Edition 12
Welcome back, Chiswick.
Big week for anyone who likes eating out. Two new independents are opening their doors, a family-run Japanese spot is our food pick, and there's an all-you-can-eat Sunday worth clearing your diary for.
Beyond the food, there's a proper weekend of things to do: opera and art on Friday night, a car boot and flower market double bill on Sunday morning, and plenty in between. We've also got a huge fundraising result to celebrate, and, with England into the knockouts, where to watch the football locally.
Let's get into it.
Kuyamoto is a family-run Japanese restaurant at the western end of Chiswick High Road. It's a quieter, less well-trodden stretch, which is part of the appeal: this is a local find rather than somewhere you'll be queuing behind half of W4. I eat here often and can vouch for the food.
Two things worth putting in the diary. First, lunch. Every weekday from 12 to 3pm, the bento boxes start at £12.50 for a main, omakase sides, rice and miso soup. Mains run from chicken teriyaki and katsu to grilled salmon, unagi and tempura. Hard to beat for the money.
Second, Sunday. From midday until 10pm it's all you can eat: unlimited sushi, sashimi and hot dishes, cooked to order. It's £30 for adults, £15 for under-10s and £7.50 for under-7s, which makes it a proper family Sunday out. You order in rounds, three dishes at a time, with 90 minutes at the table, so come hungry.
A: 470 Chiswick High Road, W4 5TT
IG: @kuyamotochiswick
Two to watch: It's been a big week for new openings in Chiswick. Doctor Dough is bringing proper New York pizza to Devonshire Road, while over on Turnham Green Terrace, Mirtala is serving Northern Mexican cooking you won't find elsewhere in W4. Both are independents worth getting in early on. More on each in the news section below.
@drdoughpizza
Doctor Dough is bringing New York-style pizza to Devonshire Road, full story in our news section below. Follow the account for the bit the news can't give you: Sonay Ali documents everything, from research trips to New York and New Haven to the craft that's won over pizza royalty like Anthony Falco. It's the story behind the slice, told as it happens. Worth a follow before the doors open and the queues start.
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It's a busy one this week. A run of short plays midweek, opera and art on Friday night, and a car boot and flower market double bill on Sunday morning. First up though, if you fancy switching off properly, W4 Gong Bath has two summer sessions worth booking, and Inside Chiswick readers get a discount. Here's the full line-up.
If you've never tried a gong bath, the premise is simple: you lie down, close your eyes, and let the sound do the work. Run by Gabi Lozano, W4 Gong Bath hosts intimate sessions across west London, and there are two coming up in July.
First is Monday 6 July at Hammersmith Quaker Meeting House, a Magic Yin yoga and gong bath evening. It starts at 7pm and tickets are £20.
The second is Friday 17 July at Putney Town Rowing Club. Don't let the name fool you; it's riverside in Kew, right on the Thames. It starts at 7pm and tickets are £15.
More dates are being added from September through December, so worth checking the site if neither works.
Inside Chiswick readers get a discount on their first session. Use code CHISWICK at checkout.
W: W4-gongbath.com
Booking link: https://bookwhen.com/w4gongbath
Hounslow Symphony Orchestra: Summer Opera Gala | Sat 4 July | 7.30pm | St Paul's Church, Grove Park Road, W4
An evening of opera favourites right here in Chiswick, with soprano soloist Olivia Doutney joining the orchestra. The programme runs through Verdi, Puccini, Wagner and Mascagni, taking in showpieces from Aida, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Tristan and Isolde. A grand night out without leaving W4. Find out more.
Henry Moore After Hours | Fri 3 & Sat 4 July | 7pm to 10.30pm | Kew Gardens
An adults-only summer evening of art, music and performance around Kew's illuminated Temperate House, inspired by the Henry Moore: Monumental Nature exhibition. Expect site-specific dance from Rambert School, DJ sets, live art and drop-in sketching and sculpture workshops, plus the chance to see Moore's sculptures at dusk. Your ticket includes garden entry from 4pm. Over-18s only, tickets from £20. Find out more.
Kids' Splash Pool at Dukes Meadows | Open now | Free | Dukes Meadows
With highs around 30° all weekend, the free splash pool at Dukes Meadows is an easy win for families. Let the kids cool off, then grab ice creams, iced coffees and snacks from the café by the water. No booking, no cost, just turn up. Find out more.
Chiswick Car Boot Sale | Sun 5 July | 6.30am to 12.30pm | Chiswick School, Staveley Road
One of the South East's biggest and best, with a proper mix of vintage clothing, antiques, vinyl, plants, books, furniture and toys. Sustainable shopping at its most enjoyable, and buyer entry is just £1, free for under-12s. No advance booking to sell, just turn up and join the queue. Runs whatever the weather, though note it's a dog-free and smoke-free site. Find out more.
Chiswick Flower Market | Sun 5 July | 9am to 4pm | Old Market Place
Peak season for British flowers, with dahlias, sweet peas, cornflowers and the first Cornish hydrangeas filling Old Market Place. Two new traders join this month, alongside Open Art Spaces and its 15 stalls of local artists. There's live entertainment through the day too, including a family-friendly Punch & Judy show at noon and 1.30pm. Find out more.
Chiswick Shorts 2 | Wed 1 to Sat 4 July | 7:45pm | St Michael's Centre, Elmwood Road
St Michael's Players return with a second run of short plays, staged with Brighton's Bite-Size and performed cabaret style with tables, chairs and a well-stocked bar. Each piece runs about ten minutes, and the line-up takes in amorous insects, AWOL astronauts, a desperate shopper, a hen do with a twist and two bank robbers on the run. It's also a first go at directing for several members. Strong language and adult themes. Tickets from £10. Book here.
Running something in Chiswick? Send it in.
You asked for more local events, so we've opened up the Inside Chiswick events calendar for submissions. Markets, concerts, school fairs, workshops, pub quizzes, fundraisers, family activities: if it's local and open to the community, we want to hear about it.
Send us the details and we'll review it for the calendar.
The local wins, openings and milestones worth knowing about this week.
A big thank you: the Hogarth wine tasting
Last Thursday, the Hogarth Youth & Community Centre held its seventh annual charity wine tasting, and what a night it was. Around 50 local supporters came together and raised a superb £9,000 for the centre's summer residential trip, a four-day break for 35 young people that caps off the four-week summer holiday programme in August.
Master Sommelier Tim Syrad guided guests through eight wines from lesser-known vineyards around the world, doubling up as quiz master for the evening, with a raffle and two blind auctions along the way.
A huge thank you to everyone who came, gave generously and made the evening what it was. And to the businesses who backed the event: Analytical People, Bown Builds, Cornel Lucas, Helicon Health, Potli, La Trompette, Villa di Geggiano and Whitman & Co. Local support like this is exactly what keeps the centre's youth work going.
If you'd like to support the Hogarth's work directly, you can donate at hogarthtrust.org.uk/donate.
Strand-on-the-Green river wall secured for the long term
After three decades of worry about its condition, the historic river wall at Strand-on-the-Green now has a fully funded future. Years of campaigning by the Strand-on-the-Green Association and Chiswick Riverside councillor Gabriella Giles pushed Hounslow Council to inspect the 900-metre stretch from Strand End to Kew Bridge, which confirmed structural defects. A dedicated project board has since secured £745,275 in total: emergency stabilisation over winter 2024, plus £355,274 for a full restoration to "gold standard" with added flood resilience. The wall protects the Thames Path and the riverside setting, and engineers have confirmed the visible damage under Kew Railway Bridge is only superficial.
Source: ChiswickW4.com
Champions League football could be coming to our doorstep
Brentford are in talks to host Shakhtar Donetsk's Champions League home matches at the Gtech Community Stadium next season, according to BBC Sport. The Ukrainian side have been playing European fixtures away from home since Russia's invasion, most recently in Slovenia and Poland, and are now weighing up venues in the UK and Germany. Nothing is confirmed, and Shakhtar say they won't comment until a decision is made, but the Gtech already meets UEFA's requirements. If it goes ahead, it would mean European nights just up the road in Brentford.
Source: BBC Sport
Doctor Dough brings New York pizza to Devonshire Road
Sonay Ali, the pizza obsessive better known online as Doctor Dough, is opening his first permanent spot on the corner of Devonshire Road and Glebe Street. Expect New York-style slices built on a six-and-a-half-hour dough, honed through pop-ups at the Lyric in Hammersmith and The Brewery Tap in Brentford. It opens in phases: first for collection and street seating with six core pizzas plus a weekly special, then a full sit-down restaurant in the autumn with wine, beer and cocktails. One more reason Devonshire Road holds its name as Chiswick's food street.
Source: The Chiswick Calendar
Mirtala opens on Turnham Green Terrace
A new Northern Mexican restaurant has landed on Turnham Green Terrace, in the old Sam's Kitchen site. Run by west London couple Benaisha Daruwalla and Rishad Mehta, Mirtala draws on the cooking of Monterrey rather than Tex-Mex, built around a 16-hour British Wagyu barbacoa slow-cooked in handmade limestone pots, with Sonoran tortillas, house pickles and fiery salsas. The bar leans in too, with mezcal martinis and corn-whiskey Old Fashioneds. A soft-launch set menu runs from Thursday 2 July to Sunday 12 July, with reservations open now.
Source: The Chiswick Calendar
And the winner is...
Congratulations to Gráinne T., the winner of our reader survey prize draw. A £50 voucher to spend at The Duke of Sussex is on its way. Thank you to everyone who took part; your answers are already shaping where Inside Chiswick goes next. More on what we learned soon.
Our local business focus this week goes to a Chiswick name taking a bold step.
West and Hunter expands beyond the chair
West and Hunter, the Chiswick barbershop on the High Road, is turning itself into something closer to a members' club. At an invitation-only launch on Saturday evening, founder Zamaine Ismail unveiled three additions: a private membership, a members' lounge and a forthcoming podcast, all built around the shop rather than replacing it.
The barbershop opened in 2020 as a family-run independent and has collected awards since, including Barbershop of the Year and Best Client Experience at the 2023 British Hairdressing Business Awards. The membership adds a dedicated lounge, curated events and access to a network of local professionals and creatives.
There's an art angle too. A collaboration with photographer Teo Andrioli (@teosnaps) has put a permanent gallery of his prints in the lounge, with selected works available to buy through the shop. The West and Hunter Podcast follows, promising conversations with entrepreneurs, creatives and business leaders.
The launch leaned into the lifestyle positioning, with an open bar, canapés and cigars from City of London Cigars. It's an ambitious move for an independent, and a sign of how far a local barbershop can stretch the format.
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England are through to the quarter-finals, and Chiswick's football pubs are about to get louder. A 4-2 win over Croatia, a goalless draw with Ghana and a 2-0 win against Panama saw them out of the group, and on Wednesday they edged Congo DR 2-1 in the last 32 to book their place in the last eight.
Next up is the big one: England v Mexico, this Sunday night, in the quarter-final in Mexico City. A late kick-off UK time, so expect a proper atmosphere in the football pubs well into the evening.
If you're planning to watch, book ahead where you can. Knockout nights fill the good spots fast.
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