Openings
This week's restaurant and hotel openings included Cinnamon Kitchen, 1823 Spinning Block Hotel, Little Havana, Maître Choux Soho, the Blackbird, the Coral Room and the Princess Victoria
Cinnamon Kitchen
Vivek Singh's Cinnamon Kitchen has opened its first site outside the capital, in the new Westgate development in Oxford. The restaurant offers an all-day menu, with parathas stuffed with cauliflower and Keen's cheddar, keema (spiced minced lamb) or aloo (potato with chilli) for breakfast. Brunch offers classic dishes with a modern Indian twist, such as spicy masala omelettes with homemade pao (bread), traditional smoked haddock kedgeree, bhuna lamb naan rolls and tandoori chicken toasties.
Dinner options include à la carte dishes and a seven-course tasting menu. Diners can choose from fresh fish displayed on an ice block centrepiece, or from a trolley of Kerala-spiced lobster soup and flambéed desserts.
The drinks menu has a 50-strong wine list that includes orange and organic wines, as well as several British bins, and a cocktail list designed by mixologist Tony Conigliaro.
The site features a modern dining room painted in cool tones, a rattan-panelled and marble-topped bar, and an open-plan kitchen.
- Opened 9 November
- Founder Vivek Singh
- Head chef Thangavel Murugavel
- Typical dishes Tandoori king prawns with Bengali turmeric curry; clove-smoked red deer saddle with pickled root vegetable; and chukka-spiced, 35-day dry-aged local beef rump
- Website www.cinnamon-kitchen.com/westgate-oxford
1823 Spinning Block hotel
Hospitality group James' Places has opened the 1823 Spinning Block hotel, as well as a bistro, bar and grill, following a £10m conversion of Holmes Mill in Clitheroe, Lancashire. The hotel occupies part of the mill complex, which also houses the group's head office and the Bowland Brewery and Food Hall.