Restaurants
Nick Lander – aka Mr Jancis Robinson – was the Financial Times restaurant critic from 1989 to 2022. Now, every Sunday, he writes about restaurants exclusively for us, with occasional contributions from other food-obsessed members of the JancisRobinson.com team.
Restaurant reviews
Nick on restaurants
Alta, an oasis of calm – for now
A new restaurant in one of central London’s busiest fast-food nuclei is strongly Spanish-influenced. Brave the crowds on Regent Street and Carnaby Street in London’s West End; ignore the charms...
Nick Lander
Sunday 30 November 2025
• 1 min read
Free for all
Farewell Rachel Cooke and Skye Gyngell
Nick Lander
Saturday 29 November 2025
• 1 min read
More restaurant reviews
Nick on restaurants
We go posh.
The great advantage ‘the masked’ have over ‘the unmasked’ became immediately obvious after we had walked through...
Nick on restaurants
Where the buffalo roam there is now ice cream of the highest natural order.
It is now four years, almost...
Nick on restaurants
A version of this article is published by the Financial Times. In the picture above, Chef Nico, the crater plater...
Nick on restaurants
No-shows and their implications for the future of restaurants. Restaurants have barely reopened – within the UK anyway – and...
Nick on restaurants
Nick considers the dishes that no restaurant can afford to take off their menus. I can still remember sitting in...
Nick on restaurants
What have some of the world's best chefs been doing during lockdown? A version of this article is published by...
Nick on restaurants
Nick writes his first review in nearly four months. The coronavirus has wrought many changes in many households but in...
Nick on restaurants
With tongue half in cheek, Nick suggests how the UK hospitality industry might effect a change in government policy.
Richard...
Nick on restaurants
Nick reflects on the advice he gave on the relative value of shopping and dining, and on the likely future...
Nick on restaurants
What needs to change if restaurants are to survive and prosper. While the restaurant industry worldwide faces extraordinary challenges as...
Nick on restaurants
As we wine lovers know to our cost, literally, drinks sales are a key contributor to restaurant finances. Nick argues...
Nick on restaurants
A few suggestions from an ex-restaurateur and the father of a restaurateur. Social distancing in action in Germany above.
Since...
Nick on restaurants
For the first time, Nick answers the question most frequently put to him. A version of this article is published...
Inside information
Samantha Cole-Johnson, our intrepid 26-year-old winery intern (ex Willamette and Barossa), reports on the effects of coronavirus-related restrictions on her...
Nick on restaurants
Nick muses on a life without restaurant-going in an article that is also published by the Financial Times.
I can...
Alder on America
No good news from Alder this month. See our own modest offer for out-of-work hospitality professionals.
Estimates vary, but according...