If August was a quiet month, September is usually the busiest for new restaurant openings and this year is no different. Everyone's back from their summer holiday and there are some really big names in the mix, featuring everything from modern Turkish and classic French food through to French toast with a Filipino touch.
Kid
Soho - 55 Frith Street, London W1D 4SJ
Kid is easily one of the most highly-anticipated restaurant openings this autumn. It sees chef Sertaç Dirik teaming up with David Carter for a new Turkish restaurant in Soho. Dirik came to fame with a reinvention of his family restaurant Mangal 2, while Carter has had a string of hits from Manteca to Oma, so they really are a dream team. Expect a modern Turkish menu with lots of British produce, featuring dishes like içli köfte, made with a slow braise of aged ex-dairy beef, roasted onions and grape molasses, wrapped inside a bulgur shell. This will be autumn's hardest-to-book restaurant, so get a table quickly.
Opening: 1 September 2026
Cassette
Covent Garden - 42 Maiden Lane, London WC2E 7LJ
Cassette comes from the team behind Levan in Peckham, a neighbourhood hit since 2018, and it's their first restaurant in central London. Taking over a Covent Garden townhouse, this will be centred around a French menu, with dishes including an in-your-face coq-au-vin jaune pie (see the photo), grilled monkfish served au poivre and a terrine of fromage de tête and tarragon. One of the inspirations for the restaurant is Bistrot des Tournelles, and that's one of our favourite restaurants in Paris right now, so it's a very good sign.
Opening: 23 September 2026
Nakimushi
Notting Hill - 7 Kensington Mall, London, W8 4DY
The team behind Dorian are opening their latest restaurant this month, and it sounds like one of their most ambitious, essentially being two restaurants in one, both culled from former pop-ups. Downstairs, Robin Kosuge (of Robin's Ramen) will be in charge of a ramen counter, while upstairs Yuji Shimokawa Kelly is running a restaurant and bar which takes a broader look at Japanese cooking, featuring dishes like red prawn and courgette gyoza. An early look at photos of the interior reveals an absolutely gorgeous-looking restaurant that will go down very well with the Notting Hill set.
Opening: 7 September 2026
The Horses
Clerkenwell - 26-28 Ray Street, London EC1R 3DJ
This is the latest opening from the same team behind The Pelican, The Hero and The Fat Badger (as well as Italian restaurant Canteen). It's a makeover of Clerkenwell pub The Coach and Horses and, like their other pubs, looks like it's getting one hell of a makeover. This close to the opening, they're still keeping quite quiet on exactly what the food side of the equation will be, although we're told it will be "championing independent producers, seasonal ingredients and exceptional British seafood." Their first foray into East London is likely to be a big hit.
Opening: TBC September 2026
Le Cafe LPM
Belgravia - Hyde Park Corner, London SW1X 7TA
Nearly 20 years after opening, LPM is branching out with something new, opening inside The Lanesborough hotel as a year-long residency, Le Café LPM. The Belgravia LPM will have its own menu, with dishes like burrata tartine with tomatoes at lunch or some crispy fried squid with saffron aioli for dinner. It'll also have a completely new cocktail list. Taking over the hotel's Garden Lounge, it's also going to have a great terrace, so we expect there will be a lot of rosé drunk out there over the next year.
Opening: 9 September 2026
Lunette
Temple - Level 11, 180 The Thames, London WC2R 3DA
This is the latest piece of the puzzle for Nick Jones' St Clement hotel, which has already seen Cafe Clement become something of a celeb magnet. For the rooftop restaurant, he's managed to coax chef Florence Knight back into the kitchen for Lunette. Unlike the downstairs restaurant, this will mainly be a tasting menu-led, with dishes including a “pomme soufflé” puff filled with smoked eel and topped with a nasturtium flower. The design is apparently looking to emphasise the brutalist nature of the building, so it should be something of a looker too. Will it be as much of a celeb magnet as downstairs? We'll have to see.
Opening: Mid September 2026
Five Feet Pizza
Bermondsey - 4 Tanner St, London SE1 3LE
London's love affair with pizza continues with this latest pizzeria opening in Bermondsey. It's a team-up between the people behind Legare and Watchhouse, and run by ex-Dusty Knuckle/Spring chef, Jack Ellingham. His pizzas will have a deeper crust than normal (although he's resisting calling it "deep pan"), with toppings all local and British. So you'll find pizzas like the Hot Sausage Pie, featuring vodka sauce, fennel sausage, pecorino, ricotta, house-pickled chillies and Calabrian chilli honey. Taking over an old bakery site, this feels like it could add something new to a growing scene.
Opening: September 2026
The Albatross
City of London - 8-10 Old Jewry, London EC2R 8DN
The second big pub opening of the month to watch comes from the same people behind Goodman and Wild. Opening right opposite their Wild Izakaya, it sees them taking over the (pretty massive) former Brown's space, creating a brand new City pub. They've brought in a landlord who used to run NYC's The Spotted Pig, are aiming to have a well-priced beer menu (yes, there will be Guinness) and a seafood-led food menu. All their other openings have been very impressive and we expect this to be the same. We also foresee a lot more "vertical drinking" down this street in the future.
Opening: 7 September 2026
Toasteé
White City - Unit 1018B, Westfield, Ariel Way, London W12 7JQ
Toastee comes from Florence Mae Maglanoc, who is also behind Donia and Panadera, two places that we've been hugely impressed by (we find it impossible to pass Panadera without popping in for an Ube Matcha Latte). This White City opening is closer to Panadera in that it's all about French toast, albeit with Filipino influences. So there will be three signature toasts - ube jam, matcha ganache and Milo cookies & cream (or a traditional version if you must), and they're going big on ube drinks too. Expect queues when this one launches.
Opening: September 2026
Also opening...
Soraya (Marylebone) - It's been delayed a while, but this month should definitely see the latest from the Nina/Bottarga team opening, this time focused around Persian cuisine.
Kerridge’s (Whitehall) - Tom Kerridge is completely overhauling his home at Corinthia London, where Georgie's Bar will now become the main attraction.
Beefbar at Dear Jackie's (Soho) - Beefbar returns to London, taking over the bar and restaurant inside Broadwick Soho.
Pearl (Mayfair) - The Beaumont hotel expands its boundaries, opening a new restaurant on Brown Hart Gardens, which will be run by chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen.
Bunso (Kentish Town - The man behind Belly is opening his next restaurant in Kentish Town, a Filipino bakery/pizzeria.
Prince Arthur (Chelsea) - The original Prince Arthur pub in Belgravia has closed and they're now moving to Chelsea and becoming a restaurant.
Bubala (Covent Garden) - The latest opening for the Middle-eastern-influenced vegetarian restaurant is their biggest yet.
Marrion’s (Hackney) - The man behind Norman's is back with a new Hackney bar.
All of London's newly opened and upcoming restaurants...
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