Restaurant radar: September 2019

KERB Seven Dials​
Street food collective KERB has chosen an impressive and fitting space for its first permanent site - a large former banana and cucumber warehouse located in the heart of Covent Garden. Split into three areas, it will feature marketplace Cucumber Alley, where traders will include a bottle shop, florist and bakery, as well as a split-storey dining space. Up top, the space will have a more traditional restaurant approach, with a 30-cover Monty’s Deli, a Club Mexicana (which will have its own entrance), a Claw and the world’s first cheese conveyor belt restaurant Pick & Cheese. The downstairs will take a more traditional food hall approach, with communal dining where visitors can eat dishes from traders including Rice Guys, Yum Bun, Nanban and Strozzapreti, the new pasta concept from the founders of Franco Manca. The space will also contain a bookshop that will double as a private dining room in the evening, a bar, a stage for live music and events, a bright pink lift and lots of colourful bananas.
Earlham Street, London​
sevendialsmarket.com​ ​

Chakana​
Former Lima London head chef Robert Ortiz is heading to the Birmingham suburb of Mosely this month for the opening of his Peruvian restaurant Chakana. The chef’s first solo project, Chakana promises Peruvian dishes with a twist, with launch menu items such as beef pachamanca, cusco corn, black quinoa and Andean huacatay. It will have 60 covers, with the restaurant taking its name from the Incan Cross, an ancient symbol used by indigenous Peruvian cultures that represents the sun, land and sea, and the idea of people living in harmony with each other.
140 Alcester Road, Birmingham​

The Betterment​​
Located in the soon-to-open The Biltmore hotel, The Betterment marks a return to Mayfair’s Grosvenor Square following his departure from Gordon Ramsay’s Maze restaurant. The hotel restaurant is being headed up by Paul Walsh, who launched and led Jason Atherton’s City Social for five years who, along with Atherton, has created ‘a seasonally driven menu feature dishes of wood-fired fish and meats, salads and inventive side dishes’. An open grill will be at the heart of the restaurant on which will be cooked sharing dishes such as pork axe, Herdwick hogget and turbot while a ‘Just for You’ section of the menu will also offer individual dishes of cod en cocotte, Spring lamb and line caught sea bass. Atherton and co are also overseeing the food and drink at The Biltmore’s other areas, including The Terrace, The Tea Lounge and The Pine Bar.
44 Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, London​​
thebettermentmayfair.com​ ​​

Sweet Chick​
The US chicken and waffle restaurant that counts rapper Nas among its backers opens on the 26 September just off London’s Oxford Circus. Founded in Brooklyn by restaurateur John Seymour in 2013, Sweet Chick serves modern American comfort food, with its first UK site set to serve its signature dish of fried chicken (brined overnight in a sweet tea-stained brine) and waffles. Other menu items will include traditional US fare such as biscuits and gravy; shrimp and grits; and mac n cheese, with a beer selection from London Fields Brewery.
8 Market Placw, Fitzrovia, London​
sweetchick.com​ ​

Vardo​
The Caravan group is parking up in west London, but under a different guise. Vardo, which takes its name from the Romani travelling wagons of the 1800s will open this month in the new pavilion building on Chelsea’s Duke of York Square with a ‘new nomadic concept’ that will serve dishes influenced by the journeys of said wagons as they traversed the globe collecting produce and spices on the way. That said, those already familiar with Caravan’s flavours of the world approach at its five other London sites won’t be surprised by the menu, which is set to include dishes such as slow-braised carrots with brined mustard greens and aji blanco; charred aubergine with a saffron buttermilk dressing; and green-baked eggs with lentil, pine nut and kale ragu, cumin yoghurt and charred pepper salsa.
9 Duke of York Square, London​
caravanrestaurants.co.uk/vardo​ ​

Seabird​
Located on the 14th floor of The Hoxton, Southwark, this rooftop restaurant boasts to having London’s longest oyster list. This is predominantly down to the fact that the hotel group has teamed up with Premiere Enterprises, which is behind Brooklyn hotspot Maison Premiere, which itself does a mean line in oysters. The rest of the menu will draw inspiration from the Mediterranean, especially Portuguese and Spanish flavours, with dishes to include Cornish plaice a la plancha with Morecombe Bay shrimps and capers; sardines on toast with harissa, rocket and lemon, and Basque-style bouillabaisse ideal for sharing. The drinks offer also looks promising, with a list that focuses draught, bottled and frozen cocktails and biodynamic wines from small-scale European producers. 
14th Floor, 40 Blackfriars Rd, London​
thehoxton.com/london/southwark/hotels​​

Burra-Khana​
The latest opening by Red Dog Saloon founder Tom Brooke, Burra-Khana will launch as a standalone restaurant within Brooke’s Red Dog site in Nottingham. The Indian-inspired barbecue concept will feature meat skewers cooked over a charcoal pit, as well as a selection of street food-inspired dishes including taley aloo ki chaat, made with fried potato served with green peppers, tomato and spices on a bed of iceberg lettuce; and panipuri, a round hollow puri crisp filled with flavoured water and potato. It is the second time this year Brooke has converted part of an existing site to a new concept, after opening hot chicken brand Louie’s in the basement of Red Dog Saloon Hoxton in May.
20 Victoria Street, Nottingham​

Sons + Daughters​
Pidgin pair James Ramsden and Sam Herlihy are the latest operators looking to try and get a slice of London’s growing premium sandwich sector with the launch of Sons + Daughters in King’s Cross’ Coal Drops Yard. Positioning the humble sarnie as a dish that can be enjoyed as much at dinner as it can at lunch, Ramsden and Herlihy’s all-day menu will feature six sandwich options including one with Swaledale chicken, pickled cucumber, miso mayonnaise, green sauce, soy-cured parmesan, gem lettuce and wasabi cress; and another with Burford Brown eggs, miso mayonnaise, truffle crisps and salad cress. There will also be a selection of sides on offer including S+D ‘air fries’ with sriracha salt, as well as cocktails to drink and soft-serve ice cream for dessert.
Unit 119a Coal Drops Yard, London​
www.sonsanddaughterslondon.com​ ​

Haya​
Former Dinner by Heston Blumenthal chef Oren King is to oversee the kitchen at this new neighbourhood-style Mediterranean restaurant that’s to open in London’s Notting Hill. Haya, which translates as ‘life’ in Hebrew, is inspired by restaurant founder Victoria Paltina’s visits to Tel Aviv, with King’s menu set to draw from the chef’s own background in the Israeli city. Dishes at launch will include burrata served with loquat compote and a drizzle of citrus vinaigrette; quinoa salad with crumbled feta cheese and a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds; and spiced lamb cutlets served with a spoonful of honey yoghurt.
184A Kensington Park Road, London​
haya.london​ ​

Allegra​
An opening that’s been a long time coming (it first featured in Restaurant Radar back in July), Allegra is former Chiltern Firehouse head chef Patrick Powell’s first solo gig. Located on the seventh floor of property developer Harry Handelsman’s The Stratford hotel development (where Ben Harrington opened the Stratford Brasserie in June), Allegra’s menu will focus on modern European cuisine with Powell sourcing a large proportion of ingredients from farmland in Kent that is owned by Handelsman. Dishes will include fresh ricotta served with red pepper, charred and salted courgette, rape seed and lemon thyme; smoked eel and confit potato pithivier with parsley sauce; and roast chicken with wild garlic sausage, white asparagus and confit garlic cream.
Olympic Park, 20-22 International Way, London​
allegra-restaurant.com​​

Neat Burger​
Promoting itself as ‘the first international, plant-based burger chain’, Neat Burger is looking to revolutionise fast food. Created by Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who worked with hospitality organisation The Cream Group to build the brand, the restaurant’s plant-based patties have been created by Neat Burger’s team of chefs in collaboration with US-based food tech company Beyond Meat. The initial menu will feature three burgers – The Neat, The Cheese and The Chick’n – as well as a plant-based hotdog option and a selection of sides. Opening just off Regent street in London, the brand is already set to expand globally with 14 franchises scheduled in the next two years.
4 Princes St, Mayfair, London W1B 2LE​
neat-burger.com​​

Arabica​
Five years after opening his first Arabica restaurant in London’s Borough, chef James Walters is preparing to launch a second site in King’s Cross. Situated on the ground floor of the Aga Khan Centre building, the restaurant will offer an almost entirely new menu inspired by the cuisine of Lebanon, Istanbul and Tel Aviv - alongside a few old favourites. Expect plates of mussels with walnut tartar; beef and bone marrow arayees; and the Hummus KX with sweet peppers, chilli, garlic, parsley and roasted chickpeas. The 100-cover dining room will feature an open plan kitchen, a communal table for 20 guests and a 40-cover outside terrace.
7 Lewis Cubitt Walk, King’s Cross, London, N1C 4DT​
arabicalondon.com​​

Julie’s​
Celebrity haunt Julie’s is to finally reopen in London’s Holland Park more than four years after it initially closed for refurbishment. Its launch comes ahead of the restaurant’s 50^th​ anniversary this autumn, with Shay Cooper – formerly executive chef at The Goring hotel – taking over the kitchen as chef patron. Cooper is set to serve a modern British menu, with dishes including glazed ox cheek and aged sirloin of beef. Julie’s was first opened by interior designer Julie Hodges back in November 1969, and gradually built a reputation for its celebrity clientele with Sir Paul McCartney, Kate Moss and Diana, Princess of Wales reportedly among its regulars.
135 Portland Rd, Holland Park, London W11 4LW​
juliesrestaurant.com​​

Charlie’s at Brown’s Hotel​
There’s been a rotating roster of chefs cooking at Brown’s over the past two year. Mark Hix ran his HIX Mayfair restaurant at the hotel for 10 years until 2017, before German Heinz Beck took over the space with Italian-focused Beck at Brown’s in 2018. Now little over a year later the space is getting another new resident, with the chef Adam Byatt overseeing Charlie’s. Byatt, who runs Michelin-starred Trinity in Clapham, has created a ‘contemporary British’ menu with dishes set to include glazed Essex gammon served on a silver trolley; roasted Yorkshire grouse with blackberries and bread sauce; and a whole 12oz Dover sole. Byatt is backed by a stellar team with Matt Starling, formerly of Fera at Claridge’s, heading up the kitchen, while ex-Chez Bruce chef Owain Atkinson is the hotel’s executive chef.
Brown's Hotel, Albemarle St, Mayfair, London W1S 4BP​
roccofortehotels.com/hotels-and-resorts/browns-hotel/​​

Butcher and the Farmer​
This Australian restaurant is the brainchild of chefs Steve Flood and Will Stewart, who won competitive cookery show My Kitchen Rules down under in 2015. After opening their Butcher and the Farmer site in a Sydney shopping mall in 2016, the team are set to make their European debut at the ICON Outlet at London’s The O2 this month. Set over almost 7,000 sq ft, the restaurant will seat 266 with dishes set to include chargrilled chicken; smashed avocado hummus with corn tortillas; and pumpkin with feta, currents and a quinoa and spinach salad. Flood and Stewart hope the opening will be the first of many for Butcher and the Farmer outside Australia.
Peninsula Square, London SE10 0DX​
butcherandthefarmer.com/au​​

Loyal Tavern​
Adam White is relaunching his well-known Bermondsey venue Village East as Loyal Tavern in partnership with former Duck & Waffle executive chef Tom Cenci. Billed as a vibrant neighbourhood restaurant and bar, it will reopen next month and showcase ‘inventive small plates, brought about by a love of local sustainable ingredients’. The former textile factory’s interior is getting a revamp, with 100 covers, two bars and a private dining room. Cenci’s menu includes Cornish mackerel with apple, pine nut and truffle; and venison tartare with beef dripping.
171-173 Bermondsey Street, Bermondsey, London SE1 3UW​
loyaltavern.co.uk​​