City Eating

Now Open: TOZI, Bird of Smithfield, Stories, The Pearson Room & More

TOZI – We’ve heard great things about this new Italian eatery in Victoria – even Fay Maschler was impressed. Head chef Maurilio Molteni (ex-Shoreditch House) and his all-Italian kitchen team are serving impressive Venetian-inspired sharing plates, pizzettas, and imported Italian cheeses and salumi (pictured above). There’s Prosecco on tap (so hot right now), Italian wines and liqueurs, and cocktails priced at £8. We like the sound of the ‘Vatican Secrets’ – a punchy mix of Cazadores Blanco Tequila, agave nectar, lime juice, mint and chilli. Insider tip: If you book a table between 5 and 7pm and quote ‘Pre Theatre’, you can enjoy a Bellini on the house.

Bird of Smithfield – After fifteen years as head chef at The Ivy, chef Alan Bird has opened his own restaurant on the former site of 26 Smithfield. It’s spread over five floors with a ground floor lounge bar, first floor dining room serving British dishes ‘with a twist’, and a private dining space with an open kitchen above that. Drinkers can sip cocktails created by the team from Purl in the basement Birdcage bar or, if the weather’s nice, head for the rooftop terrace which overlooks Smithfield Market. Don't miss the crispy monkfish cheeks on the bar snacks menu.

Stories – The Mothership Group (the brains behind the Queen of Hoxton and The Book Club) have opened a new bar on Broadway Market. It’s a light and airy laid-back space which will give local creatives and freelance-types somewhere to meet, eat and work. Open from 10am to midnight, the bar serves brunch throughout the day and then bar snacks like arancini and piri piri squid and prawns from 5pm until midnight. There’s a decent list of draught and bottled beers, wallet-friendly wines, and a list of interesting cocktails which are good value at under £8 each.

The Pearson Room – If you live or work in the Wharf, you’ve probably noticed this slick new all-day eatery on Canada Square. There’s a good-looking breakfast menu, a wine list put together by Trishna sommelier Sunaina Sethi, and cocktails created by Victor Matos (ex-Soho House) in collaboration with the team from Purl. The main menu includes dishes like diver scallops with n’duja and gremolata, lamb cutlets with caponata, Pearson mac ‘n’ cheese with pig cheeks, and a lobster club sandwich. As a soft opening bonus, they’re offering 25% off your bill until May 11th.

Also open: Egyptian takeaway concept Koshari and Homeslice Pizza in Covent Garden; Oblix at The Shard; Daisy Green organic café in Marylebone;  The Crown & Shuttle pub in Shoreditch; swanky seafood joint, Kaspar’s, at The Savoy; and American bistro Red House. Find out more by keeping an eye on our New Openings and Coming Soon lists.

#BBQWhiskyBeer: Meat Sweats In W1

The Lowdown: Following the success of their West London pop-up last year, Sam and his #BBQWhiskyBeer team are currently ‘squatting’ (their words) at the Lord Wargrave, a handsome Young’s pub in Marylebone. They’re serving top notch burgers and BBQ classics like ribs, wings and pulled pork, while the bar handles the whisky and beer side of things.

The Food: The menu ticks all the 'dude food' boxes with bar snacks like ribs and Southern fried chicken livers sitting alongside man-sized burgers and fried chicken. The chicken wings we tried were that perfect mix of crisp skin and moist meat with a subtle lip-tingling after-burn from the buffalo-style sauce. The smoked baby back ribs are even better – the meat is tender enough to tear from the bones with your fingers but still has enough bite to keep things interesting. The whisky-soy glaze is excellent and gives them a gently boozy, sweet-salty stickiness. (Lose the parsley sprinkles though - nobody needs them).

Their classic burger can be pimped with stuff like oxtail chilli, pulled pork or beef short rib. The patties themselves have great flavour, though it’s easy to lose it under a pile of (admittedly delicious) pulled pig, cheese and creamy slaw. The pulled pork, which they smoke for 24 hours, is as good as I’ve had anywhere in London and that includes Pitt Cue. You can have it on its own in a brioche bun and it’s not drowned in BBQ sauce so the rich, smoky pork flavour shines through. Our only criticism lay with the chips which were nicely crisp but a little greasy.

The Drink: The beer list is a little underwhelming (as they’re tied to those which are Young’s approved) but the ales are very well kept. The real draw here is their incredible collection of whiskies which includes bottles from all over the UK as well as America and Japan. This low-key pub off Edgware Road has the largest selection of single malts in London – who knew? They offer tasting flights on Saturday evenings and the #BBQWhiskyBeer team organise regular tasting evenings, so keep an eye on their twitter feed for dates.

The Verdict: If you’re looking for an American-influenced pop-up that puts substance before style, this could be the one. From a small open kitchen at the end of the bar, they’re working hard to deliver upscale BBQ and junk food classics. Portions are generous, prices are low and when the meat sweats kick in, you can sit back and chill with a whisky. If you’re local, we highly recommend popping in at lunch when a man-sized main and a drink will only set you back a tenner.

Top Chefs Go Head To Head At The Gun’s Slider Decider

On May 16th, some of the UK’s finest chefs will gather at The Gun in Docklands to take part in a slider cook-off. They will be pitting their skills against The Gun’s head chef, Quinton Bennett, and battling to be named ‘Slider Decider Champion 2013’. The competitors will fight it out in front of the judges from 6.30pm in The Gun’s recently revamped outside space overlooking the Thames.

Here are just a handful of the finalists and the sliders they are submitting:

 Capish, a fantastic newcomer to the street food scene, have submitted their meatball marinara slider with Provolone cheese and Italian pickled peppers in a polenta-crusted roll.
 Opera Tavern have entered their now legendary Iberico pork and foie gras mini-burger, with a new offal twist.
 Duck & Waffle are dishing up a harissa spiced mutton slider with charred tomato jam and lime crème fraiche.
 The Ship in Wandsworth are keeping it simple with a 100% beef slider with cheese and pickled cucumber (pictured).
 Tsuru have put forward their new chicken karaage burger.
 Sushinho City have gone all out with a decadent Wagyu beef slider with Comte cheese and onions in a wasabi bun.
 Original Fry-Up Material will be serving a Brunchfast slider - free-range sausages, quail’s egg, English muffin, American cheese and ‘Full English’ sauce.
 The team behind the Check On pop-ups have created The Captain Blackbeard – confit chicken wing, butter-poached langoustine tails and tarragon mayo in a bamboo charcoal bun.

You can check out the full list of competitors and their creations here.

Tickets cost £10 and include a bottle of beer and two sliders (one cheeseburger, one pulled pork with jalapeno relish), as well as the chance to try some of the contestants’ signature slider creations. Booking ahead is essential so secure your tickets today by calling 020 7515 5222 or emailing vanessa@thegundocklands.com.

KERB Brings Street Food To Sundance

This weekend, the KERB street food collective is crossing the river for four days of feasting at the O2 Arena. They are in residence for the duration of the Sundance film and music festival as part of the Town Square Market.  Everyone is welcome and you don’t need a Sundance ticket – the market and KERB traders are open to the public. Great news for Greenwich locals!

KERB founder Petra Barran says, ‘It’s a match made in heaven – delicious film and game-changing street food, served up from both sides with independent spirit.’ She has gathered 20 of the finest ‘KERBanists’ for the event, each with something different to offer the Sundance crowd and local foodies. Here’s the full list of attendees:

Good & Proper Tea, Luardos, Baba G’s (formerly Bhangra Burger), Bell & Brisket, Bleecker St Burger, Well Kneaded, Dosa Deli, Big Apple Hot Dogs, Original Fry-Up Material, Kooky Bakes, Mike + Ollie, Daisy Green, Sorbitium Ices, Horn OK Please, Healthy Yummies, The Bowler, Tongue ‘n’ Cheek, What The Dickens!, Fleisch Mob, Vestal Vodka cocktail bar.

If you haven’t tried them before, head to kerbfood.com to view their profiles and follow @KERB_ on twitter for updates from Sundance and their other locations. (KERB hosts weekly street food markets at Citypoint, the Gherkin and King’s Cross, as well as a monthly market at UCLU).

The Town Square Market at the O2 runs from Thursday 25th to Sunday 28th April. (Hours: Thursday 2pm-8.30pm, Friday 2pm-8pm, Saturday noon-8pm, Sunday noon-8pm).

Summer Food Festivals In London

If your budget won’t stretch to a gourmet getaway this summer, why not dine in style at one of London’s fabulous food festivals? There are plenty to choose from, including some free ones, and we will update this list as new ones are announced. Fingers crossed for sunshine!

Real Street Food Festival, 24-27th May – In addition to the Real Food Festival in early May, there are quarterly street food festivals to look forward to in 2013. There’s no entry fee and they take place at one of London’s most iconic riverside locations, just outside the Southbank Centre. In May, visitors can look forward to food from Bell & Brisket, Pizza Pilgrims, Dosa Deli, Big Apple Hot Dogs and more. Look out for newcomers Donostia Social Club and their unique Basque tapas!

Toast, 1-2nd June – In June, the Red Gallery in Shoreditch will host a ‘weekend-long celebration of food and ideas’ with large panel discussions, intimate workshops, tastings and book signings. There will be an after-party at Rotary Bar & Diner on City Road. Tickets and a full events schedule will be available at the end of April. The event is a fundraiser for Action Against Hunger and until the target of £3000 is raised, 100% of revenue from ticket sales will be donated to the charity. After the target is reached, 50% of ticket revenue will be donated.

Foodies Festival (Clapham), 7-9th June – This year’s Foodies Festival will include a chef’s theatre hosted by Masterchef 2012 winner Shelina Permalloo, baking masterclasses, live music, street food and a childrens’ cookery theatre. Some fantastic restaurants have already been confirmed, including Barbecoa, Masala Zone, Jamie’s Italian and Randall & Aubin.

Soho Food Feast, 8-9th June – The Soho food festival returns to St Anne’s Gardens after a hugely successful first run last year. The event raised £35,000 for Soho Parish Primary School in 2012 and organiser Margot Henderson plans to make this year’s event bigger and better. Keep an eye on their website and twitter feed for 2013 announcements because there were some fantastic restaurants in attendance last year, including Polpo, Koya, Hix and Bocca di Lupo.

Rioja Tapas Fantasticas, 15-16th June – This annual festival near London Bridge is the perfect place to try some authentic tapas and wines from Spain’s most famous wine region. It’s held in Potters Fields Park, in the shadow of Tower Bridge, and entry is free. Wine experts Olly Smith and Susy Atkins will be hosting wine tasting workshops and walks and there will be cookery demos from renowned Spanish chef José Pizarro. Food fans can look forward to tapas from top London restaurants like Camino, Copita, Iberica, José and Bar Tozino.

Taste of London, 20-23rd June – London’s biggest summer food festival returns to Regent’s Park for a weekend of alfresco eating and drinking. Visitors can buy gourmet goodies from over 200 artisan producers and premium brands and take part in wine tastings and cookery demos. Celeb chefs like Wolfgang Puck and Bruno Loubet will be in attendance and 40 of London’s top restaurants will be showcasing their signature dishes. Amongst those already confirmed are L’Anima, Barbecoa, Maze, Club Gascon and The Cinnamon Club.

Great British Beer Festival, 13-17th August – Visitors to the epic annual beerfest at Olympia can look forward to live music, brewery-sponsored bars, pub games and lots more. With over 800 real ales, ciders, perries and foreign beers on offer, there’s definitely something for everyone.

Five Ways To Eat Well In April

 New Openings – April is a busy month! Beagle is already up and running in Hoxton and Kimchee have just launched their new takeaway concept on the Strand. Jason Atherton will open his third London restaurant, Social Eating House, this month and Alan Bird (ex-The Ivy) will open a five-storey venue (complete with basement bar and roof terrace) in Smithfield on the 29th. If all goes well, London will have a British brasserie in King’s Cross, a small plates joint in Canary Wharf, great pizza in Covent Garden, and Brazilian street food in Soho before the end of the month.

From April 16th-28th The Jam Tree’s Chelsea and Clapham restaurants are bringing the spirit of New Orleans to London with a Jambalaya pop-up. Executive Chef James Browne has travelled throughout New Orleans and will be recreating classics like blackened Creole hanger steak, deep-fried catfish tails with slaw and hot sauce, Louisiana crab cakes, Southern fried chicken, and – of course – jambalaya. With cocktails, live Dixieland jazz and NOLA funk DJs to look forward to, The Jam Tree should definitely be on your radar this month.

Roti Chai Chaat Shack & Bar – After a successful four-day pop-up last year, Roti Chai are bringing their shack back to Southbank for a month. You can find them in the ‘Festival Village’ space under Queen Elizabeth Hall until April 26th. Drop by for Indian street food buns filled with smoked tandoori chicken, smashed Punjabi pea and potato samosa, or Keralan spiced pulled pork. In the evening, the shack will serve Kingfisher beer and some of Roti Chai’s unique cocktails.

Each weekend in April, The Hideaway in Tufnell Park is hosting an indoor Picnic pop-up to get locals in the mood for summer. Swing by on a Saturday night for some British tapas or cure your hangover with their Sunday brunch menu which includes pancakes, smoothies and a Full English. On Sunday evenings, you can tuck into homemade burgers, roast chicken and chorizo Scotch eggs while the DJs spin laid-back weekend tunes. Places are limited, so book now!

The Peko Peko Kitchen team have moved into the kitchen at The Pipeline near Liverpool Street so that locals can enjoy their street food indoors with a drink or two.  At lunchtime, you can pick up a katsu curry, bowl of yakisoba or chicken rice bowl for about a fiver, while in the evening the menu expands to include things like gyoza, tempura fish and chips, and a teriyaki burger. Check out the full menus and info on their Facebook page.

Still hungry? Check out this great list of April pop-ups on the ilovecakeandtea blog.

Palm London’s Shrimp Bruno

When it’s cold in London, it can be tempting to stick to warming soups and stews when you’re cooking at home. If you’re tired of all that slow-cooking, then this recipe from The Palm London is the perfect antidote. It’s a simple but impressive dish that you can have on the table in 15 minutes.

The Belgravia restaurant is the first location in Europe for the family-owned steakhouse empire. The restaurants specialise in USDA prime 35-day aged beef and seafood dishes like broiled Nova Scotia lobster and lump crab cakes. Shrimp Bruno is one of Palm’s signature dishes and is named after a waiter in their Los Angeles restaurant back in the 1970s.

Ingredients: (For 1 serving) - 3 jumbo shrimp (raw, peeled, deveined and butterflied); flour (to dust); beaten egg; 2oz vegetable oil (for frying); 2 cloves of garlic (crushed); ½ lemon; 2oz white wine; 1 tsp Dijon mustard; 3oz chicken stock; 1 tsp of butter; salt; lemon wedge; chopped parsley.

1) Heat the oil in a shallow frying pan. Flour the shrimp, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg wash. Sauté the prawns until they are golden brown, adding the crushed garlic near the end.

2) When the shrimp are done, remove them from the pan and drain off the excess oil. Add the juice of the lemon and the white wine to the pan and let it reduce.

3) Add the mustard and chicken stock and stir to combine. Finally, stir in the butter to complete the sauce. Season with sea salt and then strain the sauce.

4) Plate the shrimp and pour over the sauce. Garnish with the lemon wedge and chopped parsley and serve with a glass of chilled Prosecco.

You can follow The Palm Restaurant on twitter or book a table on toptable.co.uk.

Coming Soon: Little Social, Koya, Kimchee To Go And Lots More

Restaurants opening in March:

 Little Social – Jason Atherton will open a small neighbourhood bistro opposite Pollen Street Social in Mayfair on March 18th. The interior is inspired by the bistros of Franch with oxblood banquettes, Parisian tables and vintage frames. The simple French menu will include dishes like slow-cooked egg with parmesan and squash soup, roast mushrooms and croutons; pork chop with butternut squash puree, pine nut, pecorino and endive; and goat’s milk rice pudding.
 TOZI - Due to open in Victoria in the next few weeks, TOZI boasts a 15-strong all-Italian kitchen team led by Maurilio Molteni (ex-Shoreditch House) and Daniele Pampagnin (ex-Cecconi’s). There will be Prosecco on tap, barrel-aged Negronis, and a menu of Venetian cicchetti, charcuterie and cheese platters, and dishes from their wood burning oven.
 3 Cromwell Road – The venue formerly known as Dorsia will reopen on March 22nd with a new ground floor cocktail bar and a basement club. The first floor restaurant, The Drawing Room, will serve one dish – steak frites with a choice of three salads and dressings.
 The Chabrot Bistrot team are rumoured to be opening a restaurant on Long Lane in late March. It’s believed that Chabrot Smithfield will take over the former Le Saint Julien site.
 Simply Fish will open a new restaurant at the Shoreditch Boxpark on March 20th.
 Street food heroes Homeslice Pizza will open a 50-seater restaurant in Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden, in late March. It will open every day from noon and will serve five types of pizza (a classic Margherita and four daily changing options). Takeaways will be available by the slice or whole pie.

Coming Soon:

Koya’s owner, John Devitt, has confirmed that they are opening a second noodle bar in Soho in mid-May. The new restaurant is right next door to Koya on the former site of Mooli’s, which closed recently but will apparently reopen somewhere in the City later this year. The new sister site will have room for just 25 diners but could be a useful overflow space for the ever-busy udon bar.

Following the success of their Holborn restaurant, the Kimchee team are launching a Korean takeaway concept in London this April. The first site will open on the Strand on April 8th, followed by a second store on New Oxford Street on April 22nd. Kimchee To Go will offer traditional Korean rice porridge (juk), a range of mix-your-own bibimbaps, Korean ‘sushi’ kimbap rolls, bento-style dosirak boxes, salads and noodle soups.

Silvena Rowe has parted ways with her first restaurant, Quince at the May Fair Hotel, and plans to launch a high street chain serving Turkish and Eastern Mediterranean food this autumn. Rowe told Caterer that the Ottoman Café chain will be ‘the Wagamama of Middle Eastern food’ and that she is currently looking at two sites – one in Soho and one in Knightsbridge.

Can’t wait? Check out our list of recently opened restaurants or give us a shout on twitter if you need some new London hot spots to try.

Chicken Five Ways For February

Roost Residency – From February 4th, the Roost street food truck will settle into Soho for a two month residency at The Sun & 13 Cantons. The Roost restaurant will open for lunch (Mon-Fri 12-3pm) and dinner (Mon-Sat 6-10pm). If you’ve tried their buttermilk fried chicken and chicken and chorizo burgers at Real Food Fest and Red Market, you can now enjoy it indoors with sides like fried potatoes in chicken gravy, pickled slaw and mushroom croquettes. The menu will also include new dishes like a chicken Caesar burger, a grilled chicken salad with butternut squash, livers with rye toast, and wings with chipotle ketchup. You can call ahead for a takeaway on 020 7734 0934.

Kimchi Cult – Following the success of the Mother Flipper residency, The Black Heart in Camden have persuaded another London food truck to come in from the cold. Kimchi Cult will be serving their unique Korean-inspired street food on Wednesday and Thursday evenings (5-10pm) and from noon until 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays. They're in-house until February 16th. Their kick-ass kimchi burger is on the menu but it was the dalk galbi chicken version that impressed The Picky Glutton and Thrillist recently. It's a £6 bargain so you can splash out on sides like Korean fried chicken wings or bulgogi fries topped with steak, sesame seeds and spring onions.

Thank Cluck - The Thank Cluck team are a relatively new addition to the London street food scene but they've already impressed chicken lovers at Camden Brewery, Netil Market and The White Horse in Hoxton. They're taking over the kitchen at The Dalston Victoria every Monday in February and serving proper fried chicken, spicy Korean wings and chicken buns. Locals can look forward to weekly specials like buttermilk biscuits with honey butter, mini chicken kievs, tornado potatoes and the occasional offal offering.

Tsuru’s Kara-age Burger - Tsuru’s London restaurants are well known for serving excellent sushi and London’s best katsu curry, but did you know they also do chicken kara-age? (Japan’s answer to fried chicken). This month, they will be launching a brand new kara-age burger (pictured below) and giving away the first 50 for free to Tsuru Loyalty Card holders. Keep an eye on their twitter feed and in store for details of when you can get your hands on one.

Gizzi At The Disco - Gizzi Erskine and Carl Clarke are hooking up for a night of deep-fried debauchery at Disco Bistro on Saturday 9th February. The menu is a junk food adventure, starting with 'snax' of chicken fried popcorn, fried chicken skin and chicken salt. The main event is Gizzi's buttermilk fried chicken wings (sticky, Korean and BBQ) and a fried chicken thigh roll with avocado, latkes, pickled onions and chipotle. It might be tempting to fill up on extras like chicken fat fries and head and trotter beans, but it's worth saving room for Carl's custard doughnuts with rhubarb curd and sherbet. Tickets are £35 per head (sittings at 6.30 and 9pm, includes 3 courses and a welcome cocktail) and can only be booked over the phone (07850 630 129).

Still hungry for chicken? Try one of London’s fowl-focused restaurants. If you like things simple and tasty, try the fuss-free but flavour-packed rotisserie chicken at Chicken Shop in Kentish Town or Clockjack Oven in Soho. For something a little different, head south to Brixton Market and try out the feisty double-fried Korean wings and tangy Thai thighs at Wishbone. Their classic fried chicken and sides like the Hot Mess are worth a try too.

If you're heading east, don't forget that Spit & Roast are still serving all kinds of chicken-based delights at The Princess Alice on Commercial Street. They're in the kitchen on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings (6-11pm) and Sunday lunchtimes.

News Bites: Forza Win, Red Market, The Malt House & More

Their fabulous fonduta evenings have sadly come to an end but the Forza Win team will be back this summer with more rooftop pizza events. If you’re tired of your usual haunts, an evening spent sipping cocktails, eating proper pizza and watching the sun set over the City comes highly recommended. The team are also working on a top secret project that will be announced soon, so keep an eye on their twitter feed  and sign up to their mailing list for details. If you’ve never been to one of their pop-ups, check out the Forza Win(ter) video below to see what you’re missing out on.

Forza Winter - The Final Chapter from Forza Win on Vimeo.

Chef Claude Bosi (Hibiscus) and his brother Cedric have opened their second London gastropub. Following the success of The Fox & Grapes in Wimbledon, their new venture – The Malt House – is situated close to Fulham Broadway. Marcus McGuiness (former head chef at Hibiscus) has put together a menu of modern British dishes like rib of beef cooked in hay, Devonshire crab gratin and a mutton and apricot hot pot. The pub also offers a great value set lunch menu of two courses for £17.50 or three for £19.50 and a childrens' menu for local foodies-in-training.

Red Market is back with a bang in Shoreditch this month. Under the care of Burger Bear Tom, the street food hub will be open Wednesday to Friday from 11 to 5pm, with more dates being added as the summer approaches. With help from social marketing app HitMeUp, Tom and Red Gallery are hoping to transform the urban wasteland into a community space where locals can indulge in some of London’s finest street food, surrounded by cutting edge art installations and graffiti. In February, the resident Burger Bear will be joined by street food heroes like Fleisch Mob, Pasta e Basta and The Bell & Brisket and there are rumours that The Rib Man, Mother Flipper, Dosa Deli and The Flying Squid will join him later in the year.

Chef Ravinder Bhogal (author of Cook in Boots) is hosting Saturday night supperclubs at the South Place Hotel throughout February. The ‘Fork Me Spoon Me’ suppers will be priced at £65 per person (wine pairings available as an added extra) and you can book by calling 020 3215 1270. The menu will change every week but guests can look forward to dishes like caramel quail with buckwheat noodle and banana blossom salad, braised venison with saffron risotto and salami crumbs, and Turkish delight semifreddo.

From Feb 1st, East London’s first pop-up rum cocktail bar will settle into the basement of Off Broadway. With help from Appleton Estate Rum, PortSide Parlour will serve classic rum-based drinks and hot sharing cocktails in a candlelit ‘captain’s quarters’ inspired lounge. The bar will also offer a Davy Jones’ locker system which will allow guests to buy their favourite bottle of rum and keep it in a locker with a vintage name tag around the neck. Each time you visit, you will be served from your own bottle at no extra charge.