The hottest new restaurants in London to book right now
Every season, we are astounded by the endless stream of new openings and bright culinary ideas coming into London. This summer is no exception. From cult pop-ups to heritage brands, new talents to beloved old friends, there is so much variety and buzz. If there’s one common thread that links them all, it’s a return to the roots of hospitality, to the flexibility, accessibility, and uncomplicated joy that suits the current mood. So, whatever you are looking for, here are the best new restaurants in London to eat at this summer.
Firebird
For their London debut Firebird, restaurateurs Madina Kazhimova and Anna Dolgushina of St Petersburg’s Wong Kar Wine are exploring the possibilities of live fire cooking. Here, a kiss of smoke from the grill touches every dish, from charred peaches with ricotta and coriander to day-boat monkfish with sauce vierge and grilled pineapple with pistachios. Cocktails such as a toasted sesame sour and smoked Bellini highball feel in keeping. Sommelier Dolgushina favours small-scale producers working biodynamically. Open now.
Firebird, 29 Poland Street, Soho, London, W1
@firebird.london
Honey & Co
Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer, the cooking-podcasting-foodwriting husband-and-wife duo behind the three Middle Eastern “Honey &” restaurants have a new home for their beloved first restaurant Honey & Co. After ten years in Fitzrovia, Honey & Co has relocated to Bloomsbury’s Lamb’s Conduit Street, where its neighbours include Noble Rot, La Fromagerie and Ciao Bella. Faithful fans can be reassured that the falafel, BBQ tahini aubergine, and Sarit’s legendary feta and honey cheesecake have come with them.
Honey & Co, 54 Lamb’s Conduit Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1
honeyandco.co.uk
Riding House Bloomsbury
This appealing all-day brasserie at the Brunswick Centre is the latest from the Riding House Café group. The location is spot on for any pre-and post-Curzon Cinema meet-ups, and the clever, customisable menu of bowls, skewers and small plates that speaks to our every fancy. Choose green shakshuka or marshmallow and maple-topped pancakes for breakfast; a quinoa and wild rice bowl for a healthy lunch; and for supper, it has to be the signature lobster lasagne.
Riding House Bloomsbury, Brunswick Centre, Bloomsbury, London, WC1
ridinghouse.cafe
The Supper Club at Brown’s Hotel
Cutting edge cuisine is well and good but sometimes all one wants are a few home comforts. The Supper Club, the new dining experience in the Drawing Room at Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair is dedicated to the art of eating simply but well. Chef Director Adam Byatt has created a menu to soothe rather than stimulate. Soft-boiled eggs with caviar soldiers, toasted crumpets with potted shrimps, and beef short rib cottage pie are British comfort food par excellence. Backgammon, newspapers, and a G&T from the trolley add to the ambience. Wednesday to Saturday, from 6.30pm.
The Supper Club, Brown’s Hotel, 33 Albemarle Street, Mayfair, W1
roccofortehotels.com
Boundary Shoreditch
The fashionable folk of Redchurch Street have a new British bar and brasserie to check out at Boundary London, the hotel originally owned and designed by the late Sir Terence Conran. Boundary Shoreditch takes over from what was Albion, now with a new look involving Scandi-style furniture, marble counters and a 20-metre zinc-topped bar. If the food tastes as good as the menu reads, it should be a hit. Think Lulworth Bay scallops in anchovy and parsley butter, cuttlefish in ink sauce, and whole roast chicken with wild garlic butter.
Boundary Shoreditch, 2-4 Boundary Street, Shoreditch, London, E2
boundary.london
Cavita
The outdated suggestion that London doesn’t have good Mexican restaurants is demonstrably not true! Marylebone alone has Santiago Lastra’s Michelin-starred Kol and now Cavita, the debut restaurant of chef Adriana Cavita. Mexico City-born Cavita, who rose up through Pujol and el Bulli and had a successful residency on the rooftop of The Dorchester last summer, expresses her heritage with British ingredients and Mexican flavours. Don’t miss the barbecued octopus with guajillo and pasilla adobo or the beef cheek birria tacos. The downstairs bar Mayahuel specialises in Mezcal.
Cavita, 56 Wigmore Street, Marylebone, London, W1
cavitarestaurant.com
Bar Daskal
The Hart brothers of Barrafina, Quo Vadis and co have drawn on their fascinating family history for Bar Daskal, their new wine bar in Borough Yards. They’ve named it after their grandfather Vladimir ‘Daskal’ Daskalof, an artist and student of Paul Klee, and modelled it after the house he built on Mallorca in 1951. From what we’ve seen so far, it looks beautiful and the offering of classic Spanish wines, sherries, and light tapas such as gildas and Mallorcan trampó salad is simplicity itself. Walk-in only, from June 15th.
Bar Daskal, 10 Park Street, Borough, London, SE1
bardaskal.co.uk
The Baring
‘A neighbourhood pub worth travelling to’ goes the tagline for The Baring, the new Islington local from former Dabbous head chef Rob Tecwyn. Who wouldn’t cross town for Ricotta gnudi, broad beans and nasturtium; quail shish with pul biber chilli and garlic yoghurt; and almond cake with Chantilly cream? On Sundays, there will be a classic roast; on weekdays, a dish and a glass of wine at an approachable £15. Simple cocktails, low intervention wines and beers from UK indies like Burning Sky and Five Points complete the package. Opening July.
The Baring, 55 Baring Street, Islington, London, N1
thebaring.co.uk
Cord by Le Cordon Bleu
A multi-faceted concept from the famed culinary institute, Cord by Le Cordon Bleu is a fine-dining restaurant, café, event space and école de cuisine in one. Delayed two years by the pandemic, it launches this month in the handsome Fleet Street building previously occupied by Lutyens. Given Le Cordon Bleu’s reputation, one has high hopes for the haute cuisine and such dishes as Pyrenean lamb with polenta, sea herbs and broad beans, and candied ginger panna cotta with rhubarb and rose.
Cord by Le Cordon Bleu, 85 Fleet Street, London, EC4
cordrestaurant.co.uk
Maria G’s
Chef Robin Gill, best known for his south London spots (Darby’s, Sorella etc) goes west this month for the opening of neighbourhood Italian Maria G’s in Kensington. Gill, who continues to be inspired by his time at the two Michelin star Don Alfonso 1890 on the Amalfi Coast earlier in his career, promises a menu of pristine local ingredients and Italian tradition. Details are scant but there’s talk of grilled Herdwick lamb with new season garlic and goats’ curd; fresh ricotta agnolotti, and red mullet with Amalfi lemon and wild fennel aioli. Late June opening.
Maria G’s, 1-4 Warwick Lane, Kensington, London, W14
mariags.co.uk
Chet’s at Rondo La Cave
You have until September to partake of the smashburger and som tum sundae at Chet’s, a four-month pop-up at The Hoxton, Holborn from Kris Yenramboong of cult L.A. spot Night + Market. Yenramboong is known for uncompromising Thai American flavour combos that just work, like wedge salad with blue cheese, nam jim and candied pork jowl, and the above-mentioned sundae with som tum caramel and spicy Thai beer nuts. Find him at La Cave, the incubator kitchen and natural wine bar beneath the hotel’s restaurant Rondo.
Rondo La Cave, The Hoxton Holborn, 199-204 High Holborn, London, WC1
rondolacave.com
