Restaurant radar: May 2022

Amethyst​​
Former Xier chef patron Carlo Scotto is to launch his new London restaurant this month on Sackville Street in Mayfair. Amethyst, which was first announced in April last year, will be an intimate 36-cover restaurant spread over two floors and featuring 'elegant pared-back interiors' incorporating raw materials, concrete and wood. The ground floor will see a single, 20-seat chef's table serving a 12-course menu, with the 'irregular shape' of the table ensuring each dining party enjoys their own intimate space whilst providing an interactive experience for all. Downstairs will be the 16-cover ‘wine cellar’, which will showcase Amethyst’s extensive collection of fine and rare vintages whilst offering a six-course tasting menu option in addition to the 12-courses. Shorter three and five-course menus will be available at lunch. Scotto's dishes will be influenced by the simplicity of Nordic and Japanese cuisine, with French and Arabic flavours incorporated too. Whilst the menu will change regularly, based on seasonality, dishes set to feature at launch include burnt hay croquette; yuba tartelette with caviar and scallops; salmon and foie gras; caramel miso black cod and naganegi dashi; and ras el hanout beef with apple and date.
6 Sackville Street, Mayfair, W1S 3DD​​
amethystdining.com​​​

Cavita​

Adriana Cavita, who previously cooked at El Bulli in Spain and Pujol in Mexico City, will launch her first solo restaurant on Wigmore Street in London's Marylebone on 20 May. Cavita will serve the eponymous Mexican-born chef's takes on traditional dishes from her homeland, which 'tell a story of her heritage and the people who taught her the craft of cooking'. The menu will include with a ‘raw’ selection, combining the wealth of British seafood available with Mexican flavour profiles of chilli, lime and smoke; as well as street food staples like tacos, tetelas (triangular-shaped corn masa filled with blue corn and roasted pink fir potato), and calabacitas (smoked fresh corn with courgette, tomato and morita sauce). Larger plates will be based around a selection of moles and include pollo al carbon, chargrilled corn-fed chicken served with a herby mole of tomatillo and roasted poblano and pumpkin seeds; carne a las brasas, dry-aged bone-in ribeye with amarillito mole of Guajillo chilli and mixed spices from Oaxaca; and crispy-fried Puerto Nuevo lobster with ajillo sauce of garlic and mixed chillies, avocado and tomato salsa, and black beans. The 70-cover restaurant will showcase the materials and textures of Mexico with wooden and tile elements, exposed bricks, and an earthy colour palette. It will have reclaimed wooden tables for couples and smaller groups. There will also be a communal dining experience available at the 'top table', which will overlook the kitchen and be served by Cavita herself. Downstairs will be a 'hidden' mezcaleria called Mayahuel, which will have a dedicated entrance on Wigmore Street and serve as a cocktail and mezcal bar in its own right.
56-60 Wigmore St, London W1U 2RZ​
cavitarestaurant.com​​

Berenjak Borough​
The rather awkwardly shaped Borough Market site that was once home to Flor will soon play host to Kian Samyani’s Berenjak. Like the first site in Soho, Berenjak will be backed by JKS Restaurants (which also backed Flor) and will offer a menu focused on charcoal-grilled ‘kababs’ and ‘mazeh’ small plates. However, the menu will be expanded to include several new ‘homestyle’ Iranian dishes inspired by the large family gatherings and Iranian picnics of Samyani’s childhood including rotisserie saffron chicken with Persian barberry rice as well as larger selection of ‘classic’ Iranian desserts. Making the most of its position on the edge of Borough Market, the site will also offer a grab-and-go lunchbox special between Tuesdays and Thursdays each week. 
1 Bedale St, London SE1 9AL​
berenjaklondon.com​​

Riding House Bloomsbury​

Openly slightly later than anticipated, Riding House Bloomsbury is Adam White’s follow up to his influential Riding House Café, which celebrated its 10th birthday last year. Located with the Brunswick Centre, the new site will have 165 internal covers and an additional 65 external covers. All of the internal trading space will be located on the ground floor, with the two smaller basement levels given over to the kitchen and amenities. Other operators within Brunswick Centre - which was completed in 1972 - include MEATliquor, Slim Chickens, Leon, and Greek restaurant format Nostimo.
Brunswick Centre, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1BS​
ridinghouse.cafe​​

Palazzo​

The team behind London-based Neapolitan pizza group Made of Dough is to launch an Italian bar and diner in Crystal Palace this month. Called Palazzo, the neighbourhood-style restaurant will take over the former Church Grill site on Church Road. Spanning 2,000 sq ft and holding 80 covers, it will feature large tables for groups, countertop seating, an open kitchen and a dedicated bar area. An alfresco terrace will also open in the summer. The menu will primarily focus on offering a mixture of small and large plates, with a selection of pizzas also available. Dishes set to feature include mozzarella fritti and scotch bonnet honey; mortadella with fried sage; a salad of rocket, chicory, red onion and salted ricotta; and chicken Milanese with lemon and aioli. Palazzo will also hold a late-night licence on weekends, with regular live DJ sets planned on Fridays and Saturdays.
3-6 Church Road, Crystal Palace, London SE19 2TF​
barpalazzo.com​​

Parrillan Borough Yards​

Fans of the Hart Group’s ‘cook it yourself’ restaurant Parrillan are in for a treat with the opening of a second, tweaked version of the concept. Located at Borough Yards, where the group will also open Bar Daskal as well as one of its Barrafina restaurants as part of the same development, Parrillan Borough Yards will honour better the original idea for the restaurant before changes had to be made to fit into its Coal Drop Yard setting, thus, this time round there is an inside area, seating around 55 covers, as well as a terrace for around 40 covers, with much of the cooking done over wood and coal by the chefs themselves rather than the diner.
4 Dirty Lane, London, SE1 9PA​
parrillan.co.uk/borough-yards​​

Le Pont de la Tour Bistrot​
D&D London is to overhaul the bar space adjacent to its riverside restaurant Le Pont de la Tour and relaunch it as a new 'relaxed' bistro concept. Le Pont de la Tour Bistrot will open on 12 May and seat 32 inside with a further 24 covers available on the terrace, which will overlook the Thames and Tower Bridge. The menu, overseen by Le Pont de la Tour executive chef Tony Fleming, will be inspired by classic French bistros and brasseries and feature 'regional French fare at accessible prices'. Dishes will include warm Comté gougères; pig’s head terrine; morel omelette with fines herbs and petit salad; saddleback pork belly with boudin noir and white asparagus; and tarte au citron. There will also be a range of daily specials such as rabbit parmentier on Tuesdays; ray wing au poivre on Wednesdays; and roast sirloin of Cumbrian beef on Sundays. Drinks will include a concise wine list created by head sommelier Michele Orbolato, and a range of 'signature' cocktails.
36D Shad Thames, London SE1 2YE​
lepontdelatour.co.uk​​

Pappy’s Taco Bar​

Cumbrian-based barbecue restaurant group Pappy’s Texas Barbeque is adding a Tex-Mex taco bar to its portfolio, which is set to launch close to the group’s smokehouse in Kendal this month. Pappy’s Taco Bar will ‘aim to redefine the typical perception of Tex-Mex cooking’, serving sharing-style dishes featuring Texas barbequed meat from its own smokehouse in traditional soft corn tortillas. Signature tacos will include carnitas, made with slow-cooked smoked pork in spices and juices, topped with pico de gallo and lime wedges; oak smoked brisket tacos with red cabbage slaw, and salsa verde; and a traditional Mexican birria taco made with slow-cooked USDA Black Angus brisket in a stew served with beef consomme for dipping. Alongside tacos, the menu will serve totapas, a seven-layer Tex-Mex dip, fresh seasonal salsas and desserts such as churros and a Mexican affogato. The drinks menu will celebrate Mexican spirits with a selection of rare tequilas and mezcals such as Vivir Tequila Anjo, Patron Reposada and Mezcal La Ledida-Tobala.
The Old Smokehouse, Yard 2 Stricklandgate, Kendal, England, LA9 4ND, United Kingdom​
pappystexasbarbeque.co.uk/taco-bar​​

The Black Sheep​
The sixth restaurant from the Gladwin Brothers sees them lay down roots in Wimbledon Village on the site of the former White Onion restaurant. Those familiar with the approach taken by chef-patron Oliver and co-founder Richard will know the form with a menu with British, locally sourced produce underpinning each dish. Dishes on the spring launch menu will include Wye Valley grilled asparagus; and sweet cured confit hogget shoulder with foraged wild garlic, with all fish served being green rated by the Marine Conservation Society. During the week The Black Sheep will serve a plant-led set menu comprising either two or three courses, where vegetables take centre stage alongside kitchen’s ‘off-cuts’.
67 High Street, Wimbledon SW19 5EE​
theblacksheep-restaurant.com​​

Boundary​

Albion Café at Shoreditch hotel The Boundary is no more, and as of May it will reopen with a fresh look and a new name. This time round called Boundary, the 100-cover restaurant and bar will serve modern British food with a European influence with newly appointed head chef Robin Freeman, formerly of 1 Lombard Street and Ekte Nordic Kitchen, at the helm. Menu items will include starters such as Lulworth Bay scallops in anchovy and parsley butter; cuttlefish in ink sauce; and Glenarm Estate longhorn steak tartare. Mains will feature sharing style whole roasted chicken with wild garlic butter; grilled Torbay cod; and wild garlic and nettle risotto. The hotel has gone for clean lines and a natural look with its interiors, which feature wooden floors and muted coloured banquette seating.
2-4 Boundary St, London, E2 7DD​
boundary.london​​

Bakehouse by Baked in Brick​
Pizza and street food restaurant Baked in Brick is to Sutton Coldfield this month to open a three-storey bakery and café. Located in a former ironmongers shop, this will be the third site for the restaurant group joining its Custard Factory restaurant and its Erdington bakery. The ground floor will house main bakery with a dining area with the second floor offering a more relaxed setting and the top floor designed for private-hire space. From launch the menu will include baked good as well as cheese and charcuterie but plans are being hatched to serve an evening tapas menu in the future.
112 Holland Rd, Sutton Coldfield, B72 1RE​
bakedinbrick.co.uk/bakehouse​​

Chotto Matte Marylebone​

Kurt Zdesar is in the midst of a major expansion push for Chotto Matte, which was founded in Soho in 2013. The high profile restaurateur’s upcoming Marylebone site follows sites in Miami and Toronto but really the former Nobu director is only just getting started, with further sites lined up in San Francisco, LA, Doha and Riyadh. Meaning ‘please wait a minute’ in Japanese, Chotto Matte offers Nikkei cuisine in trendy surrounds. 
26 Paddington St, London W1U 5QY​
chotto-matte.com/london-marylebone​​