Best new restaurants: London, June 2022

Firebird, Soho

Open-fire cooking and natural wine are two culinary trends Londoners can’t get enough of right now. Offering both zeitgeists a new home are restaurateur Madina Kazhimova and sommelier Anna Dolgushina, who have joined forces with chef Nikos Kontogiannatos, formerly head chef of Caravan, to open Firebird, a 46-cover restaurant in Soho. In an earthy dining room, where tables are nestled under cascading plants and a chef’s counter offers a view of the stoves, diners can tuck into a Mediterranean-inspired, fire-scorched menu that pays homage to Kontogiannatos’s Greek heritage, including charred peaches with ricotta and coriander; hand-dived scallops with truffle mash; and torched baked Alaska. All of which can be enjoyed with natural, biodynamic, European wines.

Mambow London, Peckham

‘Malaysian heat and juicy wines’ are the order of the day at Mambow London, which young, Michelin-trained chef Abby Lee (Le Cordon Bleu, Pashà Ristorante) has relaunched in Peckham’s Market Stalls following its ill-fated 2020 opening in Spitalfields in the run up to the pandemic. The new site is sandwiched between basement club Peckham Audio and rooftop bar Forza Wine. Shining a light on Nyonya cuisine, which blends Chinese ingredients with Indo-Malay flavours, Lee’s zingy, comfort-heavy menu includes the mouthwatering ‘M-Wing’ (deep-fried chicken tossed in an anchovy sambal and served with lime); black pepper chicken curry; and a Hainanese chicken sando.

Honey & Co, Bloomsbury

Israeli husband-and-wife team Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich closed the doors to their original Warren Street site Honey & Co – the restaurant upon which they’ve grown a loyal customer base and built the foundations of a brand now including two further restaurants, four cookbooks and a podcast – earlier this year, moving the entire concept to a new site on the gorgeous Lamb’s Conduit Street.

Fans will be pleased to hear that much has been kept intact – name, staff and many of the most popular dishes. Those new to the concept can expect food that is an ode to Jerusalem home cooking: fragrant and bold dishes like lamb siniya or barbecue tahini aubergine plus an enticing selection of fragrant and unusual cakes. However, there are some exciting new additions to the new site too, including a wine list from the team behind Noble Rot.

Whatever you order, do not leave without trying the signature deconstructed feta and honey cheesecake, which comes as a creamy mess atop a brittle, straw-like base of kataifi pastry.

Fatto Pizza and Beer, King’s Cross

Head to Brighton for the weekend and you’ll likely spot several branches of pizza mini chain Fatto a Mano, each with hungry customers spilling out its doors. The brand has previously dipped a toe in London waters, opening pop-up stalls in Shoreditch and Croydon’s Boxpark complexes, but June welcomes its first London bricks-and-mortar restaurant: Fatto Pizza and Beer in King’s Cross. Look forward to Neapolitan-style pizzas made with ingredients from local suppliers plus craft beers including the house Fatto Bionda Pilsner.

Zephyr, Notting Hill

Fans of stellar Greek restaurants Mazi and Suzi Tros, rejoice: former executive chef John Skotidas is heading up the kitchen at new Notting Hill hotspot Zephyr, the fourth addition to the Pachamama Group’s growing empire. Tuck into the likes of carpaccio of sea bass; whole smoked aubergine with citrus yoghurt and dukkah; and wood-fire giant butter beans baked in tomato sauce with feta. As with all of Pachamama’s vibey restaurants, cocktails are a focus here too, which can be enjoyed with dinner or lingered over in a separate bar tucked below the restaurant.

Maria G’s, Kensington

Having won over south London with his brilliant restaurants Darby's, Bermondsey Larder, Sorella and (now closed) The Dairy and little sister site Counter Culture, Irish chef Robin Gill is taking his pots and pans west, opening a new restaurant in Kensington. As with 2018 opening Sorella, the focus here is on Italian cooking, with a yet-to-be-revealed, seasonal menu leaning towards the flavours of southern Italy in the summer and the country’s northern regions in the winter.

Compton, Clerkenwell

At executive chef Michael Shaw and head chef Sam Monastyrskyj’s new Clerkenwell outpost, diners can look forward to a menu of rustic classics sprinkled with contemporary flair. Kick things off with a plate of smoked haddock croquettes or barbecued Cornish mussels, then move onto heartier fare, including the sumptuous-sounding hand-rolled pappardelle with asparagus, broad beans, fresh peas and ricotta. Desserts offer a culinary tour of the Mediterranean: grilled figs with honeycomb and fig leaf oil is bound to be a highlight. Oh, and do order a classic cocktail from the roaming vintage drinks trolley.