Clerkenwell

A former Fat Duck sommelier has opened his own wine bar in London. We went down to Clerkenwell to check out Raku Oda's Ebi. 

Updated 20/7/26 - this is a six week pop-up not a permanent opening

As longstanding local customers to N5 Kitchen in Highbury, we can personally attest to the happiness that Clerkenwell workers and residents are going to feel when they open there this month. The catering company and cafe have built up a solid business in North London with their breakfasts and lunches, which are great for anyone working from home. Now they're hoping that EC1 folk will fall in love with their offering too.

The duo behind it, founders Milly Wilson and Suzie Bliss, already cater for

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 to open its doors. This is going to be one of those extremely interesting wine bars you're going to want to know about. Why? Well, because the founder is Raku Oda a very well-respected sommelier and master of wine student who was previously the sommelier at Heston's The Fat Duck in Bray.

For a year or so now, Raku's been having Ebi pop-ups at the Islington hair studio Teto, which have been run by his wife Tomoko while he searched for somewhere permanent to open.

They're best known for their Macbeth grilled cheese sandwich with haggis, and Scottish-inspired street food folk Deeney's are hoping to introduce those toasties and more to art fans this summer. They've taken on the cafe space at the soon-to-open gallery dedicated to illustrative art in Clerkenwell.

Their cafe at The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration will serve up those toasties plus salads and soups to gallery visitors and locals. It sounds like a lovely space, set inside the old Boiler House, with space for 40 inside plus a large south-facing terrace, perfect for the

Here's where to find the best restaurants in Clerkenwell and Farringdon. Between Smithfield and Exmouth markets, there's a lot of promise tucked away in these back streets. 

Only a few weeks after helping to relaunch TAQ in Notting Hill, Jackson Boxer already has a new restaurant nearly ready to go. The chef, best known for Dove in Notting Hill and Brunswick House in Vauxhall, will be opening Vesper in Exmouth Market next. 

There's actually a link with TAQ here too, as Vesper is opening in what used to be the Exmouth Market outpost of Taqueria. Vesper, however, sounds more like it's going to be an East London version of Dove, with a bistro-style menu. Just how they're categorising the menu itself seems a little vague, with it being described like

Looking for the perfect guide on where to eat in Clerkenwell? From classic establishments to bright young things, we've got the scoop.

Twenty years after opening his singular (and much-loved) wine bar in Shoreditch, Luca Dusi has expanded to Clerkenwell. We went to see whether his new Exmouth Market bar retains the cosy ambience of the original. 

The people behind Perilla have come to Exmouth Market with a very different European proposition, this time heading to the Med for inspiration. We went down to see what Morchella is all about.

23/1/23 - updated with the opening date and website details

They've had lots of success with Perilla on Newington Green and now the same team are opening Morchella on Exmouth Market (taking over from Firebrand Pizza). 

This time the restaurant will be all about Mediterranean cuisine, with a focus on sharing dishes like octopus luciana, salt-baked

After over two years, Florence Knight's tenure at Sessions Arts Club is coming to an end, with the chef moving on at the end of January. 

First reported by Restaurant website, Sessions founder Jonny Gent (pictured with Knight above)

Battersea foodies were the first to try the submarine rolls from Gerry's Hot Subs, a new business which traded out of the Foodstar Battersea Kitchen. But now the business has headed east and is about to open up on Exmouth Market.

The reason we're interested in this particular sandwich shop is the man behind it, Andre Blais. Blais is the man who founded BBQ restaurant Bodean's. Named after Andre's dad, Gerry's Hot Subs

They've quietly been getting a strong following in Clerkenwell and now The Drunken Butler (now renamed Tehran-Berlin) are getting ready to open a wine bar opposite their restaurant. 

Announced by owner Yuma Hashemi (who once had something of a

We've already had the news that The Modern Pantry is making a return to London - but what about its original location? We had previously thought it was becoming a co-working space/property agency but it turns out that it's actually going to be a restaurant

First, it lost its founding chef Anna Hansen back in 2019 and then the Modern Pantry closed for good in December 2020 after their lease came to an end (it's now an estate agency, it seems). However, they said at the time that they were looking for a new space and now, according to trade