In this week’s diary, The Capitalist raises a toast Simpson’s, think tankers and Heathrow boss Thomas Woldbye’s new phone

SIMPSON’S RETURNS TO SQUARE MILE

It may have been a cloudy day in the Square Mile yesterday, but there was one piece of news putting a pep in the step of City carnivores: after two years of locked doors, Simpson’s Tavern is reopening.

Famed for its stewed cheese and sausages on the side, the closure of the City institution over a rent dispute in 2022 caused local outrage – with many fretting the closure put the long lunch under existential threat. Two years of small plates later, those fears can now be put to bed, with the historic venue due to reopen as a chophouse next year under the custodianship of Cloth restaurateurs Joe Haynes, Ben Butterworth and Tom Hurst, who have promised to keep “the old Simpson’s spirit” with chops, steaks and wood-panelled walls. One thing they can’t keep, however, is the name, which, due to legal complications, will be changed to Cloth Cornhill.

Philip Palumbo, managing director of The Walbrook and president of the Simpson’s Tavern Preservation........

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