Openings

Low-fat expansion

Restaurant operator Luscious opens the eighth low-fat caf‚ in its chain on 1 August. The 50-seat caf‚, at Holmes Place health club in Moorgate, London, serves a range of healthy food, including a low-fat whiskey chocolate cake. Owners Alison Rose and Tony Guy set up the business in 1998 when they moved to the UKfrom their native Australia.

Mao Tai two Mao Tai, a 90-seat Chinese restaurant in Chelsea, London, opens on 6 August. The restaurant is licensed until 1.30am. Owner Mark Barnet acquired the former site of the Brompton Bay restaurant on a 25-year lease at £105,000 a year. It is the second Mao Tai in the Chelsea area.

Walnut tables Walnut, a 52-seat restaurant serving modern European cuisine, opens on 8 August in West Hampstead, London. Formerly the World Caf‚, the site has been leased and renovated at a cost of £170,000. Chef-owner Aidan Doyle was previously a general manager with the Pierre Victoire restaurant chain in London for eight years.

Australian openers Outback Steakhouse, the Australian-themed chain with more than 700 restaurants worldwide, opens its second UK restaurant in Romford, Essex, on 21 August. The 6,350sq ft site is in the Brewery retail centre off the M25. The restaurant serves steaks imported from Uruguay. The company has plans for further restaurants in Enfield, north London; Basildon, Essex; and Birmingham.