Openings

S is for Sausages

The second S&M Café is due to open in Islington, London, next month. Kevin Finch, former chief executive of the Hartford Group, is behind the new chain, which is modelled on a traditional 1950s British café, specialising in sausages and mash and other traditional dishes and puddings. The first café opened in Notting Hill last December. The average cost of a meal is £9.

Ealing Carluccio's

A Carluccio's opens in Ealing, west London, at the end of April. The 3,700sq ft restaurant will seat 75 and includes a food shop, a delicatessen and an outside catering service. A three-course meal will cost about £16. It is the seventh Carluccio's. A further five restaurants are planned for 2002.

Norwich La Tasca

La Tasca opens a 220-seat restaurant in Norwich in July. The 5,478sq ft site, formerly Hy's nightclub and Boswell's bar, has been taken on a 25-year lease at an annual rent of £85,000. The group currently has 19 restaurants, with a further two due to open in Edinburgh and Islington, London.

Eastender up west

A Jodie B restaurant and lounge is set to open this September in London's West End. The owners are former EastEnders actress Daniella Westbrook and her husband Kevin Jenkins, who runs the Union Jack gastropub in Southwark.

The three-storey building is being refurbished at a cost of £750,000. It will house a 130-seat restaurant, an 80-seat bar and brasserie and an 80-seat members-only lounge.