The big day is finally here! From 1st July, all public enclosed spaces will be non smoking, so customers eating in any restaurant or cafe will be able to enjoy a meal without the worry of someone lighting a cigarette at a neighbouring table – something that can so easily spoil the meal experience for diners. Love it or hate it, clean and fug free air will be the order of the day throughout.

There have been one or two businesses shifting in and out of of Ecclesall Road recently, so we can expect to see some new establishments to tempt us in to dine. 543 restaurant, which opened in 2004, has now closed, pending its sale. Further up the road, planning permission has been granted for the conversion of a former clothes shop into a new cafe which is to open in late summer, specialising in organic and vegetarian meals.

There are changes too on London Road, with a change of ownership for Soho, the contemporary Chinese restaurant. Soho was the sister restaurant of Sheffield’s Japanese restaurant, WasabiSabi, but this establishment remains unaffected and it is business as usual there. Out of town, yet another leading restaurateur has forsaken Sheffield for the bright lights of Leeds. Fabrice Limon, formerly of the Lion’s Lair and Sola has now also sold the The Cricket Inn at Totley. The Cricket Inn would seem to be in capable culinary hands though, as it has been taken over by a new company, which involves the talents of Richard Smith of Artisan and Thyme Cafe.

There is great excitement over at The Walnut Club in Hathersage at the moment, as they have been nominated as a UKTV local Food hero 2007, for the programme presented by Gary Rhodes. The Sheffschefs team wish them all the very best and hope they make it through the selection process.

If you would like to vote for them, you can do so at UKTV Food and if you want to test them out before voting, you can of course book a table on-line.

If you are looking for a summer treat, we have some great on-line booking deals for the famous Georgetown restaurants in Leeds and Nottingham this month, where you can tuck into a three course a la carte meal and a Singapore Sling cocktail for just £20. It’s a great chance to try their award winning Malaysian cuisine if you are planning a trip to either city in July.
Georgetown offers – 3 courses and a Singapore Sling for £20

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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 19th, 2007 at 9:00 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.