French

• Les 2 Garcons bring traditional French food to Crouch End

  

  It looks as though Crouch End has just got itself a rather interesting new restaurant. Les 2 Garcons opened up a few weeks back, taking over the old Nickel site on Crouch Hill (Nickel's moved to bigger premises across the road).

• Test Driving Otto's - an oasis of classic hospitality

   

  Famed for both its service and its tableside theatrics - we take a look at the classic French restaurant Otto's in Holborn. 

• Test Driving Bar Des Pres - a Paris import for French chef Cyril Lignac with a London edge

  

  French chef Cyril Lignac is a big deal the other side of the Channel. Now he's opened his first restaurant in London. We went along to Mayfair to see what it had to offer. 

• Top French chef Cyril Lignac is opening Bar des Prés restaurant in London

  

  Top French chef Cyril Lignac is hoping his brand of Parisian cool will sit well in London with this Mayfair restaurant being his first international opening. 

• The Conticini Café at Camden's Buck Street Market sees top pastry chef Philippe Conticini settle in North London

  

  Top French pastry chef Philippe Conticini must really like Camden. He's chosen that part of town to open his second patisserie there this year. Having opened a Salon de The in the North Yard of Camden Market mere weeks before lockdown, this new 40-seater Conticini Café at the Buck Street Market will be a more casual affair. You'll be able to buy his pastries, but there'll also be an on-site boulangerie, freshly baked

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• Test Driving Galvin at Home - posh French on your table in minutes

  

  Enjoy haute French food at home with this clever, but easy to follow meal box from the Galvin brothers. 

• Test Driving Maison Francois - an instant hit in St James

  

  This modernist French brasserie serves up all the classics and has a very useful downstairs bar too. 

• Otto's is getting ready to reopen but you can try their duck press next week

  

  Although it's been more than two months since lockdown ended for restaurants, there are still quite a few that have yet to reopen their doors fully.

  One such establishment is Otto's on Gray's Inn Road, which has forged one hell of a reputation for itself for all the Gueridon service it does at your

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• Jolie is bringing French sharing plates and bottomless fondue to Chelsea

    

  The people behind the Breaking Bad bar, ABQ, are getting ready to unveil their next restaurant. Called Jolie, it's in Chelsea Funhouse, on the same site as their pre-lockdown restaurant Journey and this time it's all about France.

  Described as "a hybrid between a restaurant and a cocktail lounge" they're taking classic French dishes and creating sharing plates with some extra Europe-wide

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• Test Driving La Petite Maison - a slice of Nice in Mayfair

  

  London's La Petite Maison is the group's flagship restaurant. As it reopens, with a new oyster bar, we take a look to see why it's still pulling in the crowds.

• Maison Francois is a new brasserie for St James, taking the old Greens site

  Taking the former address of Greens, Maison Francois will be a brasserie and wine bar, featuring a finalist of Masterchef: The Professionals as chef. 

• Le Relais De Venise launch a delivery steak & chips sarnie called La Baguette

  

  When you've made your name by sticking to a tried and tested formula, it would take something pretty momentous to change that. But that's a pandemic for you.

  For 60 years, Le Relais de Venise has really been a one-dish restaurant. They serve up a simple menu of salad, steak and frites and dessert. And that's it.

  But these are trying times we're in and so the company have decided to bring in La Baguette. As the name suggests,

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• Patron are launching their Maison Patron delivery service

  

  Poor old Patron barely got a chance to open its second restaurant in Highbury before the shutters came down for lockdown. So we're pleased they've managed to sort out a new home delivery service at both their original Kentish Town restaurant and the new Highbury location.

  The Maison Patron menu does sound

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• The Patate comes to Kentish Town with their beef bourguignon in a bun

  

  They've been serving up their beef bourguignon buns across town and now The Patate are about to settle down with their first permanent restaurant in Kentish Town. 

• Patron Cave à Manger are bringing their Parisian brasserie to Blackstock Road

  Popular Kentish Town brasserie Patron is expanding - they've picked Blackstock Road for their second site, serving up all manner of classic French wine and dishes.