Best new restaurants: London 2021's hottest gastronomic ventures

INO

INO is the latest venture from Andreas Labridis, Nikos Roussos and Georgianna Hiliadaki, co-founders of Michelin Guide Greek restaurant OPSO in Marylebone and two Michelin-starred Funky Gourmet in Athens. Now, the starry team are bringing their elevated cuisine, contemporary interiors and warm service to Soho. Here, the focus is on charcoal-scorched cooking muddled with the dining culture found at classic tavernas across Greece. As with OPSO, the menu is divided into plates designed for sharing, with a metsovone croquette with fig jam; iberico-based souvlaki; and an octopus taco among the versatile offering.

Bibi

When the team behind JKS Restaurants (Hoppers, Bao, Gymkhana…) announces a new opening, we’re all ears. The latest launch backed by the group is the first solo venture of chef Chet Sharma (pictured), who’s spent the past four years working as group development chef for JKS and before that, honing his culinary skills in the hallowed kitchens of Simon Rogan's L'Enclume, Mark Birchall's Moor Hall and Andoni Aduriz’s two Michelin-starred Mugaritz. At Bibi, which translates as ‘lady of the house’ in Urdu, Sharma’s focus is on contemporary Indian cuisine, bolstered with a little inspiration from the teachings of Sharma’s own bibi. The menu is divided into four sections and features bar snacks, small plates, skewered dishes and, of course, a dessert course. For those who prefer their sweets in liquid form, the cocktails menu here is refreshing – both in terms of ingredients and inventiveness – with a champagne lassi and sparkling tea among the light and bubbly concoctions.

Sidechick

Chicken-focused restaurants may be more chick than chic, but cleverly fusing the two is the latest opening from the team behind Patty & Bun. Through a modestly sized menu, Sidechick, which opens in Marylebone in May, is a loving exhibit of just how versatile roast chicken can be. And with Luke Frankie, former head chef of Islington gastropub The Drapers Arms heading up the kitchen, we’re expecting big, bold flavours from this coal-fired roastery. Vegetarians are catered for too, through vegetable-stacked flatbreads and a main of smoky aubergine. The cocktail menu is of near equal pull, with punchy signature serves including the Tang Tang (pisco, Aperol, tangerine juice, lemon juice, orgeat and egg white). What’s more, with the team who designed the gorgeous, light dining rooms of pasta hotspots Padella and Trullo behind the interiors, Sidechick will likely be a space to linger.

Cin Cin

Cin Cin started life back in 2013 when chef-owner David Toscano launched a pasta van in Brighton as a passion project on the side of his full-time job as a lawyer. Three years later, Toscano ditched his suits for good, donning an apron more permanently and bedding Cin Cin into a bricks and mortar building off thriving North Laine. It soon grew a reputation as the best pasta restaurant in the city, spawning a second site in Hove in 2018. Now, Toscano is bringing his concept to London, opening in the former site of lauded seafood restaurant Bonnie Gull on Foley Street. The intimate restaurant seats up to 30 and focuses on seasonal Italian dishes which may, depending on the time of year you visit, include: crab arancino with warm basil emulsion; ravioli of truffled potato with asparagus and confit yolk; and velvety date ice cream affogato with Tosolini liqueur. Cin Cin indeed!

Chameleon

Within every flush of new restaurants will be one gastronomic thirst trap set to lure in the glossy crowd and become the new place to see and be seen. Right now, that restaurant is Chameleon, Marylebone’s Middle Eastern ‘multi-experiential space’ headed up by Israeli chef Elior Balbul and restaurateur Alex Ghalleb, of Gold and Soho House acclaim. Set in the Grade I listed quarters of One Marylebone, dining tables spill out onto the terrace and pop up again in nine bespoke greenhouses.

Diners can look forward to a Tel Aviv-inspired sharing menu, while the venue will also host health and wellness sessions in collaboration with Xscape Studio, private events in its majestic Soane and Gallery, and late-night dancing and DJ sets in an underground, 400-guest capacity private club. The dress code at Chameleon is smart-casual, but not all here is formal; dogs are welcome to join the table for weekend brunch and the courtyard will welcome in the masses for a weekend food market too.

Imad’s Syrian Kitchen

Following a successful string of pop-ups and a crowdfunding campaign, Syrian chef Imad Alarnab is opening his first UK bricks-and-mortar restaurant on the top floor of prestigious foodie haven, Soho’s Kingly Court. The chef started out as a restaurateur in the Syrian capital of Damascus, before the war forced him to flee the city in 2015. Travelling through Europe to the UK, he cooked for refugees along the way and raised a considerable sum for the charity Choose Love. Opening his own restaurant in such a prime location is a well-deserved feat for Alarnab, not to mention a chance for London foodies to sample the gastronomic highlights of his far-flung birthplace.

Fenn

Fenn is the new venture from the team behind Hackney’s lauded seasonal dining outfit Nest. The expanding concept is the love-child of three friends, chef Johnnie (formerly of the Michelin-starred kitchen at The Harwood Arms), front-of-house manager Luke and events specialist Toby. As would be expected for a concept venturing from east to west, the Fulham outpost is a little more upmarket in appearance. Here, head chef Joe Laker joins Johnnie in the kitchen, applying a similar farm-to-fork approach to that found at Nest, channelling this through quality, sustainably-sourced produce. Meats come from HG Walter, seafood from Cornwall’s Flying Fish and Scotland’s Keltic Seafare, and veg from small business champions Shrub Provisions.

Heritage Dulwich

The pandemic has postponed the ‘launch proper’ of new West Dulwich modern Indian restaurant Heritage, but the team behind it are raring to go. So much so that, in this interim period, they’ve launched a takeaway service featuring a range of set dining sharing boxes (£38 – £42 for two). The restaurant comes from executive chef Dayashankar Sharma, who honed his skills in the kitchens of Michelin-starred restaurants, Tamarind and Zaika among them. At Sharma’s first sole venture, the emphasis is on putting contemporary spins on traditional recipes and celebrating the dishes of lesser-known regions. Signature plates include: Mysore bonda, murge makhani, Kasmiri lamb, masala aloo and dal makhani.

Los Mochis

New Japanese-Mexican fusion restaurant Los Mochis is putting an exciting new spin on Pan-Pacific cuisine, but the twinkling dining room is worth the trip alone (the foliage and fairy light-dotted ceiling is especially dreamy). This Notting Hill joint boasts an extensive gourmet taco menu, an equally impressive collection of tequilas and mezcals, and original murals by Mexican artist Jorge Tellaeche.

The Farrier Camden

Taking over a Grade II listed site, The Farrier is not only Camden Market’s first proper pub, it’ll be serving up the Michelin-starred cuisine of chef Ash Finch, who has built his reputation in the kitchens of luxury hotel The Langham and glossy St James’s restaurant Wild Honey. A new go-to for tip-top roasts, The Farrier sources its meats from HG Walter and also stocks a lengthy list of natural and organic wines. A courtyard firepit makes al fresco dining here an appealing prospect right now.

The Red Duck

The Red Duck officially opened in the pre-Christmas period when the long winter lockdown was imminent. As a result, the majority of its growing customer base have only been able to sample its modern Cantonese specialties via home delivery. The Balham restaurant is the first solo venture of chef Chi San, who has worked in the industry for 30 years with a stint under the formidable British-Chinese restaurateur Alan Yau. Look forward to masterful takes on the classics including fresh panko prawn balls, char siu pork and hakka paneer with black bean sauce.

Eataly

The opening of a London branch of Eataly, the global Italian food emporium with branches in 34 cities across the US and Italy, has been teased for a couple of years now, but with lockdown restrictions lifting, it's finally opening its doors. Spread across two floors, the expansive site boasts six restaurants and thousands of Italian products to browse, buy and enjoy at home.

Manzi’s

The latest addition to Corbin & King’s plush portfolio, Manzi’s will pay homage to Leicester Square’s much-loved fish restaurant of the same name which closed in 2006. Like its namesake, Manzi’s will specialise in seafood and promises to offer a similar ‘fun and affordable’ aesthetic to that found at Brasserie Zédel. There’s no date yet for the Soho outpost, but watch this space...