Cafe

If, like us, you live around Islington and have been wondering what's taking over the big site that used to be Rudy's Vegan Diner then wonder no more. Getting ready to open there is Philippe Conticini. 

If that name sounds familiar, it's because you might have come across his work at the café in South Kensington or Camden's Buck Street Market. Or perhaps it's because

It's been a while since the dark days of Covid, but the pandemic's effect on London's hospitality trade is still being felt. Popular South East London cafe Louie Louie was the most recent victim, having to close its restaurant on Walworth Road "mainly due to our landlord's intransigence by insisting on 100% of the rent throughout lockdown."

But when one door closes another opens, and for the Louie Louie

Here at Hot Dinners we are partial to a good cocktail and bar snack offering. So when we heard that the folk behind the 10 Cases and Parsons in Covent Garden were opening a new bar and cafe with some particularly good examples of both on the menu, we paid attention.

Baudry Greene is right beside owners Will Palmer and Ian Campbell's wine bar 10 Cases and across the road from their fish restaurant Parsons.

London does love a themed cafe and the one arriving in West London this summer is going to go big on one ingredient, oats. OATIS will be open for breakfast and lunch on Queensway and oats will be at the heart of everything they serve. And these are not just any old oats but steel-cut oats which, we're told, gives them more 'bite'.

To kick off your day there will be oat bowls, smoothies and pancake offerings

An Instagram post by Allegra chef Patrick Powell alerted us to the arrival of a new cafe on Bethnal Green Road. Rastro is the first project from a team who've worked at a range of hospitality businesses across London. Carlos Del Barrio is the connection with Powell - he worked with him at Allegra for the past few years and, before that, at Scarfe's Bar. He's joined in this endeavour by his stepbrother Rodrigo

If, like us, you've been glued to the TV watching the documentary about Claridge's massive renovation you'll probably be interested to hear that on top of new spa and bedrooms they've just opened up a brand new place to eat. The ArtSpace Café on the ground floor has its own entrance behind the hotel on Brook’s Mews and aims to entice Mayfair folk in for breakfast and lunch.

The hotel's Executive Pastry Chef

A Hot Dinners exclusive

Swedish bakery Soderberg has its main home in Edinburgh - but after opening a cafe in Soho in 2019, they're starting to grow in London too. Coming next for the group is a new cafe in East Dulwich (where Terroirs and Green & Blue used to be). 

If you're unfamiliar with them, they essentially serve classic Swedish food, with a big focus on their

A cafe selling some of London's best cookies has recently opened somewhat under the radar in Notting Hill. Yes, there's a second Creme in London. 

If you've ever wandered past the Soho outpost, you'll definitely have noticed the queues for their gooey cookies at peak times. The Notting Hill cafe looks a tiny bit larger than the Soho original and it'll still serve the same warm

Back in August, we had the news that Waterloo's much-loved Scootercaffe had suddenly been forced to close after 22 years.

In a post on their Instagram account, the vintage cafe's team explained that due to fire safety regulations, the building in which they've been delighting Londoners for more than two decades

Dalston is getting a brand new bakery as Francesca Strange's The Proof has found a permanent home there for a bakery, coffee shop and dessert bar. 

A self-taught baker, The Proof has been delivering amazing-looking puddings (hence their name), cakes, and sweet treats across London, as well as a fairly big focus on profiteroles. Those profiteroles are going to be a big part of the

It's all go at Harrods with its new champagne bar and the upcoming patisserie by Angelo Musa, and now there's the freshly open Jimmy Choo Café

New designs and a luxury

Updated 22/6/22 with menu details and opening date

Everyone's favourite Tooting brunch spot Juliets Quality Food is branching out. In an announcement on Instagram, they revealed that they'll be taking over the cafe space at Clapham's Studio Voltaire. The space itself opened last autumn with a residency by the Italian Supper Club but Juliets will be opening there from this summer.

Called Juliets

The cafe scene in North London got a boost last week when boutique cafe group Beam announced that their next opening would be in Muswell Hill.

If you haven't come across them before (they have branches in Crouch End. Highbury and Notting Hill), Beam's big sell is the all day breakfast and brunch offering, mixing English and Mediterranean influences. So while you can get a full English here, there's also shakshuka, Turkish

Back in the dark days of the lockdowns, we happened about Bottle - a lovely wine shop in Highgate that seemed to stock some particularly good wines and beers. Now we hear that they've just expanded into the site next door to become a fully-fledged 'licensed cafe and store'.

That licensed cafe bit is important because while they are now a wine bar, they're also going to be open from breakfast serving up

London's cafe scene got a boost at the weekend when fashion and lifestyle brand Aimé Leon Dore opened their London flagship store in Soho. Why it's of interest to us is that it means that, like the original store in New York, London now has a Café Leon Dore.

The hip walnut-panelled, marble-floored café serves up a shortish menu that they say is "inspired by Greek culture". That means you'll be able to order Freddo Espresso