The Berner’s Tavern Fitzrovia
10 Berners Street, London, W1T 3NP
020 7908 7979/www.bernerstavern.com/
Not satisfied with opening The Little Social and The Social Eating House within days of each other chef Jason Atherton of Pollen St Social has now ventured into hotel dining room territory. The Berner’s Tavern is situated in Ian Schrager’s (Studio 54 partner and King of the boutique hotel) new hotel The London Edition, in partnership with Marriot. The room is simultaneously grand yet modern with huge chandeliers referencing those at New York’s Grand Central Station and walls covered with gilt-framed photos of artworks. The food is refined yet robust enough for the hotel crowd-it’s another hit.
Casse-Croute Bermondsey
Casse-Croute is a charming new 20 seater Bistrot in Bermondsey run by Herve Durochat, business partner of Jose Pizarro, with sommelier Alexandre and ex Morgan M head chef Sylvain Soulard. The menu changes every day with the three starters, mains and desserts being displayed on a blackboard. It’s an all day operation offering breakfast from a civilised 9a.m. as well as small plates of cheese and charcuterie to fill those painful gaps between meals.
Flesh and Buns Covent Garden
Flesh & Buns
After the success of his Soho Ramen joint Bone Daddies, ex-Zuma chef Ross Shonhan has opened his second restaurant named Flesh and Buns in Earlham St, Covent Garden which w features steamed hirata buns. Fillings include slow roasted shoulder of lamb with Korean flavours; whole baby chicken with yuzu koshu; and robata grilled seabass with coriander miso. The flesh and buns are served along with salad vegetables, sauces and pickles. Diners will be encouraged to build their own buns according to taste and mood.
Aqua Shard London Bridge
Level 31 The Shard, 32 London Bridge Street, SE1 9SY
www.the-shard.com/restaurants/
Hong Kong restaurant group Aqua is expanding its London portfolio. Their first openings were contemporary Japanese restaurant Aqua Kyoto and Spanish influenced Aqua Nueva both at 240 Regent Street. They have now launched Hutong, a northern Chinese restaurant, on the 33rd floors of the Shard and on the 31st floor with a three-storey high panoramic view of London is modern British restaurant Aqua Shard. In the kitchen Pierre Gagnaire alumnus Anthony Garlando will be manning the stoves.
Shake Shack London Covent Garden
24 Market Building, The Piazza, WC2E 8RD
http://www.shakeshack.com/location/london-covent-garden/
Shake Shack London is the big smoke’s first restaurant from New York City’s uber-restaurateur Danny Meyer whose operations include Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, The Modern, Maialino, North End Grill, Blue Smoke, Jazz Standard, and Untitled at the Whitney. Featuring menu favourites from the original 2004 Shake Shack in Madison Square Park, it is serving “all- natural burgers, flat-top dogs, frozen custard, beer, wine and more.”
The Lockhart Marylebone
22-24 Seymour Place, W1H 7NL
http://lockhartlondon.com/
Opening June 11th
The Lockhart is the brainchild of two London based Texan couples, Gwen and Chris Wren and Shelby and Dunny Wanstrath, whose dream has been to open a restaurant showcasing the cuisine of their native Southwest American states. Head Chef is Andrew Justice, a quarter finalist of Master Chef the professionals 2010, and service will be in the cool and capable hands of Bunmi, last seen opening Lima and Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner. Expect a contemporary take on steaks, enchiladas, crawfish etouffee, hush puppies and crispy okra all washed down with a southern cocktail or three.
Grain Store King’s Cross
1-3 Stable Street, Granary Square, London N1C 4AB
For on the day reservations call 020 7324 4466/www.grainstore.com
Opening June 10th
Grain Store
Chef Bruno Loubet has considerable form when it comes to London restaurants. Some of us are old enough to remember Bistro Bruno and then L’Odeon which was on the site now occupied by Hawksmoor Air St. He has had terrific reviews for his Bistro Bruno Loubet which occupies a corner of the Zetter Hotel in Clerkenwell and has now spread his wings to King’s Cross. Grain Store has a large outside area, guest chefs, an emphasis on vegetables and cocktails by top mixmeister Tony Conigliaro. It’s fab-think Ottolenghi with French technique.
Casa Negra Shoreditch
54-56 Great Eastern St London, Greater London EC2A 3QR
020 7033 7360
50% off all food 12-5pm, Mon 10 – Sun 16 June!
Casa Negra is opening on the site previously occupied by the Great Eastern Dining Rooms in Great Eastern St. It is the younger sibling of Soho’s La Bodega Negra which in turn is the London outpost of New York’s sexiest Mexican street food joint La Esquina. Are you following this?-I’ll be testing you later! Unlike the sex shop entrance and hyper-styling of La Bodega, this noeva cantina (not sure about my Spanish..) will have the atmosphere of an English country house that has been invaded by a bunch of Mexicans!
Picture Oxford Circus
Wellington House, 70 Buckingham Gate, SW1E 6AL
Alan Christie and Colin Kelly who were head chefs of the Michelin-starred Arbutus and Wild Honey are opening their first venture Picture. With a reasonably priced international menu and affordable wines the food and drink offer will be familiar to fans of those two restaurants.
Oblix London Bridge
The Shard, Joiner St London, Greater London SE1 9EX
020 7268 6700;oblixrestaurant.com
The 32nd floor of The Shard has been leased to be the owners of Zuma and Roka, Rainer Becker and Arjun Waney, will be called Oblix and will feature a New York style rotisserie and grill restaurant as well as a lounge bar with live music. Fabien Beaufour who has worked at The French Laundry and Eleven Madison Park will be in charge of the kitchens-this will be one of the signature openings of 2013.
Kaspar’s Seafood Bar and Grill at the Savoy Charing Cross
The Savoy, Strand, London WC2R 0EU (0)20 7836 4343/www.kaspars.co.uk
The redesigned River Restaurant space at The Savoy has reopened as Kaspar’s Seafood Bar and Grill. With great river views, a new 1920′s style look for the room and a seafood menu this is bound to become a destination for lunching ladies and the great and the good taking time off from the Savoy Grill.
1 Leicester St Soho
1 Leicester St. London WC2H 7BL
1 Leicester St
The St. John Hotel is now history, the much heralded redevelopment of the old Manzi’s site off Leicester Square, and the building has going through another remodelling to be launched as 1 Leicester St. It is now owned by the team behind The Town Hotel Hotel in Bethnal Green where Viajante is located. Michelin starred Chef Tom Harris will still be in charge of the kitchen. The room was a bit cold when the hotel was under the St. John group and never really had much of a buzz despite the quality of the food. It’s now a bit more Soho…
AMETSA Belgravia
The Halkin, 5-6 Halkin Street, Belgravia, SW1X 7DJ
(020) 7333 1234/http://www.comohotels.com/thehalkin/dining/ametsa
Ametsa or to give it its full title Ametsa with Arzak Instruction (see our review) is the much anticipated London outpost of Arzak, the 3 Michelin starred San Sebastian restaurant that is presided over by the father/daughter culinary tag team Juan Mari and Elena Arzak. Dishes have been developed in Spain for the restaurant which will has staff drawn from Arzak itself and locally.
BRASSERIE CHAVOT Mayfair
41 Conduit St London W1S 2YQ
020 7078 9577/brasseriechavot.com
Chef Eric Chavot who won 2 Michelin Stars at The Capital in Knightsbridge has opened Brasserie Chavot in the Westbury Hotel on Conduit Street in Mayfair. Less formal than The Capital with more of a traditional brasserie than a fine dining approach it is getting great reviews.
THE SOCIAL EATING HOUSE Soho
58-59 Poland Street, W1F 7NR
0207 993 3251
Jason Atherton of Pollen Street Social is taking time out from his new operations in the Far East to open a new joint in Soho which will be run by his PSS head chef Paul Hood. It will be on three levels, featuring a chef’s table, a mid-range bistro offer and a bar. The cooking will be a progressive take on bistro classics and the restaurant will have the stylish informality that has made PSS such a hit. It will be a welcome addition to the already thriving Soho scene.
THE LITTLE SOCIAL Mayfair
5 Pollen St, London, W1S 1NQ
0207 870 3730
Chef Jason Atherton of Pollen Street Social has also taking on the lease of the Italian restaurant 5 Pollen St which has been refurbed and reopened under the name Little Social with Michael West heading the kitchen. The restaurant serves classic French bistro food and there is a fixed price lunch menu and an a la carte in the evening. The feedback is terrific on this new space-try the Poutine-Canadian style chips in gravy with curd cheese! See our review.
BALTHAZAR LONDON Covent Garden
Balthazar-Scarlet and Black or Cafe Rouge?
Bethnal Green Boy Keith McNally is one of New York’s top restaurateurs and has opening an all-day Grand Brasserie in the refurbished Transport Museum in Covent Garden. Carrying the same name as his New York flagship it is be one of the biggest openings of 2013. There is a bakery attached to the coffee shop. How will it compare with Zedel, Colbert, The Wolseley or Delaunay? Well, we will all be going so we will know soon enough…
THE CLOVE CLUB Shoreditch
380 Old Street, London, Greater London EC1V 9LT
thecloveclub.com/0207 729 6496
The Clove Club boys started out with a private dining club in Dalston, graduated to a pop-up above a pub at The 10 Bells in Commercial St. and have opened their new restaurant in the refurbished Shoreditch Town Hall. The cooking will be robust, eclectic and Modern European but less experimental than that of Nuno Mendes at Viajante who is down the road in the town hall in Bethnal Green. In the restaurant they serve a 5 course set menu for £46 per person but in the bar its all about sharing plates. Expect the venue to have a cool East London feel with music to match.
HKK City
HKK
Broadgate West, Worship St, EC2A 2BE
www.hkklondon.com/0203 535 1888
From the people behind Chrysan and Hakkasan, HKK is serving ‘Bespoke Cantonese Fine Dining’ with a tasting menu designed by Michelin-starred Executive Head Chef of the Hakkasan group Tong Chee Hwee. Dishes include Lychee wood-roasted Peking duck served with sesame pancakes, Dim sum trilogy of truffle har gau, pan-fried Szechuan dumpling, sour turnip puff, Wok-fried lobster in yellow bean sauce with braised pan mee and Jasmine tea-smoked Wagyu beef.
CAFE ROYAL Regent St
Cafe Royal
68 Regent Street, London W1B 4DY
020 7406 3333/www.hotelcaferoyal.com/London
The iconic Cafe Royal in Regent Street has opened as a luxury hotel with several food and beverage outlets including the famous Grill Room, The Ten Room and the Domino Room. The bar features an absinthe fountain-will it again become the haunt of witty intellectuals duelling with lethal bon mots or just another City Boy watering hole?
ELECTRIC DINER Notting Hill
191 Portobello Road, London W11 2ED
Soho House have collaborated with renowned Chicago chef Brendan Sodikoff to launch the Electric Diner and Electric Donuts. Both sites are situated on Portobello Road on December 3rd, with the Diner taking inspiration from Sodikoff’s Chicago restaurant Au Cheval and the Electric Donuts offering a take on the restaurateur’s popular Doughnut Vault.
BO LONDON Mayfair
http://bolondonrestaurant.com/
dine@bolondonrestaurant.com
Hawksmoor Air Street Piccadilly
5a Air Street, London, W1J 0AD
020 7406 3980/http://thehawksmoor.com/airstreet
Hawksmoor Air St
The group behind the three Hawksmoor steak restaurants (Guildhall, Seven Dials and Spitalfields) have opened their new operation in an Air St site that has traditionally seen restaurants fail and fail quickly. However with great reviews this operation seem to be about to buck the trend. Alongside their steak offer they have an extensive seafood and fish menu devised in collaboration with piscine specialist Mitch Tonks of the Seahorse restaurant in Devon. With big slabs of turbot or a Dover sole cooked over charcoal and sides including the Swedish anchovy, cream and potato wet dream Jansonn’s Temptation it is set to become the plaice (sic) to go for butch seafood.
COLBERT Sloane Square
52 Sloane Square London SW1W 8AX
020 7730 2804/www.colbertchelsea.com/
Colbert
Hot on the heels of the successful launch of Brasserie Zedel, Chris Corbin and Jeremy King have opened a Parisian style Grand Cafe, serving breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and a full dinner service. The menu majors in egg dishes, a large selection of croques, as well as Parisian café stalwarts, such as Salade de Magret Fumé, Bayonne Ham with Celeriac Rémoulade, Steak Diane, Moules Marinière and Cassoulet de Canard. On the site of the much unloved Oriel, this is already a hit with the local Sloanes and tourists alike.
BONE DADDY’S Soho
Bone Daddies
30-31 Peter Street, Soho, London, W1F 0AP 020 7287 8581
Ross Shonhan, previously Head Chef at Zuma and Nobu, has opened London’s latest Ramen Restaurant taking on recent Soho openings Tonkotsu and Ittenbari. Will this lead to Soho noodle wars? Is Ramen the new Peruvian?
GIACONDA DINING ROOMS Soho
GREEN MAN AND FRENCH HORN Covent Garden
Green Man & French Horn
54 Saint Martin’s Lane, London, WC2N 4EA
Ed Wilson and Oli Barker have added a fourth member to their excellent trio of brasseries Terroirs, Brawn and Soif. Green Man & French Horn is situated in a renovated pub space in St Martin’s Lane, Covent Garden, and as with the other restaurants features organic and biodynamic wines with a focus on the Greater Loire. There is a greater emphasis on seafood than in their other operations.
GARNIER Earl’s Court
314 Earl’s Court Rd, SW5 9BQ
0203 641 8323
GARNIER
For those of us who have been knocking around the London restaurant scene for the last twenty years or so, seeing Eric Garnier front of house has always been a reassuring sign. Whether directing platoons of waiting staff at Quaglinos or Bank in the 90’s or working on a more human scale at Koffman’s and Racine more recently, you always felt that you were watching a master at work, and so it is great to see his family name above the door of his own Earl’s Court restaurant. Heading up the kitchen is Andreas Engberg who was in charge at Racine for many years and fans of the Knightsbridge restaurant will love Garnier.
BRASSERIE ZEDEL Soho
20 Sherwood St, W1F 7ED
Brasserie Zedel
http://www.brasseriezedel.com/
0207 734 4888
Restaurateurs Chris Corbin and Jeremy King are not natural revolutionaries. The Wolseley and The Delaunay, their other outposts, are grand, conservative and exclusive. However with Brasserie Zedel they have come up with an offer that combines retro glamour with a much more democratic outlook. Situated on the site of the old Regent Palace Hotel and in the space occupied by the long departed Atlantic, Brasserie Zedel is a loving distillation of all that is fine about the Parisian grandes brasseries, think La Coupole meets Chartier, combined with an additional cafe, jazz bar and cocktail bar. What is remarkable is that it all works and at such a competitive price point, in the brasserie at least, that a real challenge has been created for other operators.
BUBBLEDOGS Fitzrovia
Bubbledogs
70 Charlotte St, London W1T 4QG
http://www.bubbledogs.co.uk
0207 637 7770
Imagine you’re an up and coming young chef (James Knappett), you’ve worked at the top end of international fine dining at Noma, Per Se and Marcus Wareing, and your wife is the sommelier at Simon Rogan’s Roganic (Sandia Chang).Maybe over a coffee the two of you are idly dreaming about opening your own place. You want something different-that will stand out from the crowd…and so Bubbledogs was born. Gourmet hot dogs with grower Champagne from lesser known producers. Grease and bubbles-what’s not to like. There is talk of a fine dining option at the back but I’m going for the dawg’n fizz option.
TONKOTSU Soho
63 Dean Street, W1D 4QG
http://www.tonkotsu.co.uk
020 7437 0071
Tonkotsu
Tonkotsu and Ittenbari are the first dedicated Ramen (wheat-based noodles in a rich stock) shops to open in Soho and with Ross Shonhan’s upcoming Bone Daddy’s set to open soon this has the makings of a new trend. Ramen is hugely popular in Japan where there are 34,488 ramen shops with nearly 4,000 of those being in Tokyo. The stock is made from pork and chicken bones with vegetables and sometimes fish bones or katsuboshi ‘bonito’ (dried, smoked skipjack tuna) and this is added to the ‘base’ (a concentrated blend of miso, soy or salt) to create a soup into which fresh alkaline wheat noodles and a variety of toppings, which nearly always include pork and egg, are placed. So get down to Soho, order a beer from their exciting list and get slurping!
SHRIMPY’S King’s Cross
The King’s Cross Filling Station, Goods Way, N1C 4UR
www.shrimpys.co.uk
0208 880 6111
Shrimpy’s at The Filling Station
Pablo Flack and David Waddington, the team behind Bistrotheque, have opened a new canalside venture in the visually stunning The King’s Cross Filling Station. The eponymous Shrimpy is a mythical showgirl who settles in Palm Springs and becomes an ambassador for the pineapple industry….and this is her space-It’s fun and very camp with the food and cocktails channelling 1950s West Coast glamour. Think soft shell crab in a bun or grilled lobster washed down with a pisco sour.
SUSHISAMBA City
Floors 38 and 39, Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AY
020 3640 7330
It’s a sign of the confidence that there is in the London restaurant scene that the city is now being targeted for new openings not only by international chef/patrons wanting to make a mark on the global stage, but also by top end restaurant groups who are either developing new concepts or transplanting successful ones from abroad. Samba Brands Management, an American operation, have just opened their London branch of SUSHISAMBA. It’s their sixth restaurant under this branding and it features a mash-up of Brazilian, Peruvian and Japanese cuisine. What is extraordinary about SUSHISAMBA is the location. Two floors of the Heron Tower give some of the best views of London anywhere, and combined with an upmarket South American party vibe and the quality of the food and drink the whole operation makes some of the offerings of our better known restaurant groups feel old fashioned, staid and rather unsexy.
MARI VANNA Knightsbridge
16A Knightsbridge London SW1X 7PJ
020 7225 3150
www.marivanna.co.uk
Mari Vanna
LIMA Fitzrovia
LIMA
Peruvian food and drink has been one of the big London trends of 2012 with ceviche and pisco sours popping up on menus all around town. Lima is a more serious and contemporary take on Peruvian food and chef Virgilio Martinez, who is also chef patron of Central in Lima, Peru was previously Executive Chef at Astrid y Gaston, listed on the San Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurants list. Peruvian cuisine mixes together indigenous ingredients, often unfamiliar to British palates, with European and Asian influences and has been cited by El Bulli’s Ferran Adria as a positive agent of social change in a country trying to move away from coca leaf production to more socially responsible forms of agriculture.
BURGER & LOBSTER Mayfair/Soho
29 Clarges Street, W1J 7EF/36 Dean St, Soho London W1D 4PS
Burger & Lobster Dean St
http://www.burgerandlobster.com/
020 7409 1699
Lobster prices have been democratised thanks to the people behind the burgeoning Burger & Lobster outlets.£20 for a grilled whole lobster has undercut the competition and created a new market for our clawed crustacean friends. The burger comes with fries and salad and the lobster comes with fries and salad. Simple enough? To complicate matters slightly the lobster can be served in a bun as a lobster roll or just grilled in its shell. It’s fun and tasty and highly suitable for people suffering from menu fear! See our review at http://www.the-hedonist.com/reviews-burger-lobster/
DABBOUS Soho
39 Whitfield Street, London W1 2SF
http://dabbous.co.uk/
020 7323 1544
Dabbous
Oliver Dabbous, the chef/patron of Dabbous, has burst into the culinary firmament like an unstoppable gastronomic comet. His mentor and backer is Raymond Blanc with whom he worked at Le Manoir followed by a stint at the modernist Icelandic restaurant Texture in London. He had also done short stages at The Fat Duck, L’Astrance and Noma, three of the great temples of contemporary food. There are lots of young chefs who follow this type of career path and go on to make no real impact but when Blanc started tweeting about his protege’s upcoming opening the critics took notice and rewarded the young chef with such good reviews that it is now nearly impossible to get a table. If you like clean, innovative modern cooking delivered at the highest level in a brutal modern space, then The Hedonist’s advice is to call on the day for cancellations. You need to go.
LA BODEGA NEGRA Soho
Restaurant-9 Old Compton St London W1D 5JF
Cafe-16 Moor St London W1D 5NH
http://labodeganegra.com
LA BODEGA
In Little Italy, on the junction of Kenmare and Lafayette, is a taqueria called La Esquina. There’s nothing about it from the outside to tell you that it is other than your average neighbourhood joint, but go through the kitchen and down the stairs, and assuming you can get past the doorman, you are suddenly in one of New York’s hippest restaurant nightspots. ‘Cultural Engineer’ Serge Becker, who also runs venues such as The Bowery Bar, The Box and The Mercer Hotel,has brought his New York formula to London-tacos, tequila, stylish sleaze and a hip music policy combining to create one of the hottest tickets in town at La Bodegra Negra. There is a cafe and ceviche bar on Moor St with the basement restaurant on Old Compton. You enter through a sex shop. Don’t take your mother (or even mine).
MELE E PERE Soho
46 Brewer Street, London W1F 9TF
Mele e Pere
www.meleepere.co.uk
020 7096 2096
A northern Italian trattoria from Andrea Mantovani who has been behind the stoves at Arbutus and Harry’s Bar.Eat crab ravioli with squid and bottarga or hand-chopped raw veal with Parmesan and sweet and sour radish. The drinks list features small vineyards from Trentino, Veneto and Friuli as well as their own home-made vermouth.
DONOSTIA Marylebone
10 Seymour Place, London W1H 7ND
www.donostia.co.uk
020 3620 1845
DONOSTIA
Donostia is the Basque name for San Sebastian, the gastronomic capital of Northern Spain and Tomasz Baranski, ex-head chef at the Hart brothers’ Barrafina,and his team have been working and researching in the some of the city’s best restaurants prior to the opening. The food is a mix of Spanish tapas and Basque pinxtos. Drinks focus on riojas, Basque cider and the delicious summery txakoli, the sparkling white Basque version of Cava.
QUO VADIS Soho
26-29 Dean Street, London W1D 3LL
www.quovadissoho.co.uk
020 7437 9585
QUO VADIS
The dapper Hart brothers have pinched chef Jeremy Lee from D&D’s Blueprint Cafe in their New Year reboot of Soho survivor Quo Vadis. Lee brings a Modern European and seasonal sensibility to the classic room and The Hedonist thinks he may well have found the location for his talent as he is clearly a Soho man at heart!
10 GREEK ST Soho
10 Greek Street, W1D 4DH
10 Greek St
www.10greekstreet.com
020 7734 4677
10 Greek Street has become the next Ducksoup making a similar offer to the Soho crowd- informal Modern European neighbourhood eatery with a seasonal menu changing each day alongside a short and eclectic wine list. It’s always busy so it seems like a smart move by chef Cameron Emirali (The Wapping Project) and his partner Luke Wilson.
MISHKIN’S Covent Garden
25 Catherine Street, Covent Garden, WC2B 5JS
020 7240 2078
Restauranteur Russell Norman (ex Caprice Holdings) is reputed never to sleep having just delivered his fifth restaurant opening in two years (Polpo, Polpetto, Spuntino and da Polpo). Mishkin’s is a New York style Jewish deli with prohibition era cocktails from the 1920s and 30s. Cod cheek popcorn, reuben on rye, chopped liver, salt beef sandwiches and knishes all washed down with a Gimlet or Pink Gin, so what’s not to like. All that’s needed is a few old jews telling jokes… The interior is recognisably from the Norman stable with distressed wood offset by duck-shell blue paintwork and the outdoor signage is deliciously retro. Somehow Bananas Foster, a Crescent City classic originating from Brennan’s Restaurant in New Orleans, has crept onto the menu but hey, how many Jewish desserts can you name? So for a passover pitstop Mishkin’s is your best bet.
On The Menu:
STARTERS @ £5-£9 Severn & Wye lox beigel with house schmear-Chopped chicken liver with schmaltzed radish-Reuben on rye with pastrami, sauerkraut, Russian dressing & Swiss cheese
MAINS @ £9-£12 Oxtail cholent with barley, beer & beans-Latkes, smoked eel, apple sauce & soured cream-Roast figs, cashews, goat curd & spiced honey
PUDDINGS @ £5/6 Warm choc chip cookie & ice cream-Apple & honUCKSOUPey blintz-Bananas Foster
DUCKSOUP Soho
40-41 Dean Street, W1D 4PY
020 7287 4599/restaurant@ducksoupsoho.com
http://www.ducksoupsoho.co.uk
Despite being slightly chaotic, cramped and noisy, Ducksoup is the on-trend Soho food joint of the moment. With occasional live music, a BYO vinyl policy (anything as long as it is early 70s), a small but perfectly formed list of ‘natural’ wines and an eclectic and seasonal food policy, Ducksoup has an endearingly quirky character reflecting the personalities of its proprietors, manager Rory McCoy, chef Julian Biggs and PR manager Clare Lattin, all alumni of Hix in Clerkenwell. With a minimal booking policy, turn up, grab a table at the bar and enjoy the buzz.
On The Menu:
STARTERS @ £7.50 Chargrilled Quail, Sumac, Yoghurt Tahini-Artichoke Vinaigrette-Clams, Fideo and Fino
MAINS @ £14 Cassoulet-Whole Crab, Lemon and Mayo-Fried Lamb Chops, Lemon Salt
PUDDINGS @ £5-6 Creme Caramel-Lemon Tart
HEDONE Chiswick
301-303 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4HH
0208 747 0377
http://www.hedonerestaurant.com
Swedish Chef/patron Mikael Jonsson has had a career as a lawyer, runs the high-end food blog Gastroville (http://www.gastroville.com), and is a specialist on food sourcing. His mission with Hedone is to offer a haute cuisine showcase for his favourite produce and to counter what he feels is the malign spread of chemical additives into both molecular gastronomy within the high end and processed foods at the ‘cheap as chips’ ends of contemporary food culture. Situated at the less glamorous of Chiswick High St., the interior is of brick and wood with the kitchen visible and integrated into the room. Jonsson and his acolytes have a slightly reverential air about them as they prepare the food and the tone is more one of serious contemplation rather than raucous enjoyment. But for people serious about the provenance of the food who won’t be put off by the stark simplicity of some of the dishes, this critic’s favourite is a must visit.
On The Menu:
LUNCH £30 for three courses, £40 for four courses, £50 for five courses.
DINNER £50 for four courses, £60 for five courses, £70 for six courses
STARTERS Slow cooked hen egg with Scottish girolles and a slice of peach, Tart of ceps, thyme and coffee jelly
MAINS Aged beef with braised endive, Wild Dorset turbot, sea aster, cannellini bean sauce
PUDDINGS Baked apricot with almond blancmange, Vine peach millefeuille
CAY TRE SOHO Soho
42-43 Dean Street, London W1
0207 317 9118/CTSH@vietnamesekitchen.co.uk
http://www.caytresoho.co.uk
CAY TRE
Cay Tre Soho is the fourth in a group of Vietnamese restaurants that have up to now being wowing the Hoxton and Shoreditch brigade. This latest iteration pairs an upmarket take on Vietnamese cooking with British sourced ingredients housed in a chic Soho interior. We particularly like the Pho bar, ideal for a quick blast of fragrant, hot nourishment on a cold winter’s day, and the wine list has been specially chosen by vineous supremo Malcolm Gluck to match the menu. Service is of the winsome and charming variety and if you are looking for an alternative to the identikit menus of many of the restaurants in Chinatown, then Cay Tre Soho is definitely worth a look.
On The Menu:
STARTERS @ £5-£9.50 White Crabmeat Fresh Rolls -Asian Mushroom Salad-Vietnamese Beef Carpaccio
MAINS @ £8.50-£11.50 Banana Leaf Whole Roasted Mackerel-Ox Cheek au Vin-Assorted Mushroom Pho
PUDDINGS @ £3-£5 Grilled Banana coated with glutinous rice, sago, savoury coconut sauce-Gelupo ice cream
PIZARRO Bermondsey
194 Bermondsey Street, London, SE1 3TQ
Pizzaro
No booking-just walk in
http://www.pizarrorestaurant.com/
Bermondsey’s King of Tapas Jose Pizarro has opened his first sit-down restaurant on the site of the former Bermondsey Kitchen, just down the road from his sherry and tapas bar, José, on Bermondsey Street. Dedicated to the memory of his grandfather, the restaurant features sharing plates and communal tables as well as a bar specialising in cavas, sherries and wine. Pizarro makes an exciting addition to the already buzzing Bermondsey scene.
On The Menu:
STARTERS @ £5.50-£7.50 Duck Livers, Capers, Fino-Prawns, Cecina, Chilli, Garlic-Butternut Squash, Cabrales, Almonds
MAINS @ £12-£16 Partridge Stew, Olives-Salt Cod, Potatoes, Vinzcaina-Manchego Canelones, Silver Chard, Pine Nuts
PUDDINGS @ £5.50-£6 Cava, Pear Sorbet-Rice Pudding, Clementine, Vanilla Ice Cream, Moscatel Grapes, PX
SOIF Battersea
27 Battersea Rise, SW11 1HG. 020-7223 1112
Soif
Ed Wilson and Oli Barker, the team behind Terroirs and Brawn, are extending their burgeoning empire beyond Covent Garden and Bethnal Green to south London. As with the others in the group Soif showcases natural and biodynamic wines and a menu built around seasonal British and Mediterranean influenced food. This iteration is fast becoming a sarf London destination, bringing some quality to the Battersea food scene.
On The Menu:
STARTERS @ £7-£12 Chanterelles, Pancetta-Black Pudding and Squid-Clams, Lemon and Coriander
MAINS @ £13-£18 Pig Cheeks, Cidre, Turnips and Swede-Brill, Pommes Boulangere-Tête de Veau, Sauce Ravigote
PUDDINGS @ £5-10 Baked Apple, Frangipane and Custard-Cheese from Androuet, Chestnut Cake, Creme Fraiche
34 Mayfair
34 Grosvenor Square, W1K 2HD.
020 3350 3434
http://www.34-restaurant.co.uk/Booking from website
Richard Caring’s Caprice Holdings (Le Caprice, The Ivy, Scott’s, J. Sheekey) have entered the newly competitive upmarket steakhouse market (Goodman, Cut, Barbecoa, Hawksmoor) with their latest Mayfair joint 34 which offers ’carefully sourced meat, seasonal game and shellfish’. There is a rotating coal-fired parilla grill for the meat and glamorous interiors from designer Martin Brudnizki (Scott’s, Dean St. Townhouse, Les Deux Salons). It’s stylish, swanky and starry with live jazz and delicious dead animals all presented with the slick service that marks most of Caring’s offferings.
On The Menu:
STARTERS @ £9.50-£17 Salt-Baked Beets, Burrata, Truffled Honey Walnuts-Dorset Dressed Crab-Steak Tartare
MAINS @ £14.75-£85 Dover Sole, Australian Wagyu Beef, Champagne Risotto with Perigord Truffles
PUDDINGS @ £6.75-8 Sloe Gin Fizz Jelly-William Pear Tart
THE DELAUNAY Aldwych
55 Aldwych, London WC2B 4BB
020 7499 8558/info@thedelaunay.com
http://www.thedelaunay.com
Another grand mittel-European style Cafe from The Wolseley’s Jeremy King and Chris Corbin. If you enjoy their style of stagey glamour go for the people watching as much as for the food which majors in wieners and schnitzels as well as brasserie classics such as choucroute à l’Alsacienne, moules frites and steaks. Anywhere that has a Mont Blanc on the dessert menu gets the Hedonist’s seal of approval.
On The Menu:
STARTERS @ £5.75-£10.50 Borscht- Tarte Flambée-Severn & Wye Oak Smoked Salmon
MAINS @ £14.25-£22 Choucroute à l’Alsacienne-Moules Frites- Fillet of Beef ‘Stroganoff’
PUDDINGS @ £4-£8.75 Mont Blanc-Coconut & Pineapple Dacquoise- Hungarian Chocolate & Cream Pudding