25/4/25 - updated with more details about the opening
Plans are well underway to bring Whiteleys, now renamed The Whiteley, back to its former glory, albeit this time as a hotel, apartments and restaurants. The people behind Bottarga and Nina are due to open Effie there but first with a formal announcement is Nela.
This is an Amsterdam import, from where there's already a Nela restaurant. The London outpost will follow the same template - a live-fire restaurant with a menu by chefs Hari Shetty and Ori Geller (previously at Nobu in London and Mr Porter in Amsterdam, which has also opened in London).
The London outpost of Nela will be big, taking around 10000 sq ft of The Whitely (for reference, that's around the size of the new Market Halls in Paddington). We're told it will have a big open kitchen, a "centrepiece bar", a private dining room and an outside terrace too.
Not much has been revealed about what exactly is going to be on the London menu yet, but if we look over at the Amsterdam version, it's a combo of a raw bar, wood-fired pizza, grilled meat and seafood and a pretty extensive vegetable section. We're told that the menu will be "reimagined" for London but one dish that we know will definitely be coming over here is the Tiramisu of Nela which comes with coffee caviar and served in its own tin (see above).
We'll have more details about the space and menu closer to the opening date.
More about Nela
Where is it? 149 Queensway, London W2 4YN
When does it open? Autumn 2025
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @nela.london.
Subscribe to be the first to get the news from Hot Dinners
