Dining Reviews

Girls Aloud’s Harding Backs City Bar; Squirrel Lunch: Food Buzz Sarah Harding of the pop group Girls Aloud is backing a Polynesian bar in the City of London that promises to transport visitors to an exotic paradise. Kanaloa is the project of Nick House and Piers Adam, the team behind clubs including Mahiki, Whisky Mist and the Punch Bowl.

New York Three-Star Chef Boulud to Open Restaurant in London Chef Daniel Boulud, who last month won three Michelin stars for Daniel in New York, is to open a bistro in London’s Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park next year.

Royal Opera House Catering Business Goes to Company of Cooks Company of Cooks, a private catering company, has won the contract to serve food and drinks to opera and ballet-goers at the Royal Opera House in London, replacing Searcys 1847, which held the franchise for more than a decade.

Obamas’ Big Date Spotlights Blue Hill; Larry the Lobster Freed! When President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle dined at Blue Hill in New York last May, they made a statement by skipping over restaurants that have hosted past presidents like the Four Seasons or the ‘21’ Club. Instead, they chose a small venue where steak and foie gras are almost never served and where the meat comes from humanely treated animals.

Call the Berlin Cops -- Gendarmerie Has Fatty Beef, Pricey Fish Gendarmerie, located in a 1901 building designed for a Prussian cooperative bank, has a dining area with the dimensions of a small aircraft hangar.

Chef Koffmann Seeking Restaurant Site in West End of London Pierre Koffmann, the three-Michelin- star chef currently cooking at a temporary restaurant on the roof of Selfridges department store, has engaged advisers to help him find a property in the West End of London.

Bankers Start Feasting Again at London Eateries, Chefs Say London restaurateurs say business is showing signs of bouncing back from the depth of the recession, with more customers and diners starting to spend more on wine.

Pizza East Is Cool, Too Bad About the Pizza: Richard Vines Soho House is starting to look unstoppable, with sister establishments in New York and across London, and plans for clubs in West Hollywood, Miami and Berlin.

Champagne Feast at $1,500 Blasts Londoners’ Bonuses: Food Buzz Apsleys -- a Heinz Beck Restaurant is offering a tasting menu in November and December pairing the German chef’s Italian food with the popular tipple Dom Perignon.

Selfridges Extends Chef Koffmann’s Restaurant for Third Time Selfridges is to add almost a month to the life of the temporary restaurant on the roof where chef Pierre Koffmann has come out of retirement to cook.

Kremlin Vodka Flows, Patrons Sample $195 Blinis at Mari Vanna Ice-cold vodka infused with cranberries arrives in a crystal carafe. We order more even before the bread, herring and potatoes appear at our table.

Supperclub Brings Beds, Crossdressers to U.K.: Singapore Dining Supperclub, a chain of restaurant- nightclubs famed for in-bed dining and wait staff in cross- dressing outfits, is set to open a branch in London’s Notting Hill.