This autumn, Londoners can look forward to globe-trotting tasting menus, the reimagining of a restaurant under the name of a culinary legend, smoked eel pithivier, and London’s most anticipated opening of 2019.
The Biltmore Mayfair is as plush as you like. Now, it’s getting an experienced restaurateur to make sure the food’s up to scratch. Jason Atherton is overseeing the hotel’s restaurant, an elegant space serving wood-fired grill fish, meat and veg. Go… for your own betterment.
Caravan, the reliable coffee and brunch chain, has come up with something slightly different for their new project in Chelsea. While some recognisable elements are there – like the wood-fired pizzas – it feels, and is designed to be, a bit more restaurant-y. The food takes its influences from all over the world, from Russia to Northern India.
Stratford has a hot new dining destination – a restaurant and bar at The Stratford, a 42-storey skyscraper overlooking the Olympic Park. The kitchen is headed up by ex-Chiltern Firehouse chef Patrick Powell. Highlights include a large outdoor terrace viewpoint, charcuterie cured in-house, and dishes like smoked eel pithivier and sake steamed turbot.
Five years after their original Levantine restaurant opened, Arabica goes north of the river, bringing what an ‘entirely new’ menu with them. A lunch to dinner affair, take note of the Belted Galloway beef shish, seven-spice wings, and their ‘super-charged hummus’ with sweet peppers, chilli and garlic.
Journey is the latest immersive dining experience from the group that brought London the naked restaurant, The Bunyadi. This one will certainly live up to the name, promising a culinary tour of the world in one sitting. Diners can choose from 4 different menus and try dishes like spiced mussels from Pakistan, blowtorched tilapia from Mexico, and pan-fried potato cakes with ham hock and sauerkraut from Poland.
The Yard at Great Scotland Yard – Opens: October, date TBC.
Making a hotel restaurant appealing is a notoriously tricky thing. But, great scot, if anyone’s going to take a fresh approach, it’s The Dairy’s Robin Gill. Food promises to be modern British, with an in-house butchery, bakery, and a parlour serving afternoon tea.
Things look auspicious over at Boundary’s new basement opening. Wilder will champion seasonal and sustainable British ingredients, including trout and crayfish from Terence Conran’s (the hotel’s co-owner) Berkshire estate. There’s a new chef, too – Richard McLellan (ex-Typing Room and Alyn Williams at the Westbury).
Le Comptoir Robuchon – Opens: 1st November
After ten successful years, the late Joel Robuchon’s London restaurant closed this year. The closure, however, is the beginning of something else – the traditional French/nouvelle cuisine style made famous by the ‘chef of the century’ is set to live on in Mayfair.
Is Davies and Brook London’s restaurant opening of the year? Though it may be too early to say, several details point to a resounding ‘yes’. Chiefly, the Eleven Madison Park – still regarded as one of the best restaurants in the world – quality that will descend on Claridge’s, led by EMP’s Daniel Humm and executive chef Dmitri Magi.
Daffodil Mulligan – Opens: November, date TBC.
Though it was pressing all the right buttons, Irish restaurant Nuala closed last year. Another product of Ireland – Richard Corrigan – is here to have another go at the Old Street site. How will Corrigan’s coastal cuisine translate in Shoreditch? Only one way to find out.
This is a guest post from freelance food journalist Hugh Thomas. He’s contributed to Foodism, Time Out, Great British Chefs, and is part of British Street Food’s small team of vigilant writers. Find him on twitter @hughwrites.
