The best new restaurants: London, 2022
Boiler & Co, Southwark
Former Omar Mayfair chef and BBC Great British Menu finalist Kerth Gumbs is in charge of the charcoal stoves at Boiler & Co, an über-cool cocktail bar-cum-restaurant in Southwark. Defining itself as a gastrobar, the venue serves boundary-pushing, largely caramel-coloured cocktails and a British menu seasoned with flavours from Gumbs’ native island of Anguilla, made with locally sourced ingredients.
Read more ...Apricity, Mayfair
New Zealand-born chef Chantelle Nicholson, who closed her Covent Garden outpost Tredwells last year, is opening a new, sustainable, zero-waste restaurant, Apricity, in Mayfair this spring. Together with head chef Eve Seemann, the female-run restaurant will serve the likes of venison with elderberry and walnut butter, and roasted Kuri squash with fermented Fireflame chillies, among a range of dishes said to symbolise ‘regeneration, warmth, generosity and light’. A hot tip: book a seat at the chef’s table in the basement to see the plates skilfully put together.
Read more ...Björn Frantzén at Harrods, Knightsbridge
A spot of luxury shopping won’t be the only reason to visit Harrods in 2022. Björn Frantzén of thrice Michelin-starred Swedish restaurant Frantzén – the 6th best restaurant in the world, no less – is opening his first UK outpost, named after himself, in the designer-laden department store.
Read more ...Walter’s, Dulwich
From the team behind Covent Garden institution The Oysterman comes Walter’s, an all-day dining joint through which co-founding duo Rob Hampton and Matt Lovell promise to expand their repertoire, while continuing to champion quality British produce and stellar seafood. Chef Khalid Hassan (ex Social Eating House and Murano) is in charge of the menu, which includes a Bloody Mary crab salad; trout skin with a cod roe dip and truffle arancini; and roasted hake with romesco sauce.
Read more ...Noci, Islington
Perhaps you fell in love with his pasta-led creations at Bancone, or maybe it was his signatures at Tavolino? Now, Louis Korovilas is opening his own restaurant in Islington, Noci, where pasta will once again take centre stage. An open kitchen will afford diners a chance to watch their thick strands of bucatini be muddled with brown butter and black pepper, or their herbed lamb shoulder get pocketed inside bite-size parcels of ravioli. Drinks, meanwhile, include a refreshing selection of seasonal spritzes. Cin cin!
Read more ...Lisboeta, Fitzrovia
Nuno Mendes, the acclaimed chef who planted Chiltern Firehouse on the map and earned Viajante and Mãos their Michelin stars, returns to London, joining forces with the MJMK group to open a new restaurant: Lisboeta. Showcasing the cooking of Mendes’ home country of Portugal, the Fitzrovia restaurant is spread across three floors, with a café-style area, an airy first-floor dining room and basement restaurant. From pastel de natas to petiscos and larger tasca classics, the restaurant aims to channel the culinary spirit of Lisbon.
Read more ...Tatale, Southwark
His supper clubs teased us with dishes spanning the African continent, now chef Akwasi Brenya-Mensa has opened a permanent site for his restaurant concept Tatale, which takes its name from Ghana’s plantain pancake (pictured). Housed in Southwark’s Africa Centre, the restaurant specialises in plates inspired by Brenya-Mensa’s Ghanaian heritage, as well as favourites from the aforementioned supper clubs, including a chicken burger spiced with yaji and shito, previously on the menu as part of James Cochran’s lockdown delivery menu from his Islington restaurant 12:51.
Read more ...Itaku, Fitzrovia
Dalston’s Angelina introduced our taste buds to the concept of Italian-Japanese fusion dishes, now French restaurateur Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini (who may be more widely known as the ex-husband of popstar Cheryl but previously manned the pans at three-Michelin star restaurant Osteria Francescana in Italy) is opening a new London restaurant, which also melds flavours from Italy and Japan. Working with chef Ivan Simeoli (formerly of RAW), Fernandez-Versini's first menu features a dish of miso Cornish monkfish and another of red prawns with black truffle ponzu and shiso.
Read more ...Lahpet, Covent Garden
The opening of the original branch of Lahpet in Shoreditch was a culinary highlight of 2018. Now the team behind the restaurant – which serves colourful Burmese dishes and an exotic cocktail menu in an elegant if effeminate dining room – are opening a second branch in bustling Covent Garden. Do order a steaming bowl of lentil chow chow: a lentil-based broth with glass noodles, sweet potato and chilli jam.
Read more ...Lina Stores, Clapham
It seems there’s no stopping the expansion of Lina Stores. The team behind Soho’s 75-year-old Italian deli only moved into the restaurant business in 2018, but so successful was their first site – just around the corner from the store – that they’ve since gone on to open further eateries in stylish Granary Square and suave Bloomberg Arcade. 2022 sees the brand venture south of the river for the first time, opening a third restaurant in the yummy-mummy playground of Clapham. Expect more pastel-mint hues and pretty plates of pasta.
Read more ...Ottolenghi Chelsea
Lastly, a new restaurant opening that needs no introduction: Ottolenghi is expanding his empire, with a new deli opening on Chelsea’s Pavilion Road. The largest and most colourful of the six-strong collection, Ottolenghi Chelsea will offer Sloane Rangers and wandering visitors a chance to tuck into the full Ottolenghi experience – from morning coffees, pastries and sizzling pans of shakshuka, to salads, exceptional cakes and low-intervention wines.
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