Spencer and her business partner Charlie Sims opened Sune after experiences, including at Copenhagen's natural wine bars and Noma. Sune emphasizes clean, approachable natural wines, avoiding sanctimonious overtones. Spencer also consults for high-profile restaurants and directs wine programs. Sune, which avoids scaring traditional drinkers, plans a terrace addition and Tuesday openings. Spencer supports decanting natural wines for optimal presentation.

🏢 Bofink Design Studio transformed the 1912 Börshuset cattle-auction venue in Stockholm's Slakthusområdet into a members' club, revealing Jugend-style interior details obscured since the 1980s. The main 140 square meters hall, initially a cattle trading area then a workers' canteen, has been revamped while keeping the building's 3,600 square meters size. Original features like terrazzo floors, wall murals, double-ceiling height, and bullseye-shaped windows were restored. A mezzanine and patinated metal spiral staircase were added to connect the main hall with office spaces, including repurposed old hotel rooms and bank vaults. The industrial heritage of the surrounding meatpacking district influenced the material choices, with plywood panels resembling animal skins. The color palette was inspired by nature, featuring warm browns, tan, and reds, while vintage furnishings highlight the building's past. A House, part-owned by developer Atrium Ljungberg, occupies the revamped space.

🍴 Drew Snaith and Hannah Kowalski will launch their first restaurant, Sesta, in London's Hackney this September, following the closure of Pidgin on 18 August. Sesta, replacing Pidgin, will serve British seasonal ingredients and feature a menu influenced by live fire cooking, British, European, and Southeast Asian cuisines. The founders previously worked together at Brunswick House and Pidgin. The team includes sous chef Ben Ing and general manager Majalis Lundstrom Celedon. Sesta will source produce from Shrub, connecting to Sussex farms. The menu will change seasonally and offer dishes like Doddington cheese scone with rarebit and cured mutton bacon ribs. Natural wines, particularly French, will be curated by Kowalski, while Celedon will craft cocktails with house-made spirits. The 26-cover restaurant will later add counter dining and display local art.

🍕 Led by Rik Campbell and Will Bowlby, Kricket to open a new restaurant in Shoreditch at the former Apothecary East site on Charlotte Road. Kricket's fourth London venue opened this month in Canary Wharf, the first since 2018. Shoreditch's all-day dining from 9am to 5pm and drinks-snack menu post-5pm. The site includes Kricket's first private dining room, aiming to attract customers throughout the day for various activities. Kricket's breakfast menu to compete with Dishoom's Indian breakfast success, featuring items like egg bhurji, 'full Kricket', and Bombay toastie. The original Kricket site launched in Pop Brixton in 2015, becoming permanent in Soho in 2016.

🏡 Post Company and Lázaro Rosa-Violán renovated a 17th-century convent into Locke de Santa Joana hotel in Lisbon, Portugal, blending historic architecture with modern design. The hotel, Locke Hotels' largest with 370 units across nine floors, showcases archways, pillars, and mouldings alongside contemporary furniture and Portuguese materials like Rose Aurora stone and local limestone. Communal spaces reflect Lisbon's terracotta and mosaic aesthetic, with the hotel also featuring ceramics and textured fabrics to highlight its historic roots.

🍣 Hank’s Seafood Restaurant, established for 25 years in Charleston, S.C., expanded with Hank's Low Country Seafood & Raw Bar in Columbus, Ohio. Chef Frank McMahon oversees the culinary team for both Makeready hospitality group venues. Dinner starts at $29, and a new lunch menu launched in June, offering a 45-minute, three-course meal for $35. Signature dishes include she-crab soup and shrimp & grits. Columbus was chosen due to its growth and previous customer familiarity. The new space, designed by Home Studios, features a dining room for up to 158 guests, communal tables, and a private dining area.

🍴 Chef Marc Forgione, after opening his first restaurant in 2008 which later earned Michelin stars, has now relaunched it as Forgione at 30 Hudson St., New York City. The new Tribeca location continues to serve innovative New American cuisine with a focus on seasonal and local ingredients. The menu features entrées at approximately $42, pastas from $22, snacks between $12-$15, wines by the glass starting at $18, and cocktails around $19. The restaurant also includes a private dining room with a separate entrance, adorned with vibrant graffiti and references to influential figures like chef Laurent Tourondel.

🏠 Located in Old Town Alexandria, Va., Hotel Heron's flagship restaurant Kiln opened on June 27, serving wood-fired Mid-Atlantic cuisine inspired by local potter Henry Piercy. Led by Betty Woodward and Matthew Maienshein, the restaurant offers all-day dining and aims to be a community gathering spot. Woodward has a rich hospitality experience in Washington, D.C., and Maienshein has worked his way up from dishwasher to chef de cuisine. The restaurant features an open kitchen and an eight-seat chef’s counter, with entrées priced at around $40.

🍕 KERB to launch Holborn market on August 7, with operations every Wednesday, 11:30am-2:30pm. Seven street food traders including Only Jerkin’ and Fatè. InKERBator program, part of KERB+, offers three weeks of classroom time plus six-week market residency; over 100 graduates to date. Profits from Holborn reinvested into KERB+. KERB also plans an additional trading day later this year and operates markets at Cowcross Yards, Gipsy Hill, the Gherkin, Fleet Place, and Seven Dials Market in Covent Garden. KERB debuted in San Francisco with Saluhall, planning further openings in Copenhagen and Berlin within the next year.