New opening

If you had thought that London had reached peak hype pizza with the opening of Crisp Pizza in Mayfair, then you couldn't be more wrong. The arrival of Bar Etna on Newington Green this spring is going to set fire to the scene, given who's involved.

The pizzeria will be an innovative team-up between the Four Legs founder Ed McIlroy and Philadelphia chef and restaurateur Joe Beddia. Obviously, you'll know the former for their North London hype spots, The Plimsoll and Tollington's. As for Beddia, he's a Philadelphia-based pizza chef whose first opening in Philly, Pizzeria Beddia, was

You've got to hand it to Times restaurant critic Giles Coren. Somehow, he's managed to persuade one of his favourite London restaurants Med Salleh, to open a new restaurant right down the road from his home. If there was ever a shoo-in for a Times review it would surely be this one.

If you haven't been to either their Bayswater or Westbourne Grove restaurants then here's Coren's description to give you

At the time of writing, it might not seem like the time to start talking about rooftop restaurants, but come late spring there's a new opening to keep an eye on. Sabine has already opened a rooftop bar in the City with a great view of St Paul's and now they're getting ready to open a second.

This time, they're taking over a rooftop in Holborn at the top of the NYX hotel. There's been a rooftop bar there for a while, but so far the hotel has struggled to give it an identity, something that Sabine should be able to help sort out. While there is a terrace with retractable windows,

The City is about to get a new steakhouse, albeit with a name that's probably going to cause more than a little confusion when you try to tell friends about it. Opening in Leadenhall Market is MRBL, a restaurant that has dispensed with vowels. 

Billed as a modern British steakhouse, it's set across two floors (and an outdoor terrace) with Executive Chef Matt Colk in charge (previously Aviary and The Gun) and comes from a team that previously launched Boom Bab Burger (also in Leadenhall Market). 

The menu is obviously going to revolve around the steaks, with

It seems that everyone is on the rebrand train at the moment, with a lot of big relaunches in London. The latest is in Mayfair and sees omakase restaurant Taku being relaunched as Sushi Amamoto. 

That sees the restaurant being taken over by chef Shogo Amamoto, whose Sushi Amamoto restaurant in Taipei is a big deal with two Michelin stars, a year-long waiting list and an insane $2000 menu. Here in London he's retaining the team that was previously leading Taku, including head chef Jongho Park.

As for what to expect from the new place, it sounds like a similar affair to

French bakery Copains has already been a big hit since opening their first UK bakery in Covent Garden. Now they've just arrived on Islington's Upper Street (opening beside Toast). 

The bakery, which originated in Paris, is known for being fully gluten-free but also for its beautiful-looking pastries. They make the most of using non-wheat alternative flours to create everything from focaccia and baguettes to croissants and doughnuts. 

We had a sneak preview of the new Islington opening, and it looks just as beautiful as the one in Covent Garden (albeit a little

If you've been to El Pastor in Soho, you'll have noticed that their basement bar is closed for a complete overhaul. When it's finished, they'll be unveiling it as their new cocktail bar, El Siete.

The new look of the bar will be going for a brutalist and modernist approach, inspired by the same kind of architecture in Mexico City. It has a new entrance too, no longer tied to the entrance of El Pastor. You'll be able to track the bar down by the "discreet pink door" on Brewer Street and apparently that pink aesthetic will continue on the walls in the bar below.

Down there,

Taqueria in Notting Hill has been one of London's most longstanding Mexican restaurants, having opened on Westbourne Grove some 20 years ago. However, they've decided that after two decades, it's time for a bit of a rethink, and they've found the ideal man to help with that. Last year, Jackson Boxer breathed new life into his Notting Hill restaurant Orasay by relaunching it as Dove, and now he's helping to do the same with Taqueria, which is relaunching as TAQ. 

To do that, Boxer is teaming up with chef Eduardo Yishima, who himself has a good pedigree in London Mexican

17/2/25 - Updated with the opening date

They only recently opened in Westbourne Grove but now Alley Cats are opening their next restaurant on Portobello Road, barely a 15-minute walk away. 

Their latest pizza restaurant is adding something that none of the others have, though - a slice hatch. So if you don't fancy waiting for a table, you'll be able to grab an 18-inch slice from said hatch. If that's not enough for you, then the main restaurant is a large two-floor affair, which also has an off-road terrace space, so it should be generally easier to get a table

Just under a year ago, the popular Hackney pub The Gun announced it was closing down. Back then, its owners, who also run The Compton Arms in Islington, cited the current economic conditions saying "despite our very best efforts it has become unsustainable to continue trading". Well, where one door closes, another opens and it looks as though the pub is about to get a new lease of life.

It's been bought, according to trade title Propel, by J-Pub Holdings. That in itself doesn't sound particularly exciting until you discover that the man behind that is Kotaro Ogawa, the man behind

15/2/26 - updated with the opening date

Following up on their rooftop original and the very successful National Theatre follow-up, Forza Wine are gearing up for their next big launch.

This time they're opening in Soho, taking over the Daroco site (which, to be honest, we hadn't realised had closed a few months back). That's a big old space and, importantly, has a pretty extensive terrace, something which has proved to be pretty useful at Forza Wine's other openings. There's also a large area for a bar underneath what was Daroco, so we'll have to see what they'll

After heading up the kitchen at The Pem, Sally Abé's next role was taking over the food at The Bull at Charlbury (by the team behind The Pelican), but now she's back in London with her first solo restaurant, Teal by Sally Abé.

The restaurant, according to Abé, is "about celebrating the best of British food, its history, its flavours, and its stories, while championing women, supporting good causes, and building a restaurant that feels rooted in its community".

As to how that appears on the menu, it'll kick off with snacks like devils and angels on horseback, while bigger

Love them or loathe them, Wetherspoons pubs are among the most successful in the country. That said, there are surprisingly few in the centre of town, but that's about to change as they're getting ready to open an enormous 300+ seat pub on Shaftesbury Avenue. 

According to hospitality industry site Propel, Wetherspoons is taking over the Coyote Ugly site, which itself only lasted a year and a half (although apparently a West End musical is being planned/threatened). Looking at the plans online, it's an enormous space (nearly 4000sq ft) and like other Wetherspoons, it plans to

11/2/26 - updated with the soft launch details

Ever since we heard that Petersham Nurseries had shut both their restaurants in central London, we've been wondering what was going to take over those spaces in Floral Court. Well, now we have the answer to one half of that. Conor Gadd is the chef and co-owner of the perennially popular Trullo in Islington. And he's taken on the space that was The Petersham to open Burro, his first solo venture.

Burro is also going to be an Italian restaurant, but one where the design speaks to Conor's Irish roots. The look we're told

Opening quietly a couple of weeks ago, London has a new Indonesian restaurant, one that already has outposts in Paris and Jakarta. 

Le Nusa has opened on The Strand (in what seems to be a new building development) and it's taking its influence from across Indonesia. The menu here is reimagining Indonesian classics, so you'll find:

• Udang Jeruk Bali - prawns with pomelo, lime and chilli
• Bebek Sambal Andaliman - pan-seared duck breast, green chilli and andaliman pepper.
• Soto Betawi - a coconut milk broth with ox tongue, tomato and melinjo