Best new restaurants: London, October 2022

The Theatre Café Diner, West End

The razzle-dazzle of the West End sneaks off-stage and into the nearby Theatre Café Diner, where lunch or dinner can be enjoyed with a side of live performance. From the team behind popular cabaret spot The Theatre Café, this new opening takes the concept further, serving classic diner fodder plus a lengthy drinks list to a musical-loving clientele. Booths are dedicated to hit shows including Six, Heathers: The Musical, & Juliet and Frozen.

Cycene, Shoreditch

Closure of Michelin-starred Maõs, once headed up by superstar chef Nuno Mendes, was sad news for London gourmands. But the gastronomic chasm it left at multi-purpose Shoreditch venue Blue Mountain School didn't remain gaping for long: chef Theo Clench, of Akoko and Portland, is taking over the intimate (16-cover!) dining room, serving a 10-course set menu that's seafood led and inspired by east Asian and Australasian flavours.

Straker's, Notting Hill

Having become a TikTok sensation, viral chef Thomas Straker opens his first restaurant this month, where we're hoping he'll be serving up some of the dishes that had as all salivating over our phone screens. The potato gnocchi with burnt butter (pictured) already looks like a Straker classic, worth ordering before it runs out. The Notting Hill opening comes following a pop-up trial for the concept at east London restaurant Lardo in September.

The Mount St. Restaurant, Mayfair

Artfarm, the brand behind boutique Scottish hotel and restaurant The Fife Arms and Somerset’s hotly tipped Roth Bar & Grill, have taken over this Victorian corner site in Mayfair, transforming it into a two-part affair. Downstairs is the more casual Audley Public House, while above it sits Mount St Restaurant, headed up by chef Jamie Shears, whose CV boasts stints working for Gordon Ramsay and Jason Atherton. A solid art collection unites the two halves, boasting paintings by Freud and Matisse.

St John, Marylebone

Can we ever have too many St John restaurants? No, apparently not. This latest opening from Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver is in fact their first in a decade, bringing their lavish, nose-to-tail dining concept to the well-heeled Marylebone Lane. An all-day affair, it offers those who arrive early coffees, dough-laden delights and even a glass of champagne, while those who come later can tuck into a seasonal, hearty menu by Head Chef Fintan Sharp.

There's a decent wine list too, featuring the brand's own bottles made with grapes from their vineyards in the south of France. Interiors wise, expect nods to existing St John sites, including a monochrome palate, cast iron staircase and those signature peg hooks.

Dorian, Notting Hill

From Chris D’Sylva, the man behind Notting Hill Fish + Meat Shop and lockdown-inspired Supermarket of Dreams, comes Dorian, a bistro and wine bar nestled in the heart of Notting Hill. Here, he's put chef Max Coen (formerly Ikoyi and Kitchen Table) in charge of the stoves, with an initial menu promising the likes of mussels with cucumber and shiso, and a dessert of peach custard tart. Drinks are equally exciting when you see a fig leaf negroni rubbing shoulders with a wine list from the team behind Noble Rot.

Restaurant St. Barts, Smithfield

Fans of Hackney’s farm-to-fork restaurant Nest and its Fulham offshoot Fenn, listen up: there’s a third sibling on the way, and while championing hyper-seasonal produce and small-scale farmers remains at the crux, this one’s an altogether fancier affair, serving its offering as a 15-course tasting menu (with a cheaper, six-course lunch variation for half the price). The experience begins in an intimate bar area, where diners will be offered a selection of delicate canapés and house-cured meats, before being led into the main dining room, where further menu highlights include: native blue lobster with fermented red peppers and British XO sauce; poached cod with preserved Wiltshire truffle; and a dessert of Hackney honey and lavender. Restaurant St. Barts teased us with talk of its opening last month, but now it's really here.