86 Of The Best New Restaurants
As Virgina Woolf once rightly said: “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well,” something we here at The Handbook can totally vouch for! And if you are a Handbooker then you’ll know that we love nothing more than food, glorious food. Which is why, each month, we dig deep to bring you a listical of all the brand spanking new openings across the capital. And, as the year comes to a close, it’s time to cast our minds back to all of the locations that have totally wow-ed us, and will continue to do so.
Without further ado, here are ALL of the restaurant’s that flung open their doors in 2018:
Le Petit Bistro
Bringing the quintessentially french concept of a bistro to our London streets. With a focus on simple, delicious food created from authentic and superb quality ingredients, beautifully presented in a warm and inviting setting. The restaurant seats 70 guests, 30 indoors and 40 on the terrace, serving a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu. Though the restaurant is attached to Victory House it is independently operated by the founders of legendary Soho and Manchester restaurant Randall & Aubin.
Opened in January
Where: 14 Leicester Place, WC2H 7BZ
Website: www.petitbistrolondon.co.uk
Pi Pizza
What:
Pi was founded in 2014 by fashion designer Rosie Whaley, it’s her work on the interior of the original Pi that has made it such a hit down in Hampshire. Along with her team of Italian chefs, she intends to work the same magic on London, with Battersea Rise marking ground zero. Look out for her signature exposed brickwork, tables hand carved from fallen oak trees from woodland in Salisbury and a tree growing in the middle of the actual restaurant (it’s the old Scoffer’s Kitchen).
Opened in February
Where: 4-6A Battersea Rise, London SW11 1EE
Website: www.battersea.pi-pizza.co.uk
Zia Lucia
Zia Lucia, Islington’s independent pizzeria, has opened a new restaurant in Brook Green next month: Make ours a spicy spianata salami! Zia Lucia is known across North London for their unusual doughs and imaginative toppings. While most pizza places do their clever stuff on the top of the pizza, Zia Lucia put as much effort into the bases as the toppings. Their 48-hour slow-fermented doughs are renowned, including the restaurant’s traditional white flour, earthy wholemeal, crisp gluten free and a vegetable charcoal black dough bases.
Opened in February
Where: 61 Blythe Road, Brook Green, W14 0HP
Website: www.zialucia.com
Farm Girl Cafe
During the day you’ll find the brunches and super lattes that they are known for, including: chai lattes; rose lattes; apple pancakes with coconut yoghurt; açai bowls with chia seeds and oven baked aubergine with chickpea sauce, mint and tahini yoghurt dressing. Unlike the other two Farm Girls, this new restaurant will serve the group’s first dinner and superfood cocktail menu. Evening dishes will include the likes of lamb gyro with roasted pistachio yoghurt and cod croquettes with herb green sauce.
Opened in February
Where: 9 Park Walk, Chelsea, SW10 0AJ
Website: www.thefarmgirl.co.uk
Brat
Opening on Redchurch Street, the restaurant will bring together Tomos Parry’s (formerly of Kitty Fisher’s and Climpson’s Arch) Welsh heritage with the Basque region of Northern Spain, to create a menu that uses British produce cooked on an open fire wood grill. Expect to find dishes of Carmarthen ham; fresh cheese; grilled baby peas and wood fire grilled breads; Cedar wood sea trout with Jersey cream and river herbs and a take on the Welsh national dish of Cawl – offal hot pot with laverbread and potatoes.
Opened in March
Where: Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, E1 6JJ
Website: www.bratrestaurant.com
Brynn Williams
For a location with such pedigree, it’s only right that Bryn Williams should choose Somerset House as the base for his first London restaurant in a decade, Bryn Williams at Somerset House. The new restaurant, ‘a creative exploration of seasonal produce with a strong focus on sustainability and provenance’, will be located in the South Wing of the building. The food quality is, as you’d expect, very high and despite the incredible surroundings and views, it’s also the main event. Intended to put fruit and veg centre-stage (Williams believes they should be treated with the same respect as a cut of meat or a fillet of fish) the menu will include roast young broccoli, olive tapenade, sage beignet, scorched Cornish mackerel and char-grilled leeks, Burke Brown egg, morel mushroom among others.
Opened in March
Where: Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 1LA
Website: www.bryn-somersethouse.co.uk
Cinammon Kitchen
Feel the power! The Cinnamon Club’s superstar chef Vivek Singh is opening yet another restaurant, this time at Battersea Power Station. Adding to his stable of five wildly successful Cinnamon themed eateries (The Cinnamon Club, Cinnamon Kitchen, Cinnamon Soho, Cinnamon Bazaar and Cinnamon Kitchen Oxford) the chef will be taking a railway arch of his own at the Grade II-listed site and will be bringing his cinnamon-y magic to the iconic structure. Expect a sleek and urban feel inside, in keeping with the whole regenerated site, channelling industrial minimalism. Not so the menu, which will be a medley of Singh’s Indian creations spread over brunch, lunch and dinner as well as cocktails and light bites from Monday to Sunday.
Opened in March
Where: Cinnamon Kitchen Battersea, 4 Arches Lane, SW11 8AB
Website: www.cinnamon-kitchen.com/battersea
Hām
Hām is the Old English word for home. It’s also the name of the new West Hampstead neighbourhood restaurant. Head Chef Matt Osborne has cooked up a menu that champions produce from small British famers and artisan suppliers, as well as reflecting his Australian background. Open for brunch, lunch and dinner, dishes include crumpets with honeycomb, Westcomb ricotta and pear and Bircher muesli, almonds with Hurdlebrook yoghurt and rhubarb; whilst in the evening you’ll find Norfolk quail, artichoke, kombu and watercress and Dexter beef with black sesame, white soy and turnips. Finish with chocolate crémeux, blood orange sorbet and peppermint of cheese from Mons Cheesemongers and Neal’s Yard Dairy.
Opened in March
Where: 238 West End Lane, West Hampstead, NW6 1LG
Website: www.hamwesthampstead.com
Lokhandwala
Those who have been to Indian restaurant Lokhandwala, will know that it is based on Victorian aristocrat Lady Charlotte, the spurned lover of Vijay Kapur, an insalubrious cad from Bombay. Well now it’s Vijay’s turn to have somewhere dedicated to him as Vijay’s Lounge opens today, a speak easy bar, above the restaurant. A secretive bar where he could run his empire and no doubt hide from Lady Charlotte.
Just like Vijay, the bar will be rich, moody and opulent with an impressively stocked bar, striking bronze chandeliers, oil paintings and a silver elephant; come the summer, you can drink on the alfresco terrace. The cocktails narrate the story of Lady Charlotte and Vijay, which rather reads like a 19th century Jilly Cooper: broken hearts, promiscuous unsuitable lovers and lots of fleeing to and fro. We’ve got our eye on the Spice Route made from red saffron infused Sailor Jerry rum, camomile infused Cointreau, liquore Strega, anise syrup, cinnamon syrup and goji berries bitter. To eat there’ll be Indian inspired bar snacks or head downstairs to Lokhandwala for the likes of Masaledar fish and chips.
Opened in March
Where: 93 Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, W1T 4PY
Website: www.lokhandwala.co.uk
Bluebird Café White City
Bluebird; it’s synonymous with the Kings Road, entertaining those in MiC and being one of London’s iconic restaurants. But now they have opened their second restaurant in White City. Opening at the Television Centre, the restaurant will spread out onto a piazza overlooked by the centre’s famous circular core, making Bluebird at the heart of the £8billion regeneration. Executive chef, Simon Gregory, has created a modern European all-day menu which will include dishes such as nduja crusted yellow fin tuna with grilled onions and green sauce; butter chicken curry with basmati rice and spiced king prawns with yoghurt and pistachio. Puddings, pastries and desserts will be the work of Roger Pizey, the award-winning executive pastry chef.
Opened in April
Where: 101 Wood Lane, London, UK
Website: www.bluebirdcafe.co.uk
601 Queen's Road
601 Queen’s Rd has just opened in the heart of Wimbledon, down the hill from the village and a reasonable walk from the tennis. But with all the expertise honed over No 11 Pimlico Road, No 32 The Old Town, No1a Duke Street, No 197 Chiswick Fire Station and No 29 Power Station West restauranteurs Darwin & Wallace should by now have worked out exactly how to keep your interest, tennis be damned. The group have poured all their creativity into the Wimbledon opening (though, to be fair, not into their venue names) and bring a Scandi vibe to their new location. The space is ‘inspired by horticultural cyanotypes’ and it comes with a magnificent roof terrace and pergola, decked with salvaged boardwalk timber.
Opened in May
Where: 601 Queen’s Road, Wimbledon, SW19 7NH
Website: www.601queensrd.co.uk
Brigadiers
Barbecue season is amongst us, so what better time than now for JKS Restaurant’s new venue, Indian barbecue restaurant and drinking tavern Brigadiers, where it really is all in the name. Brigadiers certainly will provide comrades with an immersive experience, inspired by the army mess bars of India. Visitors can enjoy live sports in selected rooms, card games and pool for those who wish to play while they eat and drink. To capture the atmosphere in full, the restaurant will reference Indian art deco design, creating a different vibe in each room. Dishes include madras mess mix, chaat masala pork scratchings and shellfish pakora pao. Focusing on classic methods of grilling and barbecuing meat, Brigadiers will also dedicate a section to mixed grill, on the bone cuts, steaks, ribs and chops. In true army mess style, there will be a large focus on the drinks side of things at Brigadiers, with an emphasis placed on the beer, with a monthly changing list of ten beers on tap.
Opened in June
Where: Brigadiers, London, UK
Website: www.brigadierslondon.com
Café Wolseley
Guess which is the UK’s third most popular tourist attraction? No, not the Tower of London or the V&A, it’s… Bicester Village. Now guess where The Wolseley is opening their restaurant? Bingo, you got it. With more visitors than the National Gallery or the Tate Modern, 6.4 million tourists will now have the chance to visit Café Wolseley as London’s best-loved breakfast spot heads to the Oxfordshire high-end shopping mall.
Opened in June
Joe's Cafe
Joe’s Café looks like the type of place one might stumble across during a trip to pick up Miranda Priestly’s steak in Runway – smom,mmoth, sleek and unapologetically cool. Now, the much-loved city staple is relaunching under the direction of new head chef Anupam Som, after first opening in 1984. Housed within fashion store JOSEPH on Sloane Square, the fashion empire began in 1972 by the late Jospeh Ettedgui, and we’re grateful to him for feeding not only our appetites, but our fashion cravings too.
Opened in June
Where: 16 Sloane Street, Knightsbridge, SW1X 9NB
Website: www.joseph-fashion.com
Banh Bao
It would appear that the people behind Vietnamese restaurant Banh Bao Brothers had some hearty, flavoursome meals as kids… and certainly didn’t hide their food in plants, under carpets or in other crevices for that matter. The new Vietnamese restaurant, Banh Bao Brothers, set to open this month, sees co-owner Chris Evernden’s belief that “the history of food is written by grandmas” re-created through flavours his business partner Raymond Ly’s grandma used. In other words, whilst our grandmas were handing out the rich tea’s and penguin biscuits, Chris and Raymond were recipients of flavours so good that they could create dishes like the Banh Boa – a steamed dish made with minced pork, Chinese sausage and a quails egg.
Opened in June
Where: Unit 6, 20 Leake St, Lambeth, SE1 7NN
Website: www.banhbaobrothers.com
Little Kolkata
It seems that the onward march of posh Indians is showing no sign of slowing as we welcome Little Kolkata to Covent Garden. And thank goodness, the past year has seen the Cinnamon, Dishoom and Kricket empires expanding as well as top-end newcomers like Indian Accent and Jamavar laying claim to this growing market, which is great for diners. But also leaves Little Kolkata with plenty to prove as it graduates from sell-out supper club to permanent restaurant next month. And by all accounts, it will live up to all the hype. Founded by Prabir Chattopadhyay and Biswajit Deb Das, the restaurant focusses on authentic Bengali cuisine, drawing on Chattopadhyay’s childhood in Calcutta and Deb Das’s Bangladeshi roots to produce a taste of home using their favourite spices and ingredients to create something that is both contemporary yet traditional. The pair built a very successful supper club that consistently sold out and realised that there was clearly a wide market for their food and style. Hence Little Kolkata, an alternative name for former Indian capital Calcutta.
Opened in June
Where: 51-53 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, WC2H 9JU
Website: www.littlekolkata.co.uk
Brother Marcus
Younger siblings, they always seem to come along and upstage their big brothers and it’s no different when it comes to restaurants. Brother Marcus, is actually getting a brother next month and this new site in Angel is set to be bigger and better than the original Balham site. Alongside their award-winning brunch, they’ll be serving up a brand-new evening menu of Mediterranean small and sharing plates, inspired by co-founder Tasos’ Cretan upbringing. Split into four sections, earth, land, sea and snacks with an emphasis on vegetarian and vegan dishes, you’ll find the likes of fried feta with honey and sesame; homemade crisps with oregano and lemon zest salt; pork belly with a Metaxa and date glaze with apple labneh and walnuts and for pudding honey bombs with cinnamon syrup and sesame and sticky toffee and Mexata pudding with dates and cream.
Opened in June
Website: brothermarcus.co.uk
Ottolenghi
The man who inspires most of London’s dinner party menus, Ottolenghi is set to open a new restaurant with his team this summer. And since Brangelina, Bennifer and Hiddleswift are all no more, we’re going to bring you a new one, ROVI. No, we haven’t gone off on a tangent, it’s the name of the restaurant, it’s a little bit of NOPI, a little bit of Fitzrovia but it’s doing its own thing with vegetables and sustainability taking centre stage. There’ll be a new focus on fermentation, cooking over fire and making the most of leftovers to create new dishes. You’ll find leftover wine is turned into vinegars and coffee grinds being used to cook dishes such as Hasselback beetroots. Even the air won’t go to waste as the heat generated in the kitchen will be used to warm up the restaurant and the water used on site.
Opened in June
Where: 55 Wells Street, Fitzrovia, W1A 3AE
Website: www.ottolenghi.co.uk/rovi
Tish
David S Levin has always dreamed of opening his own restaurant, over the years he has perfected his skills cooking for family and friends and now the time has come for him to open the doors to Tish, a contemporary kosher restaurant and bar serving up Jewish heritage family favourites. Opening in Belsize Park, the restaurant will be serving up a dairy-free menu of both classic and modern dishes such as Challah French toast with pear compote and maple syrup and Tish chicken schnitzel with roasted fingerling potatoes, peppers and caper berries. Head there on a Friday night or Saturday lunch time and you’ll find that they are celebrating the Jewish day of Shabbat with special prixe-fixe menus and family style feasting.
Opened in July
Where: 196 Haverstock Hill, Belsize Park, N32 2AG
Website: www.tish.london
Hotel Café Royal
When David Bowie came to throw a retirement party for his alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, in the 1970 he chose the notorious Café Royal, the central London haunt of celebrities and creatives and now in honour of both Bowie and Ziggy Stardust, Hotel Café Royal is opening a new bar, Ziggy’s.
The bar is a playful tribute to the singer with cocktails inspired by both Bowie’s life and his famous album ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ with each drink named after a lyric from the record. We’ve got our eye on the Tiger on Vaseline, inspired by the 70s classic the Piña Colada but with a modern twist of Cachaça, Tanaka spiced rum, roasted pineapple juice and lime juice and topped with homemade coconut and white chocolate foam. If you’re a fan of martinis, then you would have made a good drinking buddy for Bowie who had a particular penchant for them and so Ziggy’s has created the Femme Fatale which also links with sushi you’ll find in Laurent (the first-floor restaurant adjacent to the bar). It’s made using Japanese liqueur sake and French aperitif Byrrh and topped with a single rose petal.
Throughout the room there are a curated selection of images of David Bowie by his official photographer, Mick Rock, who worked with Bowie in the last years of Ziggy’s career. Alongside popular and familiar pictures of Ziggy, there’ll also be more intimate photographs, some of which have rarely been seen before. The opening of Ziggy’s is part of a big year for Hotel Café Royal, in June they saw the opening of Laurent, The Green Bar has just launched a new cocktail menu and in November Albert Adrià who has just been voted The World’s Best Pastry Chef will be opening his first permanent site outside of Spain, Cakes & Bubbles.
Opened in September
Where: 68 Regent Street, Piccadilly, W1B 4DY
Website: www.hotelcaferoyal.com
Old Compton Brasserie
From gloom and war emerged baby booms, ‘mod’ fashions and mini-skirts, and it’s without a doubt that the 60s are worthy of a recap, which is why Old Compton Brasserie, n the heart of Soho is sure to stir up the nostalgia. The artsy drinking and dining space seeks to relight the sixties Soho fire, equipped with pop paintings of Twiggy and Kate Moss, and in true houndstooth and mod style, there’s an abundance of colour throughout the space.
Holding hands with the theme is a curated cocktail list, by The Talented Mr Fox, which will feature The Paul Raymond, an ode to the King of Soho made with champagne, strawberry, white chocolate and more and the Regina Fong which pays homage to the female impersonator who made an impact in the 60s. On the food front, it’s British munching on the menu, from the ol’ classic ham, egg and chips to start your morning off and lazy meet-up meals of pigs in blankets with creamy mash and onion jus.
As Twiggy once said “the sixties were a time when ordinary people could do extraordinary things” and we think Old Compton Brasserie is going to rejuvenate us with that bit of the extraordinary.
Opened in September
Where: 36-38 Old Compton Street
Website: www.oldcomptonbrasserie.co.uk
Rotunda Bar and Restaurant
Rotunda in Kings Cross had a refresh and opened with a 50% off soft launch before opening fully on the 24th of September. Highlights include meat from their up-north farm, a huge meat fridge display area, a new bar and outdoor terrace and a new varied menu with meat highlights.
Opened in September
Where: Kings Place, 90 York Way, Kings Cross, London N1 9AG, United Kingdom
Website: www.rotundabarandrestaurant.co.uk
Onima
Onima plays with sumptuous colours one might find inside any up-market exclusive venue, blood reds and black taking precedence; a far cry from staple Mykonos embellishments of terracotta and shades of blue. It’s cosy whilst being luxe, emanating real date-night vibes. Designed by Greek interior designers Archset, there’s a real love affair going on with plush velvet sofas and grandiose art-work. Walking into the restaurant, the eye catches the glimmering bar; a centre-point where mixologists are working their magic. The interiors blend well with the dimly-lit room, providing a strikingly sexy atmosphere. And, on the sexy front, the loos are follow suit. It’s one of those where everything looks good, big appetite or no. The food waltzes between Mediterranean and Asian influence and mixes flavours of Greek, Italian and Japanese cuisine. Sashay between a menu emboldened by options, from meat offerings to fish, salads or mezze. On par with the chichi interior, the menu also boasts a ‘From The Josper’ section; this being coveted food such as Wagya beef ribeye and Greek seabass cooked over Japanese “Binchotan” charcoal.
Opened in November
Where: 1-3 Avery Row, Mayfair, W1K 4AJ
Website: www.onimarestaurant.com
Giggling Squid
Giggling Squid – what a name! This new resto has totally hit the nail on the head when it comes to cute and catchy names, plus it’s Thai food so loads of boxes are getting ticked here! The restaurant has a cute back story; the owner and her husband sat in a tiny basement of a fisherman’s cottage back in the good ol’ days of 2002, they chatted and chatted and thus came their idea – let’s just blimmin’ create a Thai tapas menu. Here we are, god knows how many years later, and there’s a new kid on the restaurant block that we’re terrifically excited to try! With unusual flavour combos and a huge range on offer, it’s one not to miss in 2019!
Opened in December
Website: www.gigglingsquid.com
Din Tai Fung
Saying something is the ‘best in the world’ is a huge claim in any case, but we feel like the one made about these delicious looking dumplings from Din Tai Fung may well be true. On the 5th of December, as Christmas mingling began to crowd the city, a restaurant extravaganza that began in Taiwan in 1958 as a cooking oil retail shop, threw its doors open in London’s Covent Garden. And thus the world’s best dumplings landed on our shores. The pork dumplings – also known as pork xiao long bao – have been raucously raved about across the globe, receiving various shout-outs and accolades for their simplistic visage and spot-on flavours.
Now the wait may be over, but waiting was still something we had to do, as the opening saw stretches of people queuing around the block to get their hands on the world’s best dumplings. And yet the question on everyone’s lips seems to be why has it taken this long to bring the dumpling giants to London, with 140 restaurants already across the world? Well perhaps in a state of sorriness, they’ve decided to open not one, but two restaurants in London. The first being this already popular joint in CG, and the second will be opening in Centre Point Building in 2019. Hurrah! Din Tai Fung has got its hands on two Michelin stars, including the accolade of one of the world’s ten best restaurants as named by the New York Times. The dumplings are folded eighteen times in total, woah, and will take a huge team of chefs to prepare them before you get to delve in. Suffice to say they definitely don’t shirk on care and presentation. This attention to detail also seeps through into the restaurant, as pictured below, with interiors reminiscent of their Taiwanese history. But, if dumplings aren’t your thing (we’re not judging, promise) then you can still go along and munch on other Taiwanese food variations, inclusive of chicken soup, Oriental salads, and fried rice dishes.
Opened in December
Where: 5 Henrietta Street, WC2E 8PT
Website: www.dintaifung.com.my
Wild Food Café
The Wild Food Cafe in Neal’s Yard is such a London staple – and if you’re yet to visit put it on your 2019 bucket list. Seriously! Joel and Aiste, the duo behind the vegan eatery, headed to Islington this December to wow with their creations on Upper Street. The new location, which we’re sure will have queue’s out the door in no time, focuses on freshly foraged wild and artisanal ingredients, with a notable commitment to the organic. All that’s really left to say is if you liked their first spot – and I mean who doesn’t – then you’re bound to be a huge fan of this one!
Opened in December
Where: Wild Food Café 269 - 270 Upper Street N1 2UQ
Website: www.wildfoodcafe.com/islington
Neal's Yard
This quirky new spot is our hope at redeeming ourselves after stuffing our faces over Christmas. Redemption Bar in Seven Dials is a 45-cover space and the third brand to open, offering guilt-free food in the form of sumptuous vegan and gluten-free offerings. Staples will still be ablaze on the menu including pulled barbecue jackfruit and the zucchini pesto pasta. You’ll also have the option to takeaway, you lucky thing!
Where: 2 Neal's Yard, WC2H 9AT
Website: www.redemptionbar.co.uk
Tamarind Restaurant
Focusing on the idea that the kitchen should be the heart of any home (rightly so), Tamarind Mayfair is throwing its doors back open after an eight-month refurb! With new being the word of the moment, the restaurant will also have a refurbed menu including tandoori quail and masala tossed lamb brain. The altered interior showcases a distressed gold, pale grey, pink and cream colour palette. It’s luxe, and we love it!
Where: 20 Queen Street, W1J 5PR
Website: www.tamarindrestaurant.com
Art Yard Bar & Kitchen
If not for the love of food go to Art Yard Bar & Kitchen for its alluring interiors! The new venue certainly lives up to its namesake with quirky lights proving the centrepiece of the space. The menu triumphs British produce through the seasons under the influence of Head Chef Lee Streeton, formerly of 45 Jermyn Street.
Where: 2 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 9JU
Website: www.banksidehotel.com
And for the 1% of you who managed to get to the end of this article, here’s some upcoming openings to look forward to this year.
