by Eight is the magic number this month, with a quartet of new openings launching on May 8. One of them, Julie’s, is one of the most famous restaurants from the seventies, and for anyone whose taste in restaurants runs to the revisionist, there it is. It is also worth knowing that the Dining Room at The Goring hotel will open on May 20 with a swish new look, ditto Paradise in Soho, which will be going on a tasting menu only from May 28.
Otherwise, take up new ideas at one of the London restaurant launches below: everyone is sure to put a spring in your step this May.
Café na Britannia
This self-consciously “British” restaurant comes to Peckham courtesy of Richard Crampton-Platt and Alex Purdie, two Brits who met while working at Bocca di Lupo, although their first venture will not follow the strictly Soho restaurant approach about regional Italian cooking. Instead, expect the kind of dishes that might arrive at a dream children’s birthday (or hungover lunch, which is the same thing): spaghetti carbonara with cream and a fried egg on top, or a “full” breakfast British” of fennel sausage. , fried pizza and Tuscan beans. Lined interiors will reveal the Italian cafes of yesteryear, although it’s a very contemporary idea to source as many ingredients as possible from local food shops in Peckham.
Opens: May 8
191 Rye Lane, SE15 4TP, cafebritaly.com
The Hero
With regulars at The Pelican in Notting Hill including Princess Eugenie and Dua Lipa and the Beckhams hitting the back of The Bull in Charlbury, you can expect to find pop royalty and the real thing somewhere on one of the four floors of this third pub. from the same team of well-spoken Cotswold men. The ground bar is the place for toast and a pint of cheese, the clever grill on the first floor cooks fish and meat over an open kitchen fire – lamb chops and a quarter of cod, say – the Library bar above makes pre-christening cocktails pour out. for comedy nights, and there is a private room at the top. All in all, Maida Vale is the perfect local for a well-heeled area with a quirky light on places to eat and drink.
Opens: May 8 (pubs), May 15 (grill)
55 Shirland Road, W9 2JD, thehero9.com
Tell
Is there a more exotic London restaurant than Fish Island in Hackney Wick? Local couple Lynsey Coughlan and Lindsay Lewis – who will be the equivalent of Sam and Sam Clark in 2020 – have a bluechip pedigree: Coughlan is a former director of Ginger Pig butchers and advises Borough Market on animal welfare and provenance; Lewis is a graphic designer whose clients include Daylesford Organic and The Gentlemen Baristas. Expect a good-looking space with good-for-the-planet food and drink, from seasonal British and Irish breakfast, brunch and lunch, to coffee, wines and cocktails.
Opens: May 8
3 Rookwood Way, E3 2XT, inisfishisland.com
Julie’s
On the heels of Arlington comes another reboot of a 20th century classic – and one with an even older vintage than Le Caprice. Julie’s first opened in 1969 and has served as a barometer for the beau monde every decade since — McCartney and Jagger in the Seventies, Princess Di and Tom Cruise in the Eighties, the Gallagher brothers British-era Cool Britannia — before they fell out of favor as Londoners. the social axis went east, finally closing in 2022. Now that Notting Hill has London’s hottest tables again, surely Holland Park is the new Hoxton? Party like it’s 1969 with seafood towers and chandeliers, martini trolleys and lobster soufflés: proof that if you hang around long enough, everything will eventually come back into fashion.
Opens: May 8
35 Portland Road, W11 4LW, juliesrestaurant.com
Kioku
Is the Kioku restaurant to finally make the OWO hotel an attractive dining destination after the muted reception extended to the likes of Mauro Colagreco and Café Lapérouse? The rooftop location, in particular – especially the private room enclosed by a turret – is stunning – but with Endo Kazutoshi behind Niju, Sumi and the Michelin-starred Endo at the Rotunda, the chef has the chops to make sure what’s on the plate looks good. as well as what is out the window. The big idea is Japanese food with a Mediterranean influence such as nori pesto cutlery – sushi master Kazutoshi Nagoya sent him to work at the Japanese embassy in Madrid – he just happened to have the biggest saké collection in Europe.
Opens: 15 May
The OWO, 57 Whitehall, SW1A 2BX, kiokubyendo.com
Also open
Hello
The name means “on the wave” in Italian and refers to the technique of tossing rice in a pan to create the flowing texture of the perfect risotto: the house specialty of this ingredient-driven newcomer that offers three regularly changing main courses.
Opens: May 2
67 Charlotte Street, W1T 4PH, allonda.co.uk
Fellini
Readers with fond memories may remember Chelsea’s Paparazzi Cafe from the nineties; now owner Tony Aalam is opening this veggie-friendly Italian near Brompton Cross just in time for the Chelsea Flower Show.
Opens: May 6
149 Draycott Avenue, SW3 3AB, thefellini.com
SMS BN
Don’t mind queuing for Supernova? Try this all-day takeaway burger specialist who sends out wagyu and vegan patties, as well as egg muffins for brekkie and salted caramel milkshakes.
Opens: 20 May
126 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0LA, smsh-bn.com
Chez Roux
The launch of Michel Roux in London since the closure of Le Gavroche will see the chef back on familiar territory at the Langham. He has moved from Roux at the Landau to the hotel’s Palm Court to offer retro British dishes inspired by his childhood in Kent in the 1960s.
Opens: May 22
The Langham, 1C Portland Place, W1B 1JA, langhahotels.com
Bad
Dalston cocktail bar Dona is opening a restaurant upstairs, serving a Latin American menu of empanadas, cassava fries and tamales, all made fresh in house and washed down with mezcal margaritas.
Opens: 24 May
92 High Street Stoke Newington, N16 7NY, bardonalondon.com
@mrbenmccormack
