New opening

• How Matcha! is Marylebone's new coffee and cake shop devoted to the green powder

  

  If oh-so-Instagrammable drinks and cakes are your deal, then you'll be wanting to hotfoot it to Marylebone next week where a very photogenic-sounding cafe is opening.

  How Matcha! - the clue is in the name - will be ALL about matcha, whether that's in cake or tea form. The drinks have been created so they're as good hot as they are on ice, which will be handy for days on which the British summer deigns to show

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• The Duchess of Dalston is a new cocktail bar from the Callooh Callay team

  

  Opening this month in the old Shep's spot next to Chick 'n' Sours is The Duchess of Dalston. And while new bars are a pound a penny in this part of Dalston, the provenance of this particular bar bodes well.

  It's from the team who brought us Callooh Callay and Islington's Little Bat bar. They're going big on locality and community - which means sourcing local ingredients for their drinks and using the

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• Bodega Rita's and their sandwiches are back, this time in Clerkenwell

   

  They may be gearing up to opening their main restaurant in Soho, but that's not all we're getting from Rita's. Their sandwich offshoot Bodega Rita's is coming back too - this time opening in Clerkenwell.

  There's a new menu of American-style subs that includes:

  • The Tony - deli sub filled with pesto, prosciutto, spiced salami ventricina, smoked cheese,
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• Junsei brings yakitori to Marylebone

  

  Junsei is all about yakitori skewers cooked over Binchōtan Japanese Charcoal. There are over 20 skewers available, not to mention charcoal seared Wagyu and more...

• New London hotel openings - the most interesting hotels coming soon to London

  

   London's hotel scene is a barometer of the city's health. Judging by what's coming our way, it's in rosy health with all manner of hotels with interesting bars and restaurants you'll want to know about.

• Eggslut bring their eggy buns to Shoreditch

  

  They've already opened in Notting Hill and Fitzrovia and now Eggslut continue their eastwards journey with a restaurant in Shoreditch. 

  If you're unfamiliar with them, let us get you up to speed. They hail from Los Angeles and as you might expect from their name, they're really all about eggs. The main events are the eggy buns in particular, which include the following (all served up in brioche

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• Il Borro Tuscan Bistro replaces Nobu Berkeley Street

  

  Taking the space on Berkeley street once held by Nobu, Il Borro Tuscan Bistro is a high-end Italian restaurant with strong links to a Tuscan estate and farm. And they even have their own wines.

• The Boutique Grocer opens its luxury store and food hall in Islington Square

  

  Firefighter turned food entrepreneur Nick Scallan is behind new Islington high end grocery store and food hall, The Boutique Grocer which has just opened in the Islington Square development off Upper Street.

  The luxury food retailer will serve up everything from shrub mixers and coffee from The Roasting Shed to organic fruit and veg and other products.

  But it's also going to be somewhere to dine in, launching with

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• Old Brompton and Nocturne sees Xavier Rousset bring a wine and cheese bar and a basement cocktail bar to South Kensington

  

  Coming to South Kensington is Nocturne, a new underground cocktail bar, underneath a restaurant whose own opening was a little below the radar. 

  The wine bar first. That's Old Brompton, a wine and cheese bar from Xavier Rousset (Cabotte, Black Book, Cafe Comptoir and more) and Steve Pineau and opened this April.

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• Hector's has ex-Hill & Szrok partner and Harry Potter actress opening a wine bar in De Beauvoir

  

  Updated 14/6/21 with opening date

  If you, like us, have been missing spending your weekends doing bar crawls of the cave à mangers in Paris or San Sebastian's drinking holes, then this new North London wine bar opening should be right up your street.

  The indie project is a family business and a passion project of former Hill & Szrok partner Jimmy Stephenson and his actress wife Anna Shaffer

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• The Phoenix rises at Westfield London with a huge outside terrace this summer

  

  The team who opened The Hawk's Nest in Shepherd's Bush last year are expanding their West London empire. Next month they'll unveil The Phoenix, their new dining space at Westfield London. They've taken over the old Jamie's Italian site to serve up a mixture of Italian street food, Mexican-inspired cocktails and live music.

  The key factor in the new opening will be the huge terrace, which has room for 400 hungry and

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• Juliette is a new Provencal rosé bar for Harrods (with pithiviers and patisserie too)

   

  Updated 11/6/21 with new pictures and opening date

  In summer (or any time of the year, frankly) Hot Dinners' heads always turn at the promise of Provencal rosé (we like it very pale in colour). So when news of a new rosé bar coming to Harrods reached us, we were all ears.

  The bar is called Juliette's and comes from Unlocked Brands,

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• Darby's chef Dean Parker and his wife Anna head to Glasgow to open Celentano’s

  

  He's had big success in London at Darby's as Head Chef (and at Sorella and The Dairy before that) but now Dean Parker is heading out of London - very out of London, to Glasgow. He and his wife Anna, a Glasgow native, will be launching their first solo restaurant, Celentano’s, in August. 

  It'll be in Glasgow's Cathedral House building and will carry on the couple's love of

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• Niklas Ekstedt is bringing his wood-fired cooking to London with Ekstedt at The Yard. 

  

  Famed Niklas Ekstedt is coming to London with a new restaurant at the Scotland Yard Hotel that will be all about showcasing his wood-fired Nordic cooking style. 

• Taqueria's second restaurant in sixteen years is in Exmouth Market

  

  They've been a hit in Notting Hill for years, but now Taqueria is heading to the east to open its second restaurant. Expect tacos, tostadas, quesadillas, margaritas and more.