Bloomberg, 3 August
Richard Vines visits Olivomare, London SW1

Olivomare isn't a typical Italian restaurant in London. It's Sardinian, and it's better. It's unusual in other ways. The decor is stark white, making the place look like an operating theater, except that's tomato sauce, not blood, and those young women handing out implements are waitresses, not nurses. And yes, people are eating. The menu doesn't have any meat dishes and it's even light on pasta options. Fish is the thing here, which half explains the name; it translates roughly as olive-tree sea. Olivomare is owned by Mauro Sanna, 48, who opened the nearby Olivo restaurant in 1990 and added Oliveto Pizza a few years later.

Olivomare - Bloomberg review in full >>

Time Out, 8 August
Jenni Muir visits La Petite Maison, London W1

You'd think Francesco Mattioli would want to stay away from Gordon Ramsay. Having come to national prominence as owner of the troubled Walnut Tree Inn in Abergavenny, memorably featured on Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, the last place you'd expect to find him is right behind Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's. But here he is, manager at this new restaurant, imported directly from Nice by Arjun Waney, principal owner of hotspots Zuma and Roka. La Petite Maison has quickly become a hotspot, too - something of a surprise if you first approach from Brooks Mews, the rear-end of Claridges. Come along Avery Row however, or duck through Lancashire Court, and the salons, lingerie shops and boutiques hint at the rich seam of ladies' lunches to be mined here.

La Petite Maison - Time Out review in full >> 

Evening Standard Magazine, 3 August
Mark Bolland visits La Petite Maison, London W1

There was only one difference between Kate Middleton and her fellow rowers pictured in the Standard out on the Thames last week. All were young women of a certain age and class, but one alone stood out. She made sure of that. Eschewing the bare-faced look and unflattering ponytail of her peers, Miss 'Wait' Middleton was the one with flowing hair, full make-up and cleavage. Eye catching stuff. Miss Middleton is a professional PR, and we should never forget it. As she knows, getting noticed is an art form. For some it's contrived; for others effortless. Rock stars do it through gimmicks - trashing hotel rooms when they're out of their heads (or pretending to be). Politicians do it and often get it wrong: David Cameron's recent trip to +Rwanda in the middle of floods in his constituency was just like William Hague's baseball cap. We noticed them for their crassness. And eateries manage it by opening up another branch of an already successful enterprise. Which is why La Petite Maison - with a sister restaurant in Nice - has come to London.

La Petite Maison - Evening Standard magazine review in full >>

Metro, 25 July
Marina O’Loughlin visits Bincho Yakitori, London SE1

Oh, I've had some adventures with yakitori. Those little Japanese skewers composed of bits of fowl have led me down some strange byways. There was Birdland, the restaurant we found in the faceless tunnels that encircle Tokyo's Ginza station – a world of designer luxury above ground, a strange underworld below – where the speciality of the house, alongside skin and hearts, was chicken sashimi. Yes, raw chicken nakedly uncooked, salmonella and bird flu be damned. The first bite was revolting; the second bearable; by the third the curious texture kinda got to you.

Bincho Yakitori - Metro review in full >>