Where to pick up a picnic in London + new Masala Zone deal, Test Driving the very French Chez Rose, new openings this week & more...

EDITOR'S LETTER

I don't know about you, but we've stopped looking at the weather app and started instead planning for how we're going to survive this week's temperatures. We have two main plans of action, both in a similar vein. One, is have someone else cook for us (sorry restaurant teams) and two, get someone else to knock us up a lovely picnic. Turning on our own oven is not an option.

And if you're planning your own escape from the heat, then we'll point you towards today's Test Drive of Chez Rose, which has a few rather lovely tables out on shady Pollen Street.

Catherine, Editor - Hot Dinners

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LAY THE BLANKET ON THE GROUND

Where to order the best ready-made picnics in London

It's going to be WAY too hot to cook for yourself this week. If you're not dining out in some air-conditioned restaurant, you could always pick up a readymade picnic from one of these places instead.

Perfect picnics

LATEST NEWS

Ebi Wines in Clerkenwell sees an ex-Fat Duck sommelier opening his own wine bar

We've been following the progress of this one for quite some time now, but there's finally a date in the diary for Ebi Wines to open its doors. 

We've got the scoop

NYC hotspot Coqodaq is coming to London

And you're definitely going to want to try their luxury chicken nugget takeaway.

Looks like Honest Greens could be heading to Victoria next

The success of hg Soho means the group are already on the hunt for a second London site.

Mour brings the Med to Marylebone, and it's got a hidden courtyard too

That all-weather space is going to be a boon in the heatwave.

TEST DRIVE

Test Driving Chez Rose, we wanted everything on the menu at this new French bistro

What was once Jason Atherton's Little Social has been taken over by Spencer Metzger, the chef who launched Row on 5 with him, for a more laid-back classic French affair. We went down to Pollen Street to check out Chez Rose. 

Here's what you should order

NEW THIS WEEK

The new restaurants and bars opening in London this week

This week, chef Will Devlin brings the sustainably-led Birchwood to London, Asma Khan opens Darjeeling Express in a new location and Stokey gets a new pub.

What's opening, and where

AND DID YOU HEAR?

It's all change at Dorian with both co-owner and Executive chef Max Coen and the restaurant's head chef Mike Shears both announced they were leaving the restaurant this week.

There was also another high-profile closure as, after 10 years, Morito Hackney closed its doors.

We hear that it was an absolute bunfight in Bar Etna on Friday night, despite the heat, with Nick Grimshaw spotted in the upstairs dining room.

If you fancy a designer beverage in this heat you should head to Barry's Bootcamp in Soho where they're serving up a one-day-only custom Balenciaga-inspired shake on 29 June.

Prefer your treats to be free? Well, Badiani in Covent Garden are giving away free affogatos this Thursday.

SPOTTED SOMETHING?

Spotted a new restaurant about to open in your neighbourhood? Seen a celebrity dining out in London? Heard a piece of hospitality gossip you feel we ought to know about? Unburden yourself and tell us all about it.

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