Restaurant radar: October 2021

Chourangi

India-based group Speciality Restaurants Limited is to make its UK with a Kolkata-inspired restaurant (main image). Located on Marylebone’s Quebec Street, Chourangi is named after Kolkata’s Chowringhee quarter and will be similar to the group’s Oh! Calcutta concept in India. The 2,900sq ft restaurant will bring alive a ‘unique culinary tradition that has been born of centuries of overseas traders leaving their mark on this vibrant culture’ with ‘Calcutta cuisine a unique blend of British, Dutch, Armenian, French, Portuguese and Chinese flavours that have been forged over a 300-year history’.
3 Old Quebec St, Marylebone, London W1H 7AF​
www.chourangi.co.uk​​

MEATliquor Clapham Old Town

The third restaurant opening in 10 months for this popular London casual dining restaurant group sees it move to Clapham Old Town in the location that was formerly pub The Yard. The large and spacious location will keep the pub theme element alive with five screens for sport as well as a pool table and table football. The venue will have two bars across a split-level area that sits 170 but holds 300, featuring high tables with stools as well as bench seating. There will also be a garden terrace to the rear. As with all of MEATliquor's venues, expect a killer range of burgers, chicken wings, loaded fries, interesting beers and cocktails and a lot of fun - usually by way of the ‘poke for Jägermeister’ table buttons.
13-19 Old Town, London SW4 0JT​​
www.meatliquor.com​​​

Joe Allen

The theatreland restaurant is opening its doors once again after an 18-month hiatus brought on by the pandemic with a refreshed look and a new team. Heading up the kitchen is former The Ivy chef Gary Lee with with Russell Norman overseeing Joe’s Bar. Both are bringing their expertise from previous roles, with Lee looking to bring his love of Asian food to Joe Allen as he did at The Ivy as well as retune classic Joe dishes. Norman, meanwhile, has created a bar menu that features a classic from his sadly departed Spuntino - truffled egg toast – as well as parmesan and marmite cheese straws; steak tartare toasts; and potato cigars with truffled blue cheese.
2 Burleigh Street, London, WC2E 7PX​
www.joeallen.co.uk​​

Dirty Bones Carnaby

The New York-inspired restaurant group is making a permanent return to Soho's Kingly Court having departed its top-floor location at the development last year. This time it has taken a ground floor plot, previously occupied by Wright Brothers, that also has a basement bar that will be available for private hire. The restaurant opens on 4 October but has already raised eyebrows for its ‘Reverse Cheeseburger’ – a no doubt difficult to handle burger over which truffled hot cheese sauce is poured.
13 Kingly Street, 8 Kingly Court, Soho, London​
www.dirty-bones.com​​

Carmine

Carmine is an all-day hybrid restaurant, bar and workspace from Christopher Howe and Jamie Cottam-Allan, the duo behind Bright Pete Holdings pub company. The 100-cover Streatham venue takes inspiration from the all-day brunch restaurants of New York and Chicago (it is named after the Soprano’s mafia boss Carmine Lupertazzi) that will serve an all-day brunch and lunch menu before switching to a brasserie-style restaurant and wine bar in the evenings. Beer-friendly food will include a cheddar and beer croquette, with tomato chutney; karaage fried chicken; and a vegan shawarma with beetroot slaw, herbed yogurt and housemade flatbread although you might want to opt for one of its natural and low-intervention wines sourced from Borough Wines and Les Caves de Pyrennes instead.
20-21, The High Parade, Streatham High Rd, London SW16 1EX​
www.carminesw16.com​​

Manteca Shoreditch

No sooner have the doors closed on Chris Leach and David Carter’s Soho Manteca they reopen on a new iteration of the duo’s restaurant in Shoreditch. Set in a former Pizza Express site on Curtain Road, close to Carter's barbecue restaurant Smokestak, Manteca Shoreditch will serve an 'evolved' menu of small and large sharing plates that include signatures from the Soho site as well as new dishes. These include pig head fritti with apple mostarda; nduja-steamed mussels with cream and parsley and sourdough; and brown crab cacio e pepe. Look out for its new glass-panelled hanging room for its in-house butchery and salumi production.
49-51 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3PT​
www.mantecarestaurant.co.uk​​

The Barbary Next Door

Those familiar with Layo and Zoe Paskin’s Neals Yard restaurant won’t need much help in locating their latest venture, the clue to which is in the name. Here The Barbary head chef Daniel Alt has created a menu served from breakfast until late offering Moorish Spain and North African inspired dishes including ktefa (brick pastry layered with crème anglaise); Moroccan tortilla maaqooda; and a range of tagines. The Paskins have gone for a style based on 'backstreet Andalusian bars, Casablancan twentieth century design and airy Moroccan courtyards', which suits Neals Yard down to the ground.
16A Neal's Yard, London WC2H 9DP​
www.thebarbarynextdoor.co.uk​​

Hacha Brixton

The duo behind Dalston-based agave spirits specialist Hacha Bar will launch a follow up in Brixton Market early this month. Hacha Brixton will have a similar look and feel to its East London sibling but will be larger, with an off licence on the ground floor and a 50-cover bar and open kitchen on the first floor. The pair will continue to work with its existing kitchen partner Maiz Azul, with the venue set to offer popular dishes from the original site - including camote tacos, chicken tinga and cheese chicharon - alongside some new dishes. Deano Moncrieffe and Emma Murphy opened the original Hacha Bar on Kingsland Road in 2019 in a bid to bring agave-based spirits to a larger audience, offering a regularly-changing list of 25 spirits including tequilas, mezcals and lesser-known agave-based libations.
12-14 Market Row, Brixton, London SW9 8LD​
www.hachabar.com​​
 ​

The Fat Badger

Gladwin brothers Richard and Oliver have returned to their home turf for their fifth London restaurant opening. Located close to the Thames in Richmond, The Fat Badger will be ‘built on the principles of sustainability’ and offer ‘a distinctive take on traditional British dining’. As well as a dining room, the restaurant will have a saloon bar serving its own small plates menu. The wine list will feature the Gladwin family’s own range of English wines, as well as a range of labels from other ‘like-minded’ producers. “The pandemic has further proved that local is sustainable and this is how we intend to foster growth in our business and the communities surrounding it,” says Richard.
15-17 Hill Rise, Richmond TW10 6UQ​
www.thefatbadger-restaurant.com​​

Porte Noire

Actor Idris Elba and Connaught Wine Cellars founder David Farber will launch a wine bar, restaurant and shop under their Porte Noire Champagne and rosé brand later this month. Located in King’s Cross’ Coal Drops Yard development, Porte Noir will serve the pair’s own wines alongside an 800-strong list of other fine wines, with more ‘accessible’ wines available on tap. The food menu at Porte Noire will be split into tasters, bar snacks, starters, mains and desserts, with sample dishes including poached eggs in red wine sauce; slow-cooked beef cheek with pommes purée and leek persillade; and a platter of charcuterie and European cheeses.
Gasholder 10, Unit A, 1 Lewis Cubitt Square, King’s Cross, London N1C 4BY​
www.portenoire.co.uk​​

3 Henrietta Street

3 Henrietta Street will be home to no less than three restaurants each run by a different chef as well as a flagship site for roastery and coffee house The Gentlemen Baristas. Moving from the bottom up, the basement of the site will be occupied by Cuban chef Luis Pous. El Ta’Koy will take its cues from the tiki bars of Hawaii, offering an eclectic menu of Asian and Latin American dishes. O the ground floor will be Lilly’s, ‘a forward-thinking’ cafe headed up by high profile pastry chef Kimberly Lin’. Finally, the first floor will be home to Scottish chef Mark Greenway’s Pivot restaurant, which will offer creative dishes made with a mix of English and Scottish produce.
3 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8LU​
www.3henrietta.com​​

The River Restaurant

Gordon Ramsay is to double up at The Savoy with the opening of The River Restaurant in the space that was once home to Kasper’s. Seafood will continue to be the space’s focus with launch dishes set to include tandoori monkfish curry; swordfish schnitzel; and whole baked Cornish turbot. A raw bar will also feature serving plates of fresh oysters; caviar; and seabass ceviche with blood orange and fennel. “The UK has some of the finest shellfish and seafood in the word and I’m delighted we are going to showcase this amazing produce and support the hard-working providers too,” says Ramsay, who has asked Savoy Grill executive chef Matt Worswick to step up and oversee The River Restaurant too.
Strand, London WC2R 0EZ​
www.gordonramsayrestaurants.com​​

Rita’s

Having initially launched as a pop-up bottle shop, Rita’s Lexington Street site becomes a restaurant proper this month. Dishes will be inspired by founders Missy Flynn and Gabe Pryce travels in the Americas, the menu will include the likes of jalapeno popper gildas; hot bean devilled eggs; barbecued beef tartare with garlic and raw vegetables; salt cod taquitos; and grilled pork collar. Wines will be low intervention. Pryce says the restaurant will be designed as a ‘comfy neighbourhood bistro’ that will appeal both to long-time followers of the brand and those unfamiliar with it who are just after a decent bite to eat. Based on the terrace menu, prices across the board are likely to be approachable, with many plates ranging from £5 to £10.
49 Lexington Street, Soho, London W1F 9AP​
www.ritasdining.com​​

Etch

Steven Edward’s Etch fine dining restaurant in Hove relaunches towards the end of the month with an extended dining room and a brand new subterranean cocktail bar. Edwards – who launched Etch in 2017 shortly after winning MasterChef: The Professionals - says the changes are designed to take Etch to ‘the next level’ by providing a more complete and more luxurious restaurant experience. “Initially I wanted a small restaurant that was very controllable in which to build my reputation and with that demand,” he says. “It made sense to start out at a lower level to where we wanted to end up, especially as that has allowed us to take our regular guests with us on that journey.”
216 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 2DJ​
www.etchfood.co.uk​​

Upstairs by Tom Shepherd

Chef Tom Shepherd will open his debut restaurant in Lichfield later this month. Upstairs by Tom Shepherd will be located on the first-floor restaurant above his father’s jewellery shop in the Staffordshire city. The 28-cover restaurant will showcase Shepherd’s modern British cooking using seasonal ingredients and with subtle influences from Japan and east Asia. It will serve a five-course tasting menu priced at £62 and a seven-course menu for £77 as well as a three-course lunch menu, available from Thursday to Saturday priced at £35. Dishes will include Orkney scallop with dashi, celeriac and apple; poached Atlantic cod with wild mussel, caviar and champagne; and Creedy Carver chicken with sweetcorn, Israeli couscous and leek.
25 Bore St, Lichfield, Staffordshire WS13 6NA​
https://www.upstairs.restaurant/​

Tipsy Vegan

This month will see the duo behind Norwich’s Tipsy Vegan launch a restaurant in nearby Cambridge. Michelle McCabe and Cheryl Mullenger have appointed Fatih Guven to lead the kitchen at the new site, who was previously a development chef at London vegan restaurant Farmacy. She will follow the blueprint of Tipsy Vegan’s original site by creating vegan takes on global dishes, with a launch menu that includes chorizo croquettas with Peruvian sauce and Venezuelan jackfruit arepas. “I’m passionate about creating plant-based dishes that surprise and delight, so I’m particularly excited to be working with Cheryl on expanding The Tipsy Vegan menus over the coming weeks and months,” Guven says.
6-8 Quayside, Cambridge CB5 8AB​
thetipsyvegan.co.uk​​

Booking Office 1869

St Pancras Renaissance Hotel owner Harry Handelsman has drafted in chef Patrick Powell, who runs the restaurant at The Stratford Hotel which he also owns, to oversee the menu at his new all-day drinking and dining destination Booking Office 1869. The restaurant, which will be a reimagining of the original 19th century St Pancras ticket hall, will serve a globetrotting menu that befits the grand travel terminus with dishes to include fried chicken, yoghurt and lime; barbecued carrots, braised grains, yoghurt, pistachio and dukkah; slow roasted lamb shoulder cooked in chermoula spices; and monkfish and potato curry with spinach, spring onion and lime. A raw bar also features for those looking for something a little lighter.
Euston Rd, London NW1 2AR​
www.booking-office.co.uk​​

Oxeye

Robin Gill’s Nine Elms restaurant Derby’s gets a new neighbour this month in the form of Oxeye, the long-awaited debut solo restaurant from Sven-Hanson Britt. Timed nicely to coincide with the opening of a tube station nearby, Oxeye combine a fine dining restaurant, bar, shop, private dining room and gallery. The fine-dining restaurant will serve a tasting menu created by Britt and his partner Kae Shibata featuring such dishes as Cornish Yarg churros with fresh nettles and sea beet; Irish coast sea urchin, potato dumpling and smoked butter; and Arhuaco Businchari cocoa, Scottish sea salt, birch syrup, caraway and sesame praline. Adjacent to Oxeye will be Bar Rex, serving what is said to be the widest selection of English, Irish and Welsh wine in the country.
14 New Union Square, Embassy Gardens, London, SW11 7AX​
oxeyerestaurant.co.uk​​

Carmel

Josh and Paul Katz and Mattia Bianchi are growing their mini London restaurant empire with the opening of this relaxed North Africa and Eastern Mediterranean restaurant. In keeping with their other venues - Berber & Q and Shawarma Bar – dishes will be cooked over wood although the emphasis at Carmel will be more day focused. To this end there will be breakfast options including challah French toast with crème fraiche, blackberry compote and macadamia; and shakshuka with confit tomato, avocado and tahini as well as all-day dishes of blackened aubergine and smacked cucumber; roasted cod and clams with fennel, cherry tomatoes and arak butter; and a selection of Middle Eastern flatbreads that will be available to take away via a hatch.
Lonsdale Road, Queen’s Park, London, NW6 6RR ​
www.carmelrestaurant.co.uk​​

The Jackdaw

Opening in the town of Conwy in north Wales, The Jackdaw is the debut restaurant from former The Fat Duck chef Nick Rudge. His new 30-cover restaurant, located above a bingo hall, will serve a regularly changing menu of dishes made using local Welsh ingredients. These include Welsh beef sirloin with oxtail or ox cheek, pepper, Anglesey onions, charred greens, and tomatoes; barbecued scallops with local salad leaves, herb emulsion, pickles, and soy scallop broth; and Snowdonia shiitake mushroom parfait with Madeira gastrique, soda bread and berry compote. Rudge spent seven years with Heston, including working at the eight-month residency of The Fat Duck in Melbourne’s Crown Hotel.
High St, Conwy, LL32 8DB​
www.thejackdawconwy.co.uk​​

Birchwood

Birchwood will be chef Will Devlin’s third restaurant, joining his successful The Small Holding and The Curlew venues. Opening on 6 October in mixed use sustainable woodland development Filmwell Park in Ticehurst, East Sussex, it will make much of its location within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with ingredients sourced and grown locally as well as foraged – including those grown on the-acre farm at The Small Holding, less than five miles away in Kilndown. Birchwood will only be open for breakfast and lunch (it closes at 4pm) but during that time you can feast on smoked trout, duck egg, sourdough crumpet; smoked kippers, brown bread and eggs; crispy sweetbreads with wild garlic mayonnaise; and skate on the bone, new season potatoes, and perry vinegar dressing.
Flimwell Park, Hawkhurst Road, Filmwell, East Sussex TN5 7FJ​
www.birchwoodrestaurant.com​​