The license extension applies to later alcohol serving, music and dancing – activities that some nearby residents will fear lead to increased anti-social behaviour.

The meeting will take place on Thursday, 26th August 7:30pm at St Johns Ambulance Meeting Hall and is open to all.

Since KouKou Bar’s demise there hasn’t been a central venue to visit after normal closing times for restaurants and pubs so with this application the business is hoping to attract business by filling this niche and better serve its resident customers.

From the council notice: “Any interested party in the vicinity of the premises must make representation to this application in writing to the Licensing Authority, London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames, Civic Centre, 44 York Street, Twickenham, TW1 3BZ or email licensing@richmond.gov.uk.”

The deadline for representations is 27th August 2010. Any comments made must be linked to one or more of the licensing objectives:

• The prevention of crime and disorder
• Public safety
• Prevention of public nuisance
• Protection of children from harm

The Pheasantry Café within Bushy Park has also applied for altered licensing hours which will see it open able to open until 6pm and serve until 5:30pm daily (March-October) and half an hour earlier November – February.

This celebration of food is where customers will be able to visit seven countries in seven days through the medium of their fabulous fare.

If you fancy something different to the normal pub grub then look no further – each day there will be five dishes and a drink or two available from the relevant country (in addition to the normal menu).

Starting from today:

The Teddington Arms has three screens and a host of World Cup celebration goings-on in aid of Princess Alice Hospice including games, prizes, Fantasy League, foosball tournament, blind sweepstakes, a haven for the WAGS and the usual great food. Tables are bookable so grab a good view in advance.

The ever-stylish Bloated Mallard has three screens to watch the games – two downstairs and one upstairs in their large function room. Bar food is available until 10pm and World Cup beer Offers include 3 x Bottles £10, 2 Pint Pitcher £7.00, 3 Pint Pitcher £9.00.

The Builders Arms are ensuring that their strong reputation as a sports viewing destination remains firmly in place and you’re sure not to miss even one second of the matches due to their four large indoor and one outdoor screens, BBQ to accompany matches and also beer bar in the garden.

Watch the matches on a giant 50 inch plasma screen at Sammy’s Bar – tables can be booked as can the function room if your have a large group and you want guarantee your own space.

The Queen Dowager is having World Cup sweepstakes, all England matches are being shown and each match day will include different food and drink promotions.

Every match will be shown on the many large screens at the Hogarth, if you don’t want to fight it out with the crowds and fancy guaranteeing your own space, The Anglers are showing matches to private parties – you can hire a marquee space in the beer garden and have a BBQ feast during the match too.

Enjoy the great traditional English pub food at the Adelaide whilst watching the matches on their screens – one large, one small downstairs, or their other large screen in the function room upstairs.

If pubs aren’t your bag then why not try Diners Turkish Delight who will be showing all the England matches along with a free glass of wine or bottle of beer with your meal to celebrate England’s progress through the competition.

Members of NPL Sports Club will benefit from the club showing all of the World Cup games in HD on four screens in the pavilion. NPL Sports Club isn’t just a sports club! It hosts some great music events and is a real ale centre.

England’s pool games will be accompanied by special food menus (including traditional fish and chips), drink offers such as four-pint jugs of London Pride and Fosters and customer competitions including best-dressed supporter prizes.

Finally if you want to escape from the football but still benefit from the occasion, restaurant Scarpetta are also offering a free bottle of Marche Bianco, Marche Rosso or Pinot Blush with every table of four or more booked during the World Cup.

Design improvements will include the removal of the large stainless steel kitchen duct that the new owners feel is too visible from the high street, and greatly improved accessibility with a new disabled parking space and front-door ramp and handrail.

New owners Brasserie Blanc felt that it would be wrong to change the historic name and the plan is to keep part of the premises as a pub that will serve cask ales and as well as great selection of wines – all wine for the group is sourced direct by MD John Lederer and Raymond himself.

Once open for business, the menu will include some regular Brasserie dishes but also more British content such as mutton-steamed pudding with split pea and caper sauce and Newlyn cod, chips and petit pois. A charcoal grill will also be a focal point in the re-design – customers will be able to see their food being cooked whilst they enjoy the fine wine!

TBM (Teddington Builders Merchants) on Station Road is closing down – you can grab some bargains from their stock that includes ex-display items.

In times where we are increasingly hearing the phrase ‘austerity measures’ across much of Europe, this Guardian article explains how ‘austerity chic‘ is becoming popular with women opting for DIY beauty treatments and going to the hairdresser less frequently. Sarah Brown, owner of Tony & Guy in Teddington explains how customers are loath to give up looking their best, but are visiting less often since the recession hit the UK and how time between regular visits have now increased from once every 6 weeks to nearer 8 average. Overall though, Sarah feels lucky to be running a salon in such an affluent area.

Bilas Tandoori is marking its 30th anniversary this weekend by slashing 30% from restaurant bills! You can help them celebrate from Sunday 30th May to Wednesday 2nd June.

The Teddington Arms are also celebrating this extra long weekend with a “Bank Holiday Bonanza” which will include live DJ, karaoke – open until 2am and helping revellers recover on Sunday with a roast dinner and bloody mary!

If you’re a rugby fan and can’t make it to Twickenham on Saturday to cheer on Leicester or the Saracens then how about the next best thing – watching the match in 3D at the Hogarth. If past events are anything to go by, the pub will be pretty packed.

The business has been purchased from administrators by Brasserie Blanc, part of household name Raymond Blanc’s restaurant group. The venue won’t however become a Brasserie Blanc but will probably retain the ‘Kings Head’ name and become a brasserie. Work is currently being undertaken to completely refurbish the building with a view to re-opening at the end of August – a similar mixture of brasserie and pub with food looks to be on the cards.

If the name Blanc sounds familiar to Teddington residents then it may because Raymonds wife Jenny owns interior design & home wear business Jenny Blanc Designs. This change in ownership is great news for the town with another pedigree eaterie on the way and retaining the Kings Head watering hole that has stood on this spot for hundreds of years.

Two businesses have disappeared – KouKou bar (after it’s late licence rewal was denied) and Restaurant Noel, but work is already underway to turn KouKou’s empty space into a new mobile phone/accessories and repair shop.

Work is well underway at new italian ice-cream parlour “Il Gelato” at 52 Broad Street – as well as being spoilt for choice from 24 flavours of delicious home-made ice cream, also on offer will be fresh fruit smoothies and fine Belgian chocolates. With temperatures expected to soar way above average this parlour can’t open soon enough!

The company, based in Hampton Hill owns pubs and restaurants across the London area. Last year administrators were forced to again sell 19 venues from the Massive Pub Company only a year after they were sold to Innventive (after Massive’s own administration) due to breaches in the terms of sale and management contract.

Another high-street refurbish, slight extension and re-launch is under-way and from the looks of the submitted plans the ‘Auberge’ name will be dropped when the business re-opens as simply ‘Kings Head Pub Brasserie”

[Update] see here for info

SpaNails is now open for business in the place of Caroline Turner Shoes. Staff are offering a range of high-quality nail treatments/extensions for reasonable prices – pick up one of their discount cards and every 6th visit has a £5 discount.

Feedback has been very positive from early adopters which will be music to the owners ears – they chose Teddington as an ideal location for their new shop despite their commute from Elephant and Castle each day.

Tel: 020 8973 3758 for appointments (walk-ins also welcome). Open Mon-Sat but available for call-outs for special occasions on any day of the week.

The window of an empty shop has been at towards what sort of business may be moving in and we can now confirm that the High Street will be soon have its own authentic Italian ice-cream parlour! The owners of Cafe Cafe (a few doors down) are aiming to have this new venture open in June just in time for Summer. More details to follow.

Buying one of the hottest tickets in town will get you a three course dinner under a river marquee, live music by The Fake Band and entertainment from ventriloquist Paul Zerdin (previously performed at the Royal Variety Performance and the Jerry Springer Show). If that’s not enough, raffles and auctions (with professional auctioneer) could net you some amazing prizes donated by local businesses.

Prizes currently include:

• £1000 of prizes from John Lewis in Kingston
• £1500 sofa from Sofa Workshop
• Day out at Ascot with access to VIP beer tent for 10 people (donated by Fullers)
• Weekend at the Sanctuary Hotel
• Teddington Tony & Guy, Tanning Centre, Marks & Spencer prizes
• Magnum of Laurent Perrier
• Cases of wine
• £150 capital bonds
• Signed Simon Shaw rugby ball & shirt
• Shane Warne signed shirt

All proceeds will go to Help For Heroes – a charity close to the owners hearts after their nephew died in Afghanistan.

Tickets are £40 a head with tables comprising 10 guests, the event will take place on Friday 30th April from 7:30pm onwards. Call 020 8977 7475 to enquire or book.

During a recent visit to the restaurant it wasn’t at 100% capacity for the later sitting but most days all tables are full soon after opening time with diners eager to try the food that so impressed Gordon. Bookings still need to made a few weeks in advance but it’s certainly worth the wait.

For starters the simplicity of presentation for the traditional Thai fish cakes with cucumber relish (pictured below) belied the intricate and utterly delicious flavours contained within. Various curries were delivered for our main courses and despite looking similar our untrained eyes, they certainly tasted different! Red and green currys went down well and the spicy sweet loin of pork sautéed in roasted spices flavoured with palm sugar and coconut cream (as featured on the show) was a taste sensation – seriously flavourful and very moorish.

Desserts were also memorable and mostly coconut-based – mango rice pudding with coconut blended flavours exceedingly well, Patria’s own recipe coconut crème brulee (a favourite with regulars) and tasty ice creams. The restaurant has a clean and modern feel to it and if you catch her after the evening rush, Patria is more than happy to talk to her customers about her food or her experience on the TV show – the F-Word trophy sits proudly on the counter in front of the kitchen.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is Diners Turkish Delight – a lively venue that hosts belly dancing and live music evenings, promising lower-cost meals that contain simpler kebab-based Turkish dishes.

Each week from Wednesday to Saturday, Diners Delight undergoes a transformation from cafe into Diners Turkish Delight restaurant each evening. A warm and friendly greeting directs you to your seat where your complementary balloon bread will soon arrive on your table.

Starters include pan-fried rolled feta cheese filo pastries and Lahmacun (Turkish thin crust pizza) topped with mince meat & parsley. The Teddington mixed kebab contains a veritable feast of freshly charcoal-fired barbecued kebab meats: lamb and chicken shish, lamb chop, spicy minced lamb kebab with rice and salad. The Iskender kebab is a choice of lamb or chicken shish on crispy bread, topped with yoghurt, special tomato sauce and sizzling hot butter. I can guarantee that you won’t finish the evening still hungry!

As well as the ordering from the standard dessert menu you can request a candle-decorated birthday cake, dimming of lights and a hearty happy birthday song if it’s someone’s special day. Kids meals are also available from the menu.

China Express is currently closed for an extended Easter holiday until 25th April as is Noel which has been undergoing a refurbishment.

If you fancy more traditional pub grub then look no further than the Adelaide, the only pub in the area that offer a ‘proper’ steak and kidney pudding (suet) as well as other delicious pies and country classics including lamb shank, beef cobbler, toad in the hole. Make sure you leave room for desserts though!