News Bites

The Brothers Galvin Do It Again
HAVING flunked out with a pop up version of the French Laundry last year, Harrods is not giving up on its ambitions for stellar gastronomic status. The old food hall was always one of the jewels, and unsung, groceries in the capital but has edged slowly towards more eat in than take out. Newest arrival will be the ebullient Irish talent Richard Corrigan who will be opening a branch of his Bentley’s seafood and oyster operation in May. And the Galvin brothers, Chris and Jeff, will open their fifth London outlet, Demoiselle, in March in the mezzanine previously occupied by the Espresso Café. The menu promises lobster fishcake, pork cheek and tarte tatin.

Veni, Vidi, Vici
The days that Italian wines were an offer you could refuse safely are long gone. New EC funded investment in technology and equipment make it one of the more diverse and intriguing wine producing countries these days. And some of that is finally arriving in London with the opening of the new Vini Italiani (72 Old Brompton Road, SW7 3LQ), listing more than 500 bottles from across all 20 producing regions starting from about £10 up to – well never mind, a lot.

Fresh competition for Olivinio, the smaller but not inconspicuously stocked retailer attached to the Italian restaurant group Olivio in Lower Belgrave Street.

Shades of Bleu
The Cordon Bleu cookery school has moved from Marylebone to a flagship new HQ in Bloomsbury Square with space for nearly twice as many pupils – up to 700 now. The 117-year-old bastion of French cooking disciplines now operates 40 schools in 20 countries and trains more than 20,000 would-be cooks a year. There will be a chance to taste their skills when their first café opens in the gardens behind the offices in the coming weeks.

Supersize Me
The Olympic sponsorship committee seems to be completely blind when it comes to nutrition and sport. A diet of McDonalds is hardly going to win anyone any gold medals but nevertheless this summer’s spectacular will be lavishly daubed with Ronald’s happy face. The fast food burger giant has signed to support the Games through to 2020 and for London is building its biggest ever – one of four – outlets on site, a two floor nearly 10,000 square feet outlet. A spokesman said it will “promote healthy eating”. Yeah sure. How do they get away with such crass, ridiculous statements?