by June was not unforgiving much to restaurant openings; The promise of an empty city due to holidays, or one under heat stress, means few are willing to gamble on a grand opening.
This year is no different, but there are still a handful of places coming, including a conquering world chef coming to the latest big-name hotel to open for the seemingly endless rich. Jackson Boxer, meanwhile, continues to run a new project, as does Jeremy King, and the Four Legs boys have turned an old chip up in Finsbury Park into a place you might come across on the Spanish coast. Now there is an idea – to open a resort in town. Some last minute ideas may still appear in July.
Akira Restaurant Back
The second Mandarin Oriental in London, in Mayfair, follows the pattern set by the Knightsbridge original: open a flashy kitchen, and fill it with a big-name chef. While the opening of SW1 went back in 2019 to Heston Blumenthal, Akira Back has bought a new Hanover Square offering. Although not yet widely known in the UK, Korean-born but Colarado-raised Back operates 28 locations internationally – in Las Vegas, Dubai, Paris and Seoul, among others – with more cities to come. his hit list (Rome and Florence). amongst). A busy man; For now, however, his full attention is on London, where he opened his first-class, 148-cover restaurant, offering gourmet modern Japanese. Those familiar with Back from Abroad will recognize his signature AB Tuna Pizza on the menu and his Perfect Storm sushi rolls, but we also get our own dishes, with the likes of Dynamite Lobster, where pickled shimeji and micro -corianders with it, and “Highland Wagyu strip steak (we call it sirloin) with yuzu kosho jus both exclusive to London. ABar Lounge – which respects its initials, this guy – and a small Korean chef’s table, Dosa, will follow later in the year, the former with DJs playing on weekends, the latter rather quiet.
Open now, 22 Hanover Square, W1S 1JP, mandarinoriental.com
Studio Five
A reopening, but one that appears to be a fair amount of work. Studio Five is located within Wembley Park’s massive 1,200-seat Troubadour theatre, and is partly inspired by the site’s history: Fox Films, ITV, Limehouse Studios were all once here, with the Beatles performing here in 1964, and Freddie Mercury recording the These Are the Days of Our Lives video just six months before he died. As such, dishes will be accompanied by a roster of live performances — which could include crispy fried whole aubergine with coconut raita, or a riff on fish and chips with crushed pea puree and chilli ketchup. Lively is, in fact, the word. The opening date, June 8, coincides with the opening of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express at the theatre; expect the place to be packed, pre and post theatre.
8 June, 128 Wembley Park Drive, HA9 0EW, studio five.restaurant
Henri
Had an average time at the Henrietta hotel with food. He recruited Ollie Dabbous for the menu in 2017, and while it was difficult to gauge exactly how involved Dabbous was or wasn’t, the project was praised — if not a lucrative trade. The Italian Supper Club came into existence in 2020. Here’s hoping that Jackson Boxer (Orasay, Brunswick House, Selfridge’s recent success) can make the most of this prime Covent Garden location with Henri, a new bistro inspired by Paris . Other details are still scarce, but drinks will come from the Experimental Group, who own the place. Boxer is a talent, bistros are in, and expectations are high.
10 June, 14-15 Henrietta Street, WC2E 8QH, henriettahotel.com
The park
After achieving success by reviving Le Caprice as Arlington, Jeremy King continues his journey back in 2024 with new material. This time it is the Park, on the corner of Bayswater and Queensway, which he told the Standard was “a leap into the unknown”. The details remain firmly under wraps, but King is characterized at the opening as “a large contemporary cafe”, but made as a smart American restaurateur – Danny Meyer’s idea – could. Food will be simple, much of it grilled, and sourcing will be key. It will be large, at 190 covers, and has been carefully designed so that each table, most of them booths, feels like the best in the house. “There’s this smidgen of a diner feel about the place,” says King – although there won’t be jukeboxes and filter coffee.
Late June, to be confirmed, 123 Bayswater Road, W2 3JH
Tollington’s
Four Legs Ed McIlroy and Jamie Allan, the chef duo behind the popular Plimsoll pub, have taken over Finsbury Park’s Tollington’s, which used to be a small, bare-bones chippy (albeit a good-looking one on it). McIlroy and Allan told the Standard that they would be “paying homage to the original fish and chip restaurant in the neighborhood” but would give it a “European twist”. Expect something you’d see on the coast of Spain, just like the two recently did while on tour — the kind of thing to grab for a few drinks, a few snacks. The front will be for walk-ins willing to stand, the back will be more of a restaurant. However, old government should not be put out too much: much of the original, down the fryers, is still there.
Late June, to be confirmed, 172 Páirc na Tolldoun, N4 3AJ, @tollingtons.fishbar
