The end of 2014 marks the (temporary) closure of one of the country’s most iconic restaurants. But there’s no doubting that the UK scene continues to excite, with Michelin-star-chasing chefs, tweedy gastropubs and chic boutique hotels adding to the rich mix of new openings this month.
We say goodbye to The Fat Duck (pictured left) this month. Lunch on Sunday 21 December will be the last service in Bray until September 2015. The Grade-II listed building is to undergo renovation and modernisation while the three-Michelin-starred restaurant (complete with kitchen and front-of-house staff) relocates to the Crown Tower Resorts in Melbourne, Australia, where a six-month residency starts on 3 February 2015.
But the Duck’s closure will do nothing to dent the area’s reputation as a gastronomic hotspot. Just down the road in Marlow, Atul Kochhar has taken over the former Aubergine restaurant at the Macdonald Compleat Angler hotel (below, right), located on the banks of the Thames. Kochhar was the first Indian chef to win a Michelin star (Tamarind in 2001, followed by Benares in 2007), and has just 
launched Sindhu by Atul Kochhar, with its emphasis on fine British ingredients and the ‘very best of traditional Indian cuisine in a contemporary manner’.
There’s a lot happening up north, too. Jake Jones, who previously worked at L’Enclume and is a Young Chef of the Year finalist, has stepped up to head chef at James Martin’s restaurant at the Talbot Hotel in Malton in North Yorkshire (right). Meanwhile, in nearby Helmsley, Patrick Bardoulet has been appointed head chef at the well-regarded country boutique hotel, The Black Swan. The well-travelled French chef honed his experience in a number of top restaurants such as Holbeck Ghyll in the Lake District, and plans to bring some exciting contemporary thrills to a larder of British ingredients. 
Over in Lancashire, chef Simon Salt has taken on the lease of The White Bull in Gisburn with a sack load of accomplishments under his belt – including a quarter-final place in BBC MasterChef: The Professionals 2010, Lancashire Young Chef of the Year and Gordon Ramsay Scholar finalist. His CV also lists stints at Michelin-starred Northcote in Lancashire and the Burlington Restaurant at the Devonshire Arms in Yorkshire, as well as establishments in Wales and Spain. He plans to run the place as a real village pub where people can eat and drink at affordable prices.
Finally, let’s hear it for Gary Usher from Cheshire’s Sticky Walnut, who, in just 33 days, raised a magnificent £103,915 of a required £100,000 as part of a Kickstarter push to open his second site. After three successful years in the Chester suburb of Hoole, Usher felt the Sticky Walnut team was ready to branch out, but noted “the bank and all their various forms make it such a painful lengthy process (pain level 8)”. Thanks to the online Kickstarter campaign, the Burnt Truffle will open at a yet-to-be-disclosed location sometime in 2015. We will keep you posted.