New opening
- Giancarlo Caldesi to open new Caldesi in Belsize Village
Just before Christmas, Neighbourhood restaurant Calici closed its doors in Belsize village, but it'll be back soon under a new name. It turns out, as first reported by the Ham and High, that celeb chef Giancarlo Caldesi will be taking on the space, making it the second Caldesi restaurant in London (there's another in Bray as well as a
... - RAI omakase restaurant returns, this time in Bloomsbury
RAI, from the same people behind Islington's Hot Stone, originally launched in Fitzrovia before closing last year. But now the restaurant is back again in a different location, just up the road in Bloomsbury.
The food is once again led by Executive Chef Padam Raj Rai (previously at Nobu, Sake no Hana and Tsukiji) and it'll be an omakase-only restaurant, with dishes in the
... - Grasso is a genuine family-run Italian American restaurant that's just landed in Soho
It isn't often that a restaurant manages to open in the middle of Soho in a fashion that's so completely under the radar we have to wait for a reader to let us know about it. But that's the case with Grasso which threw open its doors on Dean Street just before Christmas. Even rarer, this is a restaurant that's entirely independent and family-owned.
The family in question are the McCaffreys. Seanie runs the restaurant,
... - Yiqi Pan Asian restaurant opens with bamboo tube rice and wagyu mousse in Chinatown
The latest restaurant to hit Chinatown is Yiqi, billed as a Pan-Asian restaurant with dishes from all over West and Southeast Asia. In charge of the kitchen is Chef Lum Wah Cheok who comes via Hakkasan and Yauatcha making this a potentially very interesting opening.
The menu looks intriguing too. A taste of it includes fried cordyceps flower salad,
... - Claude Bosi is opening Lyonnaise restaurant Josephine in Chelsea
Updated 23/1/24 with a new opening date
It's been quite the year for chef and restaurateur Claude Bosi. He began with the opening of his bistro Socca in Mayfair with Samyukta Nair and then followed that up with the unveiling of his glamorous rooftop restaurant ...
- Hyde London City hotel is opening on Old Bailey, complete with a modern Turkish restaurant
Just when you thought the city couldn't possibly fit any more upmarket hotels, another new opening is on the horizon. This time it's the turn of boutique hotel brand Hyde, themselves part of Ennismore, the people behind the Hoxton hotels. They're opening Hyde London City on Old Bailey.
It's not the first time that this particular building has been a hotel.
... - Amsterdam live fire restaurant Nela is coming to The Whiteley in Bayswater
We already knew that plans were afoot to bring Whiteleys, now renamed The Whiteley, back to its former glory (albeit this time as a hotel, apartments and restaurants). The people behind Pachamama are opening Effie there and now we have news of another
... - The Rex Delicatessen by Larry Jayasekara and Tim Jefferies opens in Mayfair
We've known for a while that Larry Jayasekara is opening The Cocochine with gallery owner Tim Jefferies in Mayfair. That restaurant should see the light of day this spring, but it's not the only project they've been working on. On the
... - Morchella will serve up Mediterranean food on Exmouth Market from the Perilla team
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
... - Singapulah will serve up a taste of Singapore on Shaftesbury Avenue
Updated 25/1/24 with the opening date
Several years back, Singaporean restaurateur Ellen Chew trialled a new concept in Soho. The pop-up was a cafe by day (Arôme) and restaurant by night (Singapulah). We all know how well Arôme did - it currently has two
... - Dom's Subs are on the move in the City, heading to Ludgate Circus and Leadenhall
17/1/24 - updated with opening details.
Just a few short months after they closed their store in Bevis Marks, to the despair of City workers, sandwich folk Dom's Subs are storming back, opening up not one but two sandwich shops in the Square Mile again. Back in October, they opened at Ludgate Circus in an incredibly small space described by them as a "little teeny tiny sandwich
... - Good Manners is the new coffee and sandwich stall from Bad Manners by Canonbury station
Bad Manners (formerly Quarter Kitchen) have been a big deal in Hackney since launch, with their take on Mexican food forging quite the fan base. And now they've just launched a spin-off in Islington (as first spotted by London on the
... - A British restaurant is opening at the new Tanner Krolle shop in Mayfair
Hot Dinners exclusive
Quite a few London high-end shops have gone down the in-store drinking or dining route. There's the very popular Café Leon Dore, Dunhill has its bar and courtyard cafe at Bourdon House, and
... - Hovarda joins Hawksmoor as a floating restaurant in Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf folk who've been wondering who was going to take over the other huge floating restaurant beside Hawksmoor at Wood Wharf now have their answer. It'll be the Canary Wharf outpost of Aegean restaurant Hovarda, which has been serving up Med-style dishes in Soho for the past six years.
Well, that's half the story at least, as Hovarda will only be taking on the water-level deck of
... - Clap is spreading to Knightsbridge
10/1/24 - updated with the opening date
In a strong case of "you really should have renamed this before opening in the UK", Clap is coming to Knightsbridge.
Clap, a restaurant that's inevitably only going to be referred to with a definite article attached, has opened in Dubai, Riyadh and Beirut before landing in London. Referred to as "sensory Japanese dining" (which we're not sure makes it any
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