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34 , the latest restaurant from the Caprice Holdings stable, was the focus for Jay Rayner this week who found perfect steaks, incredible desserts and a scattering of phone-hackerati...

Writing in the Observer, Rayner said that while early publicity had billed 34 as a meaty version of its sister fish restaurant Scott's, he wasn't sure that that was true. "The menu is broader than that," he says. "But certainly a list of very good steaks is at its core, including Australian Wagyu at fearsome prices and Scottish cuts which are both more affordable and leave less of a whacking carbon footprint, with American steaks in between. My rib eye was simply a great piece of meat, cooked with care and precision."

"Three weeks from signing the contracts, the Punch Bowl was again open with staff in place, menus written and a major refurbishment undertaken. I was tempted to hotfoot it over there the first day, but with respect, I waited for a week and found the place heaving on a Thursday night in November, a bit of a rarity these days."

The Times's Tom Chesshyre, meanwhile, found Jolyon's at No 10, a new 21-bedroom independent hotel in Cardiff as "a breath of fresh air" in a city full of "big, boring, corporate chain" properties.

"The bed was wide and there was a tiny bathroom with a "Japanese bath" -- a deep, square trough. Some of the rooms are quite tight, but with suites such as mine from £80, you can hardly complain."

However, the Daily Telegraph's Matthew Norman wishes to forget his visit to Massimo, London, adding "the first and last thing to be said in Massimo's defence is that it is a prisoner of one of those hotels, The Corinthia off Whitehall, that suck the life out of restaurants like dehumidifiers. Such paeans to marble-sanitised vulgarity may be perfect for lobbyists to entertain their prey, and well suited to very young and blonde Bulgarian women seeking quality time with a new uncle or godfather from Moscow. But it is hard for any restaurant within them to create an atmosphere, and despite its lavish decor Massimo did not come close."

Jay Rayner says the relaunched Rib Room at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel in London serves lacklustre food at extortionate prices.

The Observer's food critic complains that a restaurant that in the 1960s declared its ambition serve the best beef in London has not aged well.

"They charge like this for such lacklustre food because they know their clientele don't really care about either cost or quality. And it really shows," Rayner says.

Writing in the Independent on Sunday, Lisa Markwell finds that at his new chain Union Jacks, Jamie Oliver is reimagining the pizza. But she can't help but notice that there really is no need to.

The Sunday Telegraph's Zoe Williams visits the Riding House Café, which she says is a restaurant that strives to be all things to all people, a Jack of all trades and master of some.

In London, the Metro's Marina O'Loughlin says Ducksoup is the very incarnation of nowness but not for those looking for a relaxing lunch; while the Evening Standard's David Sexton finds a menu that's on trend and an inspired wine list at Soif in Battersea, the third venture from the creators of Terroirs and Brawn.

Andrew Fairlie has become the latest addition in the UK to the ranks of Grand Chefs recognised by luxury hotel consortium Relais & Chateaux.

The prestigious accolade is held by only a select number of 160 chefs around the world, including 70 independent operators, in recognition for leading the way through innovation and excellence.

Fairlie, who runs his eponymous restaurant at Gleneagles hotel in Perthshire and is the only chef in Scotland to hold two Michelin stars, joins an elite group of just seven chefs to have been awarded the title in the UK.

The others are: Alain Roux at the Waterside Inn; Heston Blumenthal at the Fat Duck; Michel Roux Jr at Le Gavroche; Michael Caines at Gidleigh Park; Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons; and Martin Burge at Whatley Manor. Fairlie is only the third independent UK operator to have been named a Relais & Chateaux Grand Chef.

Fairlie said he felt extremely honoured and proud. "Receiving my award in front of 500 Relais & Chateaux proprietors including Michel Guérard, Michel Troisgros and Olivier Roellinger was a very special moment," he said.

"Being accepted into Relais & Chateaux has been an ambition of mine for many years. I first heard of Relais & Chateaux in 1985 when I was working at the Waterside Inn just before I was due to start my scholarship with Michel Guérard. The guide was full of the greatest chefs in the world and as a young 20-year-old I dreamt that one day I would be included."

Fairlie won the first Roux Scholarship in 1984, offering him the opportunity to train with Guérard at Les Prés d'Eugénie in Gascony, during a period when the UK's food reputation on the world stage was poor and a foreigner working in a French kitchen almost unheard of.

He opened his restaurant within Gleneagles hotel in 2001 and achieved a Michelin star in 2002 as well as the Newcomer of the Year Catey. His second star followed in 2006 and he remains the only chef in Scotland with two stars. He was named Scottish Chef of the Year in 2008.

The 2012 Relais & Chateaux guide features 31 properties in the UK, including newcomers Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Greywalls Hotel and Isle of Eriska, all in Scotland.

Gordon Ramsay is to end his involvement in his restaurant in Dubai after more than a decade.

The celebrity chef opened Verre at the Hilton Dubai Creek hotel as his first overseas restaurant consultancy in 2001.

The restaurant, which was first headed up by Angela Hartnett and then Jason Atherton, has won numerous awards. It is currently being overseen by executive chef Scott Price who will stay at the restaurant after working with Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH) since 2003.

It is unclear whether the restaurant will change its name.

A spokeswoman for GRH confirmed that the consultancy agreement between the company and Hilton was coming to an end.

"After a regular review of our commercial operations we have decided with Verre, Dubai, that the time is right to end our consultancy agreement with them.  We would like to thank the team at  Verre for the partnership, it's a superb restaurant and we wish them all the best for the future."

Stuart Gillies, managing director of GRH, added: "We have had a good look at the business and what's not working. We're now focusing on what will work pound for pound."

The food at celebrity chef Silvena Rowe's first solo restaurant, Quince at London's May Fair hotel, is not quite as grand as the restaurant's interiors, according to John Lanchester.

The Guardian's food critic says he "quite likes" the eastern Mediterranean-inspired menu but adds that due to Rowe's lack of professional kitchen experience, her food is more like that of a home cook. "There is something underwhelming about that if your expectations are keyed to Mayfair, grande luxe and beautifully presented plates," he says.

Another high end hotel restaurant in London, Massimo Restaurant & Oyster Bar at the new Corinthia Hotel, is reviewed by The Times' Giles Coren, who finds very expensive food, which overall, isn't very good.

"It is not that I mind expensive," Coren says. "I'm a sucker for grand and haughty Italian if it is done with passion and freshness and a bit of sex appeal, like at Locanda Locatelli, Theo Randall or Zafferano. But that's not what is happening at Massimo."

The Independent's Tracey Macleod says Rocksalt in Folkestone, Kent, is almost a fairytale come true for Mark Sargeant and Zoe Williams of the Sunday Telegraph says that the Corner Room may be a casual offshoot of Nuno Mendes' Michelin-starred restaurant Viajante, but inferior it most certainly isn't.

Writing for the Observer, Jay Rayner says a visit to US-themed barbecue restaurant Red Dog Saloon on London's trendy Hoxton Square is a complete waste of his time, while the Independent on Sunday's Amol Rajan has a truly awful meal at The Peach Tree in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, where he hopes the chef called in sick.

Finally, the Sunday Times' AA Gill visits the Old Vicarage in Ridgeway near Sheffield, which may be on a weird register, on the idiosyncratic edge of eccentricity but the cooking and the ingredients and the grasp of gastronomy are faultless.

Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH) is to continue to operate its restaurant at Claridge's but the hotel's owner, the Maybourne Hotel Group, has extended the contract by only 12 months.

The celebrity chef, who has run the former Michelin-starred restaurant at the five-star Mayfair hotel since 2001, was widely tipped not to have the 10-year lease renewed after Maybourne closed his previous restaurants at the Connaught and the Berkeley.

"While the GRH contract was due for renewal this year, it has been agreed to extend it into 2012," said a spokeswoman for Maybourne.

GRH's latest accounts revealed that Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's saw a 6.3% decline in footfall in the year to 31 August 2010. The restaurant, which was previously run by Mark Sargeant, lost its Michelin star in 2009 after seven years.

GRH previously operated four restaurants at Maybourne's London hotels including Angela Hartnett at Connaught; and Pétrus and Boxwood Café at the Berkeley. None of the restaurants' contracts were renewed upon expiry and are now occupied by Hélène Darroze; Marcus Wareing and Pierre Koffmann respectively.

Silvena Rowe's forthcoming restaurant at London's five-star Mayfair Hotel is to be called Quince.

The Bulgaria-born chef and food writer will launch the restaurant later this year, serving a menu of seasonal UK produce with Eastern Mediterranean influences.
 
Interiors at the new restaurant will be designed by Martin Brudnizki, whose other London projects have included Dean Street Townhouse, the Club at the Ivy and St Pancras Grand.

Some of the recipes at the Rowe's new restaurant will come from her latest cookery book, Purple Citrus & Sweet Perfume, with dishes influenced by the flavours of the "Oriental Mediterranean" region.

Rowe was born and raised in Bulgaria to a Bulgarian mother and Turkish father, but has lived in London for more than 25 years.

She was the executive chef for the Baltic Restaurant Group, which includes London restaurants Baltic, Wodka and Chez Kristoff. She has previously worked as a cookery teacher at Mosimann's Academy of Culinary Excellence, Baker and Spice, and Books for Cooks, all in London.

Gordon Ramsay's Maze restaurant in Cape Town has closed after the One & Only hotel terminated the chef's consultancy contract.

Maze Cape Town opened at the hotel in April last year, with Gordon Ramsay Holdings' Jason Atherton at the helm as executive chef and Phil Carmichael overseeing the kitchen as head chef.

While the restaurant gained critical acclaim, rumours began circulating that the consultancy agreement was going to be terminated after Atherton quit GRH in April. These fans were flamed when Carmichael announced he was leaving the restaurant earlier this month.

The hotel has now confirmed that GRH's "engagement as a consultant has terminated".

"As a result, the restaurant at One & Only Cape Town no longer trades under the Maze brand, but the restaurant will remain owned and operated by One & Only Cape Town," it said, in a statement. "All employees who worked at Maze Cape Town are employed by One & Only Cape Town and will not be affected by the transition."

The move follows the closure of Maze Prague last year and the departure of London Maze executive chef James Durrant.

The news broke on Spill before being confirmed by Bloomberg.  

Heston Blumenthal has unveiled the name of his highly anticipated London restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental hotel which will be called Dinner by Heston Blumenthal.

The restaurant, which is set to open at the luxury Knightsbridge hotel in November, will serve a menu centred on contemporary British food based on historical concepts.

The kitchen will be headed up by the Fat Duck group executive chef Ashley Palmer-Watts, who will showcase some of the dishes at Italian chef congress Identità London next week.

Blumenthal said the name Dinner reflects the concept the restaurant is based on. "I wanted to find a name that encapsulated the concept, which has a strong focus on dishes inspired by historic British gastronomy, but was also a bit of fun," he said.

"There has always been confusion in the UK over the names of our midday and evening meals and their origins, so researching this, I discovered the word dinner comes from the old 13th century French word disner, which initially stood for breakfast, and developed to the main meal of the day."

Blumenthal's restaurant will be housed in the space currently occupied by the Mandarin Oriental's Park and Foliage restaurants with expansive windows offering views over Hyde Park.

Interiors will be developed by US-based designer Adam D. Tihany, who said the restaurant will reflect the chef's modern take on tradition. "It will be relatively classic - wooden floors and coffered ceilings - but it'll have some quirkiness to it, too, to give a sense of Blumenthal's creative way of thinking," he said.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will be the second high profile opening at the Mandarin Oriental, which last month opened renowned US-based French chef Daniel Boulud's Bar Boulud.

St Patrick's Day clearly doesn't just signify the luck of the Irish and it's been a blessed day for one of our favourite French friends too - Raymond Blanc.

After breaking his leg and ankle in six places following a fall down the stairs at his Oxfordshire home earlier this month, Blanc was forced to have two operations to set the broken bones.

But after more than two weeks, he is finally leaving the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford today.

The chef patron of the two-Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons said while he had been looked after exceptionally well at the hospital, he was thrilled to see the back of it.

 "I'm thrilled to announce that I will be leaving the John Radcliffe today which coincides with the 26th Anniversary of Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons," he said.

"I shall recuperate at Le Manoir as I have to stay off my feet for another 12 weeks. However, this means that I can work with my team - lead by Philip Newman-Hall director general manager and my two brilliant generals - executive chef Gary Jones and chef pattisier Benoit Blin."