Best London restaurants 2017: Our predictions for the year ahead
Culture Whisper's pick of the best new London restaurants pegged to open in 2017
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.
Read more ...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.
Read more ...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.
Read more ...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.
Read more ...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).
Read more ...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.
Read more ...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
Read more ...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.
Read more ...