Latest openings: The Fox Inn, Darjeeling Express, Casacosta and more

A look at the latest restaurants, hotels, pubs and bars to open their doors.

 

The Fox Inn

 

Chef Mark Hix has launched his first gastropub as he continues to rebuild his hospitality business in the south west. He has taken the lease on the Fox Inn, a 17th-century village pub in Corscombe, Dorset, which was bought by his family friends Eva and Ray Harvey to save it from being converted to housing in 2012.

 

It is the third new hospitality venture for the chef after he lost his formerly five-strong restaurant group in April, when its directors allegedly put the business into administration against his wishes. Over the summer he bought back his seafood restaurant in Lyme Regis and also started selling fish, lobster rolls and Dorset clams from a converted Chevrolet ambulance outside a farm shop in Morcombelake.

 

The restaurant at the Fox will have 35 covers and focus on meat and game sourced from the surrounding area. After a small refurbishment next spring, the pub will also offer overnight stays with two double rooms designed by Hix.

 

Opened 10 December

 

Typical dishes Bellair Haye Farm bangers and mash with onion gravy; gamekeepers’ hotpot with pickled red cabbage; Dorset apple bread pudding with vanilla ice-cream

 

Website www.thefoxinncorscombe.co.uk

 

 

Darjeeling Express

 

Star of Netflix’s Chef’s Table Asma Khan has relocated her Darjeeling Express restaurant to a larger 90-cover site in London’s Covent Garden. Khan leads an all-female kitchen team, serving three eight-course tasting menus inspired by the railway routes across the Indian subcontinent. The site also features a deli.

 

Founder Asma Khan

 

Typical dishes Puchkas; Bengali-spiced croquettes made with British beetroot; fish malaikari with rice

 

Website www.darjeeling-express.com

 

 

Casacosta

 

Roberto Costa, the founder of London’s Macellaio RC steak restaurants, has opened a new site in Fulham. Casacosta features an Italian kitchen, larder and butcher, with the restaurant located behind a secret entrance in the shop.

 

Founder Roberto Costa

 

Typical dishes Tortellini in chicken broth, crispy chicken skin and Parmigiana Reggiano; Fassona beef meatballs in passata; tiramisù

 

Website www.casacosta.co.uk

 

 

The Kings Arms

 

Grosvenor Pubs and Inns has converted the former Loch Fyne restaurant in Egham, Surrey, into a boutique pub with rooms. The Kings Arms features six bedrooms, a restaurant, bar area and alfresco terrace.

 

Typical dishes Roast haunch of venison, black cabbage, dauphinoise potatoes, bay and juniper gravy; South Coast plaice on the bone, samphire, mussels, brown butter, capers, parsley, lemon

 

Room rate From £75 a night

 

Website www.thekingsarmsegham.co.uk

 

 

Native Edinburgh

 

Aparthotel brand Native has taken over the management of Edinburgh’s Kintore House for its first site in the city. The former townhouse, which was constructed in 1790, features 82 serviced apartments comprising studios, one-bedrooms and leisure and co-working spaces.

 

Operator Native

 

Room rate From £89 a night

 

Facilities Laundry, gym, access to private garden

 

Website www.nativeplaces.com

 

 

Sussex Pass

 

The White Hart pub in Wadhurst has launched a 30-cover restaurant based around local produce. Sam Maynard, a former operations manager at Hotel du Vin, created the venue with chef Adam Sear after seeing how suppliers had been hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Founders Sam Maynard and Adam Sear

 

Typical dish Pan-roasted partridge with apple and celeriac purée, smoked pancetta and chestnuts, Savoy cabbage

 

Website www.thewhitehartwadhurst.org

 

 

Zia Lucia

 

Zia Lucia is to open its fifth site in London, in Wandsworth. The group is known for its pizzas made with four types of dough, including traditional white flour, wholemeal, gluten-free and vegetable charcoal black base.

 

Opened 11 December

 

Founders Claudio Vescovo and Gianluca D’Angelo

 

Typical dishes Arianna Sbagliata pizza: mozzarella, Gorgonzola, sausage, honey, truffle oil; Napoli pizza: tomato, mozzarella, anchovies, capers

 

Website www.zialucia.com