The company is currently recruiting to fill a variety of positions for the new restaurant. As with all Carluccio’s, management positions include incentives such as trips to Italy as part of the package!

The reasons for the closure of Belmont Bakery have recently become clear – the owner has been fined £10,000 for hygiene breaches and ordered to pay £6,000 in costs for the case. The bakeries in this small chain have now been closed after a bankruptcy notice was served in November. Food hygiene regulations were found to be seriously breached after surprise inspection following a tip-off by a resident.

Ellis’s has left the high street and are now concentrating on private catering and cakes for special occasions. This newly launched business will launch in February. This unit won’t be empty for long though because in it’s place “Teddington Cafe” will be opening in 6 weeks.

The lawn-mower shop on Stanley Road has now disappeared as mysteriously as it opened and Midnight Movies on Kingston Road is now also closed. Oakleys furniture store looks like it now has new owners and has been rebranded “Furniture Outlet” – with mostly the same stock on sale.

“Higher Space” has opened in one of Teddington’s oldest buildings, above BoHo boutique, offering various treatments and classes including yoga, meditation, reiki healing, chakra balancing, acupuncture and various types of massages. Contact higherspace@rocketmail.com for more info or to book any treatments.

If you haven’t yet done so, you can visit the Teddington Constitutional Club as a guest. The club is a hidden gem on Stanley Road, just off Broad Street. The private club has many amenities include a large bar, lounge area, function room (for hire), pool table, dart board and three full-size snooker tables. Various events are held regular including DJ Ann Taylor’s Northern Soul Nites on Thursdays.

The Evening Standard starts off the praising with “a natural draw for the outdoors and arty crowd” and “a pleasant way to live the waterfront dream”.

Positive aspects of the area are listed including its rich history, famous residents, best addresses and also new housing projects being planned for readers thinking of moving to the area. Educational establishments are also applauded as well as the art scene, open spaces, travel connections and last but no means least shops and restaurants.

Click to enlarge

As well as residents supplying the high street with a captive audience, NPL, Haymarket and Teddington Studios all create extra trade for our shops – a mixture of chains and independents. In particular TCS, Teds and Jenny Blanc are mentioned specifically as well as “a strong showing of Italian restaurants”.

Click to enlarge

TCS has also made it into Stella Magazine/Telegraph’s “50 best fashion boutiques outside London” list.
“This wonderful white, two-storey shop is a destination in itself. Collections are chosen for their love-lorn look, and natural fabrics and muted colours abound, in sizes 8 to 18. Hand-made shoes by Marsell sit alongside niche labels like Lilith and the beautiful washed cashmeres of Kristensen du Nord.

Al Borgo, one of the strong Italian restaurants mentioned above has now been added to the prestigious 2012 Michelin restaurant guide. Undercover diners reviewed Al Borgo favourably with a two-fork “comfortable restaurant” award: “A refreshingly unpretentious and keenly run Italian restaurant that exudes warmth and bonhomie. Homemade focaccia and pasta are the highlights. Look out too for seasonal offerings such as the black truffle menu.” They join Retro Bistrot, Simply Thai and The Kings Head in being the only restaurants reviewed and listed for Teddington.

If you are still in the party mood afterwards then head on over to the Teddington Arms for their Halloween fancy dress party – there will be spooky monster mash music and prizes for the best costumes. Also at the same venue, fans of coffee and cakes will be are welcome to attend a free lunchtime tasting session at the TA on the 1st November (1-2pm) – supplied by local businesses Cakes by Trudi and Zabu Coffee.

The Bloated Mallard has recently branched out in to Hampton with another pub of the same name and is also hosting new events such as a speed-dating evening on Friday 4th November. This initial one is for the age group of 25-35 year-olds at 7:30pm and costs £20.

On bonfire night itself, Collis School are also providing their usual mixture of entertainment and fireworks including fairground rides, hog roast, hot dogs, and crepes. This event will run from 5-7pm on November 5th 2011.

On the following day, Sunday 6th there will be a fireworks display at The Anglers from 7pm with outdoor food and treats.

The League of Friends of Teddington Memorial Hospital and the General Practitioners from the area are inviting the community to attend a public meeting to discuss the possible future of the Hospital on Thursday 10th November.

At Teddington Baptist Church at 7pm, participants will discuss concerns about the future of the hospital (now potentially at risk again) which has been a cornerstone of Teddington community since it was opened in 1928. The hospital is now under ownership of Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust.

On Friday 11th November wine expert Adrian Garforth will be hosting a special wine-tasting masterclass at The Wharf.

Adrian is one of only 300 Masters of Wine in the world and working with a special menu created by ex-Mosimann’s chef and Chef Proprietor of The Wharf, Ray Neve, the carefully selected a range of wines will compliment the dishes perfectly. Tickets are £55 which includes a 4-course dinner and all wines for tasting.

St Mary With St Alban church are putting on a one man show with a local professional Actor Paul Alexander. The ‘The Life of St Francis’ play will be held on Saturday 19th November, 7.30 pm in the church’s parish hall (tickets £10).

To mark the occasion, owners will be dishing out 20% off all food orders on Friday and Saturday 28th-29th October (cafe-only). Also being handed out will be raffle tickets to customers for a chance to win a free breakfast or dinner. Kids can join in the fun too with sweets, balloons and face-painting.

Current owners Filiz and JJ are the third owners of Diners Delight and have been welcoming diners with a smile and warm greeting at this popular destination for breakfast-lovers for over five years. The cafe has existed in Church Road under this name for 20 years.

See here for more info if you’re interested in finding out more about Diner’s Delight including their infamous belly-dancing evenings!

The party was lead by Peter Andre, along with his parents and brother, PA and support team – all of whom where in the area after for Peter’s interview with Piers Morgan as part of the new series of Life Stories (currently being filmed at Teddington Studios).

The party thoroughly enjoyed a relaxed late-night dinner at the restaurant, chatted to staff and were more than happy to have a quick pic taken.

Peter with owner Marco and Pete’s mother

If you haven’t been already, Al Borgo is a well-kept secret for fine food-lovers that serves some of the best Italian food in the area – authentic Italian cuisine is cooked to perfection by experienced chefs and staff are always on hand to advise the best wine from their tremendous wine menu. See here for TT review.

Peter’s party had a combination of starters to share:
Grilled tomino cheese with speck and “tigella bread”, Culatello ham, Baby octopus in a light chili tomato sauce and Seared beef carpaccio with rocket salad, pecorino cheese and balsamic vinegar reduction.

Also these mouth-watering mains:

• Home-made meat ravioli served with butter, sage and pancetta, one of our signature dishes
• Home-made tagliolini with langoustines and rocket salad
• Pan fried seabass fillet in white wine sauce, served with potatoes and green beans
• Pan fried pork fillet with plums and walnut sauce, served with sautéed potatoes
• Special of the day, which was Home-made Chestnut and ricotta Ravioli with a pumpkin and speck sauce

Also in other restaurant news, Ristorante Sorrento has been attracting hordes of diners after opening last week. Over the weekend they have been offering huge discounts to entice diners back to the restaurant and if you’re passing, pick up a leaflet outside that you can use to get 25% off your total bill (until the end of October). The restaurant has been full to capacity so ensure you reserve your table beforehand – tel 020 8977 4757.

A series of landlords in recent years had failed to bring in the income required by Youngs to make it viable and the most recent ones were only given 9 days notice that the pub was to close despite tripling turnover since taking it over.

Licensees Shaun & Kathryn (pictured below) kept on smiling and wanted to go out with a bang so held a closing party with live music. They are now off to run a pub in Somerset – even further away from their roots in Burnley, Lancashire.

Photo: George Gimber (CAMRA)

The pub sign and fixtures & fittings have already been removed and the new owners are believed be planning to turn the building residence(s), a move which will be opposed by The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) who regularly oppose the change of use of pubs to residential or other business types.

[Update] a short history/obituary for the pub courtesy of the Richmond & Hounslow branch of CAMRA: A small village beer house has stood in North Lane, Teddington since at least 1747. It was previously called the Two Lawyers or Jolly Lawyers and was subsequently leased by Young & Bainbridge in 1860. It was rebuilt in 1906-7 but, like the Abercorn Arms, remained a beer house until it was granted a full licence in 1950. The pub was refurbished and extended in 2003. The former public bar was opened up to the main bar. The name commemorates Queen Adelaide, the widow of William IV.

As one restaurant from the high street disappears another is rising from the ashes. After just over a year of absence Ristorante Sorrento will be re-opening in a few weeks. Following an 8-year break, Carmelo, his son David and brother Giovanni will return to the newly refurbished restaurant.

Traditional classic Italian cooking will be back on the menu and their famous sweet trolley will be making a welcome return. The restaurant will open at 8am to serve breakfast, followed by a fixed price lunch menu and in the evening the a la carte menu will be available with seasonal daily specials including Lobster, Dover Sole and more.

The Park Hotel recently had planning permission refused to use more of their car park area for additional outdoor drinking & dining space. Richmond Council believe that the hotel already doesn’t provide enough parking space for this business in an area where the pressure on parking spaces is high.

Barnados are hoping to move into the vacant Nicholas wine merchant space but their plans to change the front of the building were refused permission. Selwyn-Smith Studio is now closed following declining sales and competition from stationers elsewhere on the high street.

At the other end of the high street, another new nursery is being planned opposite Nova Fortuny but neighbouring offices are concerned about the lack of parking available for dropping off & picking up children. The nursery would have its entrance on the high street and nearby roads area already busy with parked cars.

Kings Head White Brasserie will soon be celebrating its first anniversary – how time flies! They are hosting a few special events with live band nights and a special menu to celebrate the milestone. This business model is clearly working well – the resaurant continues to receive good feedback, is regularly busy and the group has plans to increase the number of brasseries from the current 9 to 40 in the next five years.

Although already open for business, The Orange Tree Clinic (above KC Pharmacy) will be hosting an official opening day on 23rd September along with the deputy mayor, Presecco, cupcakes, treatment discounts and demonstrations.

You might have seen these for sale already on shop counters on the high street – businesses in Teddington, Hampton and Hampton Hill have offered 64 discount stickers on this fold out card.

The card costs £10 and each offer can be used only once (peeled off) – £5 of this amount goes to print & admin costs and the rest to charity. Charity shops can stock the card and raise money for themselves and other businesses can nominate a charity to donate their money raised towards.

Teddington offers include:
A G Miller,
Bar Estilo,
Cavan Bakery,
Cook,
Diners Delight,
Fun Factory,
Happy Potter,
Jazz Flowers,
Johnsons The Cleaners,
La Bottega,
Park Lane tables,
Retro Bistrot,
Shambles,
Sims,
Toni & Guy,
VidaTherapy
- these cover everything from free cakes, money-off deals, 25% off food bills and free coffee!

The pocket-sized cards have lots of great offers and will help raise money for local schools, sports clubs, non-profits and charities. Roughly about £300 of savings are to be had with each £10 booklet.

If you are interested in selling the cards then get in touch with Sue at sue@thecafebean.com (this is no-risk, you don’t have to purchase these to be able to sell them).

As well as over-subscribing seemingly every cafe for miles around, families also enjoyed a fun day at the Queen Dowager.

The new landlord invited families to enjoy a day in the sun with a barbeque and lots to do for the kids – bouncy castle, face-painting and pony rides from Park Lane Stables. The ponies appreciated the exercise as they weren’t allowed into Bushy Park due to restrictions put into place for the test cycle race.

Landlord Shaun Thompson (pictured below): “It was a great day and so nice to welcome so many families to the Queen Dowager. The weather was perfect and it was lovely to hear the shrieks of children having lots of fun. We are going to donate all the proceeds from the pony rides, face painting and bouncy castle to the League of Friends, Teddington Memorial Hospital.”

Photos: Pete O’Hagan

The pub itself has already started its make-over is set to have a community pub feel with reasonably priced pub-grub, some of the cheapest prices in Teddington £2.50 a pint on some beers), Sky Sports, free pool before 6pm and on Wednesdays then a knock-out competition with first place winning a gallon of beer! The new pub menu will start on the 19th August too.

Independent and family run, owner Vincent Gerbeau: “The whole team at Retro are delighted to have been voted Best Restaurant in London. We’re a small team and we’re thrilled to have been recognised, especially as it’s our customers who have voted for us. A huge thank you to the team for their efforts, and to our diners for their support!”

The Good Food Guide regional restaurant awards are an annual event and this year over 27,500 diners voted. Rétro Bistrot will now join the 10 regional winners at an event on 23rd June when an overall national ‘restaurant of the year’ will be chosen. Competition will be fierce so wish them good luck.

Retro also holds special events such as a new monthly Jazz night and art shows. The first of these will be on Tuesday 31st May featuring Ronnie Scotts regulars The Jack Hurst Quartet as works from Art Agency are viewable. Classic jazz will be performed accompanied by a selection of New Orleans-themed cocktails on the night.