Yahoo Finance 12 unmissable restaurant openings in London, as chosen by the city’s top chefs – and a fond farewell to those that have gone
Local treat: Humble Chicken
(Humble Chicken)As though the past 14 months never happened, restaurants have suddenly woken from their state-mandated slumber. After a fraught year of frantic, scrambling plans, the light at the end of the tunnel is here — and, despite the most pessimistic forecasts, hasn’t turned out to be a train coming the other way.
The restaurant scene is in a strange state of disarray: true, money is tight, but landlords have been forced to be flexible and for some the opportunities are there, and news of new places is pouring in. Big names are at it — Jason Atherton is heading into Harrods, Salt Bae is opening in Knightsbridge with a £700, 24 karat gold steak, Scott Collins is taking Meat Liquor to Forest Hill’s Dartmouth Arms in July and Corbin & King are still planning fish palace Manzi’s for Soho — but smaller groups are making their moves as well. The Clarence Tavern team are heading to the Hoxton museum with Molly’s Café, Brighton’s acclaimed Italian Cin Cin is trying its luck in Fitzrovia and Patty & Bun are hoping their chicken dinner spin-off Sidechick is a winner, winner in Marylebone. There are almost countless more; this is shaping up to be a busy year. But space has had to be found somewhere, and the new openings follow a tide of closures. Below, some of London’s top chefs and restaurateurs weigh in on the places they’re most excited to head into, and pay tribute to those sorely missed.
12 new restaurants opening in London
The Blue Boar
May 17, 45 Tothill Street, SW1, blueboarlondon.com
Sally Abé’s style of food is designed for ease of eating, and I love that. You can put a lot of thought into presentation, colour, flavour — but not many chefs focus on the functionality of a dish, and that’s just as important. Sally’s so well known for the Harwood Arms and it’s always exciting when a chef who’s been somewhere for a long time moves on, to see how their style develops.
Victor Garvey, Sola Soho
Norman’s Cafe
Full opening May 17, 167 Junction Road, N19, normanscafe.co.uk
I’m really looking forward to Norman’s Cafe in Archway opening up properly — their unique take on greasy spoon content has certainly generated a lot of hype and they’ve just got an alcohol licence, so I can only hope their wet offering will be as simple and unpretentious as the food!
Brodie Meah, Top Cuvée
Sumi
May 18, 157 Westbourne Grove, W11, sushisumi.com
I can’t wait for sushi master Endo Kazutoshi to open Sumi fully. He’s that perfect balance of a hardcore, classically trained Japanese chef meets food-is-all-about-fun and that’s what Sumi is going to be, I think. Proper sushi dining experience that isn’t going to break the bank. I’m excited for this one.
Sven-Hanson Britt, Oxeye (itself opening later in 2021)
Sixes
Fully open from May 17, 18 Farm Lane, SW6, sixescricket.com
I can’t wait to visit Sixes from our friends at Mac and Wild. Such a great idea playing indoor cricket midweek in London, whilst enjoying Mac and Wild’s amazing food and drinks. This is right up my wicket. Cricket and deer, wow! I’m really looking forward to The Sixes burger — these guys certainly know their burgers.
Oliver Gladwin, The Shed, Sussex, Rabbit & Nutbourne
Maru
May 18, 18 Shepherd Market, W1, @marumayfair
Aside from food, my other huge passion lies in art and design. I’ve always loved the clinical and clean interior at Taiji Maruyama’s Taka, and am as excited to see what they do to makeover Maru’s aesthetics as I am to taste the food. I love intimate dining experiences that you are almost encouraged to share with your fellow diners; it adds a beautiful social aspect to the incredible flavours. I really think this will be special.
Aji Akokomi, Akoko
Humble Chicken
May 20, 54 Frith St, W1, humblechickenuk.com
This is exactly the kind of place I will go to on my day off: I love Japanese small plates, and it’s not far from where I live either so I’m sure this is somewhere I’ll keep going back to again and again. I see that they will be doing a Hakat Pork Belly dish — I’m particularly looking forward to trying that, as well as the oyster yakitori. The chef, Angelo Sato, is ex Trinity and Story, so has some great creds.
Santiago Lastra, Kol
Ave Mario
June 25, 15 Henrietta Street, WC2, bigmammagroup.com
Ever since arriving in London, seemingly out of nowhere, Big Mamma Group has produced the impossible: huge restaurants buzzing with guests desperate for a table. Customers are in love with the saturated, over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek pastiche they lay on as thickly as their meringue. It’s all about fun, something some critics seemed to miss. They are the number one restaurant group in London right now.
Alexis Gauthier, Gauthier, 123 Vegan
Trattoria Brutto
August 10, 36-37 Greenhill Rents, EC1, @bru.tto
I’ve always loved Italian cuisine as I think it has many similarities to Mexican cuisine, especially in how they place an emphasis on regionally-changing, family-style dishes made with local, seasonal produce. Russell Norman’s restaurants have always been charming, fun and rustic, with a great approach to hospitality, so I’m very excited to see what he has in store for us with Trattoria Brutto.
Edson Diaz Fuentes, Santo Remedio
Il Borro
TBC, 15 Berkeley St, W1, ilborro.it
There’s been lots of noise about Il Borro taking over the Nobu site so I’m keen to see what it’s like when it does finally open — it’s such a well known site, they’re going to have to be something pretty special. I’m a huge Italophile and I hear they’re sourcing their produce from their estate in Tuscany, so am hoping for another top Italian round the corner from Murano!
Pip Lacey, Hicce
Som Saa
TBC, somsaa.com
We’ve heard a rumour that a new Som Saa is opening this year. We absolutely love Thai food, our travels there have often inspired dishes at Prawn on the Lawn. We’ve been to the original Som Saa loads as well as Smoking Goat, Kiln, Farang and Begging Bowl and can’t welcome another great Thai haunt soon enough — hopefully the rumours are true!
Katie and Rick Toogood, Prawn on the Lawn
Bibi
TBC, 42 North Audley Street, W1K,bibirestaurants.com
I’m really excited to experience the new JKS venture — Bibi. JKS is such a successful restaurant empire with many impressive venues so I look forward to what talented Chef Sharma will be creating in the kitchen. After a very difficult year for the industry, it is great to hear of new places opening up again.
Sameer Taneja, Benares
Planque
TBC, 322-324 Acton Mews, E8, planque.co.uk
I’ve heard quite a lot of people talking about the arrival of Planque; it’s a great idea to combine low-intervention wine bar with a members’ club and I imagine there will be a lot of demand. Seb Myers’s style of modern French food sounds great — and he had such success at P Franco and Chiltern Firehouse — plus I’ve vowed to start spending more time in east London this year.
Masaki Sugisaki, Dinings SW3
...and those that have shut
The Greenhouse
There’s a group of about five classically-trained chefs in the UK who are cooking at the top of their game, and Alex Dilling is one of them. He makes precision look effortless, and was getting into three Michelin territory before The Greenhouse, which already had two stars, unfortunately closed. I can’t wait to see what he does next. VG
Percy Ingle
I’m still mourning the loss of Percy Ingle, every day I think about getting a cheese and onion lattice and it just doesn’t seem real. Cheap food is something increasingly hard to find in London and while it may not have been healthy it was certainly convenient. The service was second to none, everyone that worked there was genuinely friendly and happy to be there. Best service in East London - RIP Percy Ingle! BM
Jidori
I always wonder why yakitori just hasn’t kicked off as much as it should in London. It’s the perfect restaurant food. Jidori in Dalston was a great example of that – the perfect balance of cool and delicious. Great date night spot, secret little lunch for one, a spot-on restaurant really which will be greatly missed. SHB
The Mark Hix empire
Hixter and any other Hix London restaurant ! Mark Hix dominated the London restaurant scene for 30 years, serving British seasonal beautiful food! The younger generation look up to him and luckily for me, I was able to take up that market share and fly the flag of British local and wild food. OG
We were so gutted when we heard that the Hix restaurant group were closing their London restaurants as a result of the pandemic. We love Hixxy, he is such a fantastic chef and a great guy. All is not lost, though, as we can still eat with him at The Fish House Lyme Regis though and at his new place The Fox Inn in Corscombe. KT, RT
The Ledbury
Hearing of The Ledbury’s closure really hit home for me. It had been a sad few months for the industry, and it truly displayed the vulnerability of all restaurants in the current climate. It’s a crying shame to see any venue close, but to see an institution like The Ledbury have to shut its doors was particularly upsetting. Still, in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity, and we have to look forward to what’s to come! We will always have our memories of the places we love that didn’t survive the pandemic. AA
The Conduit Club
I really enjoyed what they were doing there – the quality of the cooking was amazing. It was somewhere you would want to eat more than once a week, and did particularly great breads and pastas. I really admire the cooking of Merlin Labron-Johnson, but luckily I can still experience his food at Osip! SL
Vasco & Piero’s Pavilion
Vasco & Piero’s was a brilliant restaurant, they did everything right. What they had no control over was their rent. It’s is a real problem for many restaurants at the moment, and many will be unable to swallow the high increases demanded by landlords and estate agents, something I have had to deal with recently myself. I’m so sorry they had to bow out, they are really irreplaceable. AG
Bubbledogs
I’ve always had really fond memories of Bubbledogs – I remember when they opened in August 2012 and ever since then, I loved their sophisticated takes on comfort food as well as their creative flavour combinations and specials which were always perfectly executed. Santo Remedio also celebrates its birthday in August so in 2018 we teamed up with Bubbledogs for a special Birthday month menu which was a great experience. I’m really sad to see it go.
EDF
Vanilla Black
I was really sad to see Vanilla Black go. Hands down one of the best, established vegetarian restaurants in London and I’ve got some really fond memories of great meals there. Such a shame it’s closed its doors. I am a big fan of Selin Kiazim so was really sad to see the bakery go. We’d had a delicious brunch there when it reopened last January and there was just such a buzz, it felt like a sure fire win. PL
Street XO
I’m really sad to see Street XO permanently close its doors due to the pandemic. It boasted a menu of creative tapas, alongside mind blowing drinks in amazing glassware and a great selection of wines. It was true fine dining and brought something new and exciting to the London food scene. It will definitely be missed. ST
Kym’s
I think Andrew Wongs’ food is amazing, and Kym’s was always a great place for a mid-week lunch and a little easier to get a table than A Wong! That crispy pork belly is always worth trekking to The City for. I’d be interested to know if he plans another London venture. MS
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