City Eating

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.

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.

Festive Foodie Dates For Your Diary

Forza Win(ter) – Following the success of their pizza pop-ups this summer, the Forza Win team are back with a rooftop fonduta supperclub for the winter months. With the help of huge sharing tables, vintage rugs and fairy lights, they’ve turned an East London roof space into the perfect cosy setting for an evening of Northern Italian style fondue. Alongside the pots of bubbling cheese, they’ll be serving Ginger Pig meats, seasonal British veg, fantastic bread from the E5 Bakehouse, and Gelupo dessert pots. Tickets are £30 and include your three-course meal, a hot drink on arrival, and some great entertainment. Tickets are selling extremely quickly, with some dates already sold out and rumours they may have to extend into January, so get in quick!

FEAST – 6-9th December – After a sold-out summer event in SE1, FEAST is back for the festive season with a new (covered and heated!) location in Islington Square. The fantastic line-up includes a live sensory experiment from Bompas & Parr, a Ceviche DJ set, pizza making with the Pizza Pilgrims, and plenty of live music. On the food front, there will be tasty treats from street food heroes like Rainbo, Yum Bun, Anna Mae’s, Big Apple Hot Dogs, Lucky Chip, and Bocaface, as well as top restaurants like Tonkotsu, Delhi Grill, Elliot’s, Mishkin’s, Naamyaa Café and lots more. Tickets are on sale now.

Real Food Christmas Market – 14-16th and 20-23rd December – The Real Food Christmas Market is the perfect place to pick up seasonal gifts and foodie treats like sparkling wine, artisan cheese and chocolate. You can pick up a proper Italian panettone and mince pies from The Flour Station or collect a free-range bronze turkey or goose from the Thoroughly Wild Meat Co and Label Anglais. The Southbank Christmas Market is also running until December 23rd, so look out for the German-style huts lining the river.

Chocolate Festival – 7-9th December – Also on the Southbank in December, the Chocolate Festival is a must-visit for London’s chocaholics. Sample the delights of some of the world’s finest chocolatiers like William Curley, Damian Allsop, Marc Demarquette and Paul A Young.  Grab a proper hot chocolate and pop into the Cookery Theatre for demos and tastings from The Dessert Deli, Valrhona, Rococo and Outsider Tart. The festival is free to attend so you’ll have more money to spend on stocking fillers!

Yalla Yalla Launches Shoreditch Pop-Up

Following the success of their Southbank shack this summer, Lebanese street food specialists Yalla Yalla are launching a six-month pop-up in Shoreditch from late November.

The pop-up is alfresco, although diners will be safe from the elements underneath a canopy with heaters and cushioned seating. There will be Lebanese lounge music and shisha, as well as belly dancers and DJs at the weekend.

The menu will offer some of Yalla Yalla’s popular mezze dishes like man’ouche lahme (oven-baked flatbreads topped with spiced minced lamb), samboussek jibne (pastry filled with feta, halloumi and mint), and falafel with garlic yoghurt sauce. Diners can also look forward to wraps with fillings like chicken shawarma and soujoc (charcoal grilled Lebanese sausages) and a selection of dips, sides, salads and pastries to eat on-site or takeaway.

A short list of Lebanese wines and beers will be available, alongside fresh juices and signature cocktails like the Cherry Chilli Caipirinha and Beirut Sangria.

The pop-up will be at 186 Shoreditch High Street and will be open seven days a week from 11am until late. Stay tuned for the official launch date. In the meanwhile, you can visit Yalla Yalla’s restaurants in Soho and Winsley Street and their kiosk in King’s Cross station.

Coming Soon: House Of Wolf, Bibigo, Caravan King's Cross & More

Caravan King’s Cross – Following the success of the Exmouth Market original, Caravan King’s Cross will open in the Grade II-listed Granary Building on August 13th. An on-site coffee roastery will supply the restaurant and coffee bar with seasonally changing espresso blends and a ‘retail wall’ will sell their various beans and blends. The restaurant itself will feature an open kitchen and seating for 80 inside and 40 out on the terrace. Like the original, it will serve a menu of ‘food well-travelled’, from breakfast and weekend brunch through to lunch and dinner.

Draft House Charlotte – On August 14th, the latest addition to Draft House family will open at 43 Goodge Street, on the corner of Charlotte Street. The new venue is the fifth Draft House to open in London and the first in the West End. Like its siblings, it will serve an impressive range of cask and keg beers and a menu of hearty pub grub. The lunch and dinner menu will include Draft House classics like foot-long scratchings, the Meat Bomb, and the hamburger specials – The Yolk, The Smoke and The Poke. Fitzrovia locals can also swing by for breakfast dishes like avocado, chilli and lime on toast or Cumberland sausage baps.

Bibigo – Korean restaurant chain, Bibigo, will open its first European restaurant in Soho on September 1st. The menu, created by Masterchef Korea judge Leo Kang, promises fresh, healthy and authentic Korean food with a focus on the country’s national dish – bibimbap. The rice-based dishes are topped with meat, egg, vegetables and chilli paste and will be assembled to order by the Bibigo team. The restaurant will also offer grilled dishes like beef bulgogi and a selection of Korean snacks and sauces that diners can buy to use at home. (Bibigo is currently soft open with 20% off food until August 4th and then 10% off until it opens fully in September.)

Naamyaa Café – Restaurateur Alan Yau will open a modern Bangkok style café at the Angel Building in Islington this October. Naamyaa will be open all day and the menu will offer a mix of ‘Siam heritage classics, Bangkok street food and Western café staples’. The name refers to a sauce that is cooked in traditional terracotta pots and eaten with fresh rice noodles. These dishes will feature heavily on the menu. The restaurant’s interior, designed by David Archer, will feature rustic Thai bricks, Siamese decorative tiles and modern Perspex and LED lighting.

House of Wolf – In October, the team behind Madame Geisha in Brighton will open a three- storey Victorian drinking den on Upper Street. Cocktail lovers can get their fix in the Apothecary Bar which will serve ‘experimental elixirs’ inspired by Victorian recipes and made using cutting edge mixology techniques. The ground floor Music Hall will host a mix of vaudeville cabaret, performance theatre, literary salons and dance parties. House of Wolf will also host monthly pop-up chef residencies, showcasing some of the UK’s most exciting culinary talents. Guests can dine in the opulent Attic Room or the Parlour – an elegant dining room decked out with vintage chandeliers and bespoke hand-printed fabrics.

Coming Soon: Donostia, Beard To Tail, Tonkotsu Ramen & More

Donostia – On June 6^th, Donostia will open on Seymour Place, bringing a taste of the Basque Country to Marylebone. The head chef will be Tomasz Baranski who previously worked at Barrafina and Urepel in San Sebastian, where he learnt to cook traditional Basque dishes. Diners can expect top notch charcuterie, ‘pintxo’ appetisers like crispy prawns with ham, stuffed piquillo peppers and mini Kobe beef burgers, and Spanish classics like tortilla and croquetas. The tapas menu will offer traditional Basque dishes like crispy Tolosa-style beef tongue, lamb chops a la plancha, and cod cheeks in pil-pil sauce. The owners have made use of their wine import business to put together an impressive wine list which includes Txakoli – a dry, slightly sparkling white wine which is a perfect match for tapas.

Beard to Tail – The team behind cocktail institution Callooh Callay will run a four-day pop-up restaurant from June 12^th-15^th at the former Marie Lloyd pub in Shoreditch. The pop-up will give diners a sneak preview of the Beard to Tail restaurant which will open in September. (The location has yet to be announced). In addition to some suitably creative cocktails, the restaurant will serve dishes like the ‘Rumpie-Pumpie for 2’ – slow-roasted Old Spot pork rump with a sage and wild garlic crust and homemade apple sauce. Stay tuned to their twitter feed, @BeardtoTail, for news.

Tonkotsu – In early July, Emma Reynolds and Ken Yamada (the team behind Tsuru Sushi) will open a ramen bar on Soho’s Dean Street. Tonkotsu’s concise menu will offer authentic ramen noodle dishes made with flavourful stocks simmered for hours in-house, as well as homemade gyoza dumplings and crab korokke. Drinks will include Japanese beers and whiskies, sake and top quality juices.

Pizza East – The Soho House group are opening a branch of their Pizza East mini-chain in Kentish Town in August. The huge ex-Grand Union site on Highgate Road will also house their newest project, Chicken Shop. (Possibly an ironic take on your classic high street chicken chain.)

Check out our Coming Soon list for more info about restaurants opening in London this summer. May is proving particularly busy with HIX at The Tramshed, The Gaslight Grill, Sonny’s Kitchen, and Shrimpy’s (a ‘Calexican’ eatery in King’s Cross) all opening before the end of the month.

Coming Soon: Vivek Singh's Third Restaurant, Cinnamon Soho

In mid March, acclaimed chef Vivek Singh will open his third London restaurant, Cinnamon Soho. Situated on the former Red Bar site on Kingly Street, the new venture is described as ‘Cinnamon Kitchen’s younger, cheekier sibling’. Vivek’s sleek but laid-back City restaurant is hugely popular with Liverpool Street suits and the W1 offshoot sounds like a perfect fit for Soho.

With neighbours like Polpo and Bob Bob Ricard for company, Cinnamon Soho hopes to win over the West End crowd with a relaxed all-day menu and a wallet-friendly set lunch option. Theatre-goers can enjoy pre- and post-theatre menus, along with a late-night supper menu of tasting plates. The restaurant is just a stones throw from the boutiques of Carnaby Street, so shoppers can pop in to refuel and try out the exotic cocktails.

Vivek and head chef Ramachandran Raju have created a unique menu that combines modern Indian fare with a nod to British favourites. Diners can look forward to dishes like ox cheek vindaloo, seared sea bass with aubergine-potato crush, and sticky desi pork back ribs. The menu also has an unusual range of pies with fillings such as rogan josh or Keralan seafood curry, and a range of Indian-inspired balls, including a Bangla-Scotch egg.

Cinnamon Soho is due to open on March 15th. Keep an eye on their Facebook page and twitter feed for all the latest news and competitions. You could even win an invite to their launch party!

Date For Your Diary: The StockMKT, Bermondsey, 2nd December

No plans next Friday? Why not swap a night in front of the TV for a trip to an exciting new night market in Bermondsey Square? From 5pm-10pm on Friday 2nd December, The StockMKT will be recreating the buzz of night markets in the Far East but with a distinctly London flavour. Expect good music, great street food, and plenty of shopping opportunities!

The dark December evening will be brightened by bespoke lighting from their sponsors, Light Collective and Aether Lighting, and a special StockMKT music mix lovingly curated by DJs Culture Cuts. There will be plenty of opportunities to spend your hard-earned cash on unique and unusual goodies provided by a select bunch of creative independent makers and retailers. You can even indulge your artistic side with a do-it-yourself creative craft workshop from Art Stars.

Some of London’s finest street food vendors will be in attendance and foodies can look forward to things like piping hot churros, spicy Korean sliders, Big Apple Hot Dogs, Indian inspired burgers, meaty Mexican treats and delicious cakes from the Sweet Tooth Factory. If it gets cold, you can warm up with hot and spicy seasonal drinks served by the staff from Shortwave, Bermondsey Square’s independent cinema and bar.

If street food’s not your thing, then book ahead at local favourite Zucca or try your luck at squeezing into Jose Pizarro’s excellent tapas bar. Top it all off with cocktails at the Hide Bar and you’ve got yourself a first class start to the weekend! You can keep up to date with all The StockMKT news on twitter and their Facebook page.

Coming Soon: The Botanist’s Pop-Up Oyster & Chapel Down Bar

There’s no doubt that pop-ups have been big business this summer, with everything from lobster roll shacks to Bourbon & BBQ trucks turning up to fuel London’s love of all things temporary. If you’ve spent the summer sipping Bombay Pimms at Dishoom’s Chowpatty Beach Bar or tracking down blink-and-you'll-miss-it fried chicken in Shoreditch, then you’ll be pleased to hear that the fun isn’t over yet.

Next weekend, pop-up fans should head to Chelsea for The Botanist’s suitably sophisticated oyster bar pop-up in the middle of Sloane Square. From 16th-18th September, guests can look forward to daily performances from a solo saxophonist and copious amounts of Chapel Down’s lovely sparkling wine from Kent.

September is widely heralded as the official start of oyster season and The Botanist’s bar will be fully stocked with a range of bivalves, including West Mersea pearls, Brown Sea Island Dorset rocks and Duchy natives. Individually priced at £2 each, you can enjoy a quick pit stop with an oyster and glass of fizz or indulge in a leisurely lunch with half a dozen or a dozen priced at £9.50 and £18.

If oysters leave you cold, there will be a selection of fresh seafood available, sourced from Billingsgate Market. Choices will include whole dressed Dorset crab; poached Isle of Benbecula langoustines; and a classic Atlantic prawn cocktail with avocado.

Locals can celebrate the last days of summer with some award-winning Chapel Down Vintage Reserve Brut, available by the glass (£6) or bottle (£30), while designated drivers can sip on a ‘Pomona Fizz’ mocktail. (The refreshing blend of pomegranate, pear, honey, lime and tonic that we enjoyed at The Botanist’s City sister, Chiswell Street Dining Rooms).

The oyster bar will be open from 12pm - 7.30pm on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th, and from 12pm - 5.30pm on Sunday 18th September. You can follow @The_BotanistSW1 for all the latest updates over the weekend. Fingers crossed for sunshine!

News Bites: London Cocktail Week, Jose Pizarro, CUT & More

London Cocktail Week is back this year with an extended run from Friday 7th to Sunday 16th October. There will be tastings, parties and boozy master classes with top mixologists happening all over town, plus the LCW bus to take you from one to the other. (The buses are sponsored by Bacardi so there will be bartenders serving mini cocktails at each stop). This year the ‘week’ has been extended to include The Whisky Show at the Vinopolis (7th-8th October) and RumFest at Olympia (15th-16th October). Register now for a free wristband so you can enjoy bespoke £4 cocktails at over 100 London bars - twice as many as last year. We’ll be posting maps, suggested crawls and more info nearer the time, so watch this space.

Can’t wait for Cocktail Week? Head for Pearl Restaurant & Bar in Holborn where executive chef Jun Tanaka and mixologist Anthony Balik have created a quirky liquid salad bar. From now until 30th September, cocktail aficionados can enjoy three summery cocktails with side salad garnishes, priced at £13.75 each. Try the classic Waldorf – walnut vodka muddled with celery, apple and grapes – or the Greek – a Mediterranean blend of gin, delicate tomato consommé and cucumber, served with feta and olive mini skewers. We like the look of the Thai – a sunset yellow blend of chilli-infused cachaça, mango, papaya, lime and palm sugar syrup. The Thai noodle salad on the side is a perfect amuse bouche before moving on to the dinner in the restaurant.

Following the success of last year’s £1 sale, Cafe Luc will be doing it all again from 8th August to 8th September. If you book a table on the designated secret booking day, you could enjoy a set menu for lunch or dinner at their Marylebone brasserie for a quid! You can choose your preferred date between 8th August and 8th September and there will be ten set menus to choose from each day. To find out when to book, simply subscribe to their mailing list, join them on Facebook or follow them on twitter.

D&D London have announced their plans to redevelop the ground floor and basement of the Old Bengal Warehouse on New Street off Bishopsgate. The 10,000 sq ft development will include a specialist wine shop, bars and two restaurants – a steakhouse and a fish restaurant. Both venues will have al fresco seating within the building’s walled courtyards. It is set to open to the public in Spring 2012.

This September, Wolfgang Puck will launch his first European restaurant, CUT, at the Dorchester’s Park Lane Hotel. The restaurant, which is named after the original in Beverly Hills, will feature a 76-seater ground floor dining room and a central staircase leading up to a mezzanine library and Bar 45. The recently revealed menu boasts ‘the widest and best selection of beef available in London’, with prime cuts sourced from the USA, Australia, Chile and New Zealand. Diners can also enjoy dishes like bone marrow flan with mushroom marmalade; Scottish lobster with black truffle sabayon; and strawberry and cream Baked Alaska. The breakfast menu includes American-inspired treats like blueberry buttermilk pancakes with whipped bourbon-maple butter and salt beef hash cake with poached eggs. 

Spanish Openings – Jose Pizarro’s tapas bar has received rave reviews from critics and locals alike, so it’s great to hear that his restaurant – Pizarro – will open in October. The more formal eatery will be taking over the Bermondsey Kitchen site at 194 Bermondsey Street and will feature a traditional Spanish menu and London’s first Cava bar. Meanwhile, Iberica’s excecutive chef Nacho Manzano will open a second restaurant at Cabot Square this Autumn. The Canary Wharf outpost will offer the same traditional Spanish dishes as the Great Portland Street original, as well as beers and wines that were previously not exported outside Spain.