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Best London restaurants 2017: Our predictions for the year ahead

By CW Contributor on 21/12/2016

Culture Whisper's crop of the best restaurants pegged to open in London in 2017
Featuring Masterchef judge Monica Galetti's first ever restaurant, Rick Stein's first ever London restaurant (forty years in the making) and the new younger siblings of some of our absolute favourite London restaurants.
We're looking at you, Casse-Croute and Riding House Café...

Mere, Fitzrovia

How it'll turn heads in 2017: Monica Galetti, the celebrity chef best known for her no-nonsense judging on BBC2’s Masterchef: The Professionals, is behind this opening.

Go for: Galetti's razor-sharp take on fusing the classic with the contemporary. And her husband David's expert wine pairings.

WHEN

01 Jan 2017 – 01 Jan 2020, TBC

WHERE

74 Charlotte Street
W1T 4QJ

Bala Baya is bringing fresh Israeli food to Southwark

Bala Baya, Southwark

How it'll turn heads in 2017: Tel Aviv-born head chef Eran Tibi is a Yotam Ottolenghi protégée.

Go for: London's first 'Gazoz bar'. The traditional Turkish sparling drink is flavoured with plum, dig, thyme and watermelon.

WHEN

Open from 09 Jan 2017, See website for full opening times

WHERE

Bala Baya, Southwark
229 Union Street, London, SE1 0LR

Pique-Nique will specialise in Poulet de Bresse

Pique-Nique restaurant, Bermondsey

How it'll turn heads in 2017: This is the much-awaited follow-up to Bermondsey Street's celebrated French restaurant, Casse-Croute.

Go for: The Poulet de Bresse – an especially tender breed of chicken served here, sourced exclusively from an eastern province of France. The sommelier will definitely have a scandalously good red to pair it with too.

WHEN

01 Jan 2017 – 01 Jan 2020, TBC

WHERE

32 Tanner Street
SE1 3TD

Rail House Cafe, Victoria

How it'll turn heads in 2017: Esteemed Fitrovia eatery Riding House Café is somewhere you'd take your in-laws. Here's their new venture.

Go for: A peek at the ambitious new Nova Victoria hub, which will gain momentum after this, its first big opening.

Magpie restaurant, central London

How it'll turn heads in 2017: This is the follow-up to Hackney favourite Pidgin, from celebrated food writer James Ramsden and Indie musician Sam Herlihy.

Go for: The return of trolley dining (all 30 dishes are served from mobile trolleys).

Claude Bosi, London Restaurant Opening 2017

How it'll turn heads in 2017: Bosi gained two Michelin stars for recently-closed Hibiscus, and he's going for more here.

Go for: French dishes focussing on seafood with laser-like focus and exactness.

WHEN

01 Apr 2017 – 01 Apr 2020, Opening TBC

The Ned, The City

How it'll turn heads in 2017: It's the next Soho House Group incarnation. With seven restaurants inside, this is huge.

Go for: A sneaky peak at the new direction (in essence, the huge expansion) for the Soho House Group are undergoing

Rick Stein at The Depot, Barnes

How it'll turn heads in 2017: A prime time television favourite, but with actual high quality cooking to boot, Stein's first London restaurant has been forty years in the making.

Go for: The Thameside views from the conservatory.

WHEN

01 Jan 2017 – 01 Jan 2021, For daily opening times, please see website below

WHERE

125 Mortlake High Street
SW14 8SN