New opening

As autumn approaches, the London food scene always starts to get a little bit busier. This month sees another new restaurant from Jason Atherton, the return of  chef Selin Kiazim, a Pidgin replacement, a brand new Barbary and lots more. 

Updated 21/8/24 with opening date and pub name

Having had his plans to run a restaurant at his farm scuppered by local planning restrictions, presenter Jeremy Clarkson has responded by buying a pub instead. Announcing the news in his weekly column for the Sunday Times Clarkson said he's just bought The Windmill - a pub/wedding venue just outside the picture-postcard town of Burford.

The

27/8/24 - updated with the opening date

It quickly became a local hit when opening in Islington in 2021 and now a new Tofu Vegan is opening, this time in Fitzrovia. 

Since the Islington launch, the group - which is backed by Zhang Chao of Xi’an Impression - has opened in Golders Green and Spitalfields but this is their most central location yet, taking over from what

Updated 23/8/24 with opening date and address

They've been big in Mayfair and now Maison Francois are the latest to head over to the growing food mecca that is Borough Market, opening Café Francois in Borough Yards where the Paul Smith shop used to

9/9/24 - updated with a first look inside

Pidgin has now closed its doors for good, but something new is rapidly taking its place. 

Sesta sees the former Pidgin head chef Drew Snaith teaming up with former Pidgin GM Hannah Kowalski to launch their own restaurant. They'll be bringing the rest of the Pidgin team (minus founders Ramsden and Herlihy, of course) with

22/8/24 - updated with the opening date

When they last opened a new restaurant, The Barbary team just went next door, but for their third opening, they're heading across town to Notting Hill. 

Opening on Westbourne Grove (taking over what was Maddox Gallery), the

For over 150 years, the Istanbul sweet and dessert giant Hafiz Mustafa has been a place of pilgrimage for sweet-toothed Turks (and tourists). Now the giant, which has stores all over Turkey and in Dubai is heading to London. They're opening a massive shop in a prime spot opposite Harrods.

Not only will the shop sell their famous baklava and rock candy, but there will also be room to sit in and

They're known by many (including us) for being one of London's best burgers (you can even smell them on the Circle line platform at Victoria) and this week there's another place to try them. Bleecker are coming to London Bridge. 

Just in time for National Burger Day, they're opening on Tooley Street

We've known for a while that the folk behind popular Soho spot Blanchette were planning to open a place in Carnaby's Kingly Court. But they've moved faster than anticipated and Goldies is now open.

Billed as a "wood-fired dining experience" the focus of the restaurant is that grill. They'll be serving up a selection of small and large plates where the key connection is that smoky flavour that live fire cooking

19/8/24 - Updated with the opening date

If you've been meaning to check out the signature hazelnut maple praline pancakes at Sunday in Brooklyn, but haven't made it out to the Notting Hill restaurant, you'll be pleased to hear another more central opportunity is coming. The New York-originating restaurant is getting ready to open its second restaurant

Cookie lovers in Islington should keep an eye out for the opening of new space Crumb this autumn which is promising to bring NYC style thick, gooey cookies to the denizens of N1.

They're opening in a teeny space on Camden Passage making it more of a cookie hatch than a cafe - but one that also sells coffee to go. The endeavour is the brainchild of baker Amy Gastman who also runs a vegan bakery Eat By Amy after leaving her

Updated 20/8/24 with opening date

Two decades after winning a Michelin star for his eponymous restaurant in Twickenham, chef John McClements has come out of retirement to launch a new French bistro in Richmond. Mignonette is the latest venture for the chef and restaurateur who is also behind the South West London group Ma Cuisine.

It's taken over the old Restaurant 109 site and there'll be

Updated 20/8/24 with opening date

They already have two rooftop bars under their belt (Wagtail and Aviary) now the ETM restaurant group are about to take on a new venue overlooking Trafalgar Square.

Kitty Hawk (not to be confused with the Moorgate bar of the same name, which was from a different company) is getting ready to open in the space that used to be Bisushima up at the top of the

Updated 16/8/24 with opening date

Eagle-eyed Hot Dinners readers have spotted that there are signs of life in the currently empty restaurant site that used to be Neighbourhood on Islington Green. Turns out that it's going to be the next branch of the popular sushi spot Sticks'n'Sushi.

It's a large old space so there's going to be an open plan dining room, space to eat up at the kitchen counter

Sager + Wilde has just closed in Bethnal Green, but we already know what will be taking its place. It's going to be the third London pizzeria for Fatto a Mano - you might have already seen them in Covent Garden and King's Cross and they originated from Brighton. 

As with the other pizzerias in the group, they'll be serving up Neapolitan-style pizzas with 24-hour proven dough and