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Best restaurant openings: London, May 2022

By Holly O'Mahony on 10/5/2022

From Mexican dining with a side of cool to another rustic trough from the Gladwin Brothers and an in-and-out offering from Big Mamma Group, these are the best new restaurants London has to offer this May.

Cavita, Marylebone

Fusing Mexican flavours with oodles of chicness, Cavita is where to head if you want to eat bold, serious Mexican fare while surrounded by the 'it' crowd. Chef-owner Adriana Cavita is the brains behind the new Marylebone restaurant, who learned her way around the country’s flavours growing up in Mexico City and travelling across Oaxaca and Yucatan. Sat at a reclaimed wooden table in the earthy-looking dining room, or indeed at the ‘top table’ served by Cavita herself, tuck into a street food-inspired menu of tacos, tetelas (Oaxacan quesadillas) and calabacitas (a Mexican vegetable medley, essentially), and don’t forget to pay a visit to the basement mezcal bar, Mayahuel, for drinks laced with the heady, smoky spirit.

WHEN

Opens Friday 20 May

WHERE

56-60 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2RZ

Black Sheep, Wimbledon

The latest trough in the ever-growing restaurant empire of the Gladwin Brothers (of The Shed, Sussex and Nutbourne fame), Black Sheep will offer SW19 residents a taste of the Sussex countryside, with a menu curated by brother Oliver, using produce farmed by brother Gregory, while brother Richard transforms the space once home to the White Onion, into a rustic dining room visitors will want to linger in. While by no means vegetarian – and the likes of sweet cured confit hogget shoulder with foraged wild garlic, anchovies and white bean salsa will be the pull for some – Black Sheep serves a plant-led set menu during weekdays in a bid to be ‘planet conscious’. With dishes including Jersey royal gnocchi served with garden peas, mint gel, whey cheese and Nutbourne tomatoes, who can honestly say they miss the meat?

WHEN

Opens Thursday 19 May

WHERE

67 High Street, London SW19 5EE

The Residency, Westbourne Grove

Plant-based food, natural wine and music are the three core ingredients of new Westbourne Grove hotspot The Residency. The restaurant is dishing up the goods of head chef Carniel Francis, whose menu seeks inspiration from both Europe and the Caribbean, with highlights including ackee and saltfish arancini, Jerusalem artichoke fondant, and vegan banoffee pie. Organic juices will quench the thirst of teetotallers, and DJs from artist-run agency AAA will keep guests lingering after hours.

WHEN

Opened Friday 6 May

WHERE

50 Westbourne Grove, London W2 5SH

Laurel’s on the Roof, Shoreditch

Scale the Mondrian Shoreditch (by lift, of course) and you'll be rewarded with a dose of 70s Hollywood glamour. New sky-high bar Laurel's on the Roof is infused with old-school Californian inflections, from retro neon signs to rattan chandeliers. The menu is just as nostalgic: order a Malibu shrimp cocktail, if you will, or a Cobb salad. The drinks are more of the moment, with frozen spicy margaritas; Japanese Garibaldis muddled with yuzu; and a punchy-sounding Wet Gibsons (Oxley Gin, Martini Ambrato and silverskin onion) among the offerings.

WHEN

Opened Thursday 5 May

WHERE

45 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3PT

La La Land, Shoreditch

‘Not another street-food market in Shoreditch,’ you groan. But give this one a chance. Pitching up on the site of Street Feast’s former headquarters Dinerama, La La Land has seen the space reimagined by the Soho Restaurant Group and is vying to take the casual outdoor dining experience to eccentric new highs. As well as 15 food traders, four bars, DJs and a rooftop terrace-cum-sun trap, La La Land boasts its own waterfall, apparently (photo ops here!). Tuck into smoked umami delicacies from Fireyard BBQ, pillowy buns from GuaBao, slow-roast slivers from The Duck Shed and Trinidadian delights from Saga Boy.

WHEN

Opens Friday 13 May

WHERE

17 - 19 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3EJ

Napoli Gang, Ladbroke Grove

A savvy pandemic launch from the Big Mamma Group (of good-time restaurants Gloria and Circolo Popolare etc) as a way of getting their produce out there while the doors to their OTT dining rooms remained closed, Napoli Gang is now manifesting physically as a takeaway pizza shop in Ladbroke Grove. But you won’t want to order home delivery when you can pop in and admire the neon signage and graffiti-strewn walls, designed by the group’s in-house team Studio Kiki. Food wise, expect fully loaded pizzas, fresh and cheesy pasta plates, plus all the essentials of an Italian fridge, including giant globs of Puglian burrata and salty strands of parma ham.

WHEN

Opens Thursday 19 May

WHERE

149 Ladbroke Grove, London W10 6HJ

Best restaurant openings: London, May 2022

From Mexican dining with a side of cool to another rustic trough from the Gladwin Brothers and an in-and-out offering from Big Mamma Group, these are the best new restaurants London has to offer this May.

Cavita, Marylebone

Black Sheep, Wimbledon

The Residency, Westbourne Grove

Laurel’s on the Roof, Shoreditch

La La Land, Shoreditch

Napoli Gang, Ladbroke Grove

Restaurants

May

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