Restaurant radar: November 2023
Jamie Oliver Catherine St
Jamie Oliver will make his long-awaited return to London’s restaurant scene this month with the opening of Jamie Oliver Catherine St, which will launch within a Grade 1 listed site next to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 28 November. Described as ‘a celebration of Britain’s rich food culture’, the restaurant will take inspiration from dishes Oliver used to cook while working in his parent’s pub when he was growing up, as well as his time at The River Café and his former non-profit restaurant Fifteen London. Heading up the kitchen will be head chef Chris Shail, who previously worked alongside Oliver for eight years, along with pastry chef Emma Jackson, who has worked at Soho Farmhouse and Petersham Nurseries. Dishes set to feature on the launch menu include devilled eggs with Exmoor caviar; roast Sutton Hoo chicken with stroganoff sauce, shoestring fries and baked wild mushroom rice; and an onion tarte tatin with Tropea onions, confit garlic, Pilton cider and Colston Bassett cheese. Desserts, meanwhile, will include a Snickersphere featuring a dome of Hill St. chocolate filled with peanut butter semifreddo, salted caramel and peanut praline plus buttermilk ice cream and butterscotch sauce, which previously featured on the menu of Oliver’s fire-based cooking restaurant Barbecoa. The new restaurant will have a courtyard garden as the entrance, which will feature art from the chef's favourite artists and photographers on the walls, and hold 130 covers inside alongside a 30-seat terrace.
6 Catherine Street, London WC2B 5JY
www.jamieolivercatherinest.com
The Wolseley City
Mere months after opening Manzi’s in Soho, The Wolseley Hospitality Group is preparing for its next London opening, The Wolseley City, which is set to open on 8 November. The new opening will align with the 20th anniversary of the original The Wolseley in London’s Piccadilly, and is described as ‘a younger sister, not a replica’ to that restaurant. Holding around 260 covers, it will be larger than its Piccadilly sibling and feature two private dining rooms and three sweeping bar spaces. The decor will draw inspiration from the architecture of 160 Piccadilly, designed in 1921 by William Curtis Green. Interior features will include Byzantine chandeliers, Baroque ironwork, and intricate 1920s Egyptian touches. A reimagination of the vaulted ceiling and grand pillars will also be a focal point, alongside a tribute to the familiar ‘horseshoe’ entrance. The menu, meanwhile, will pay homage to the original restaurant with an all-day offer that will feature favourites such as schnitzels; soufflé Suisse; steak tartare; calf’s liver and bacon; and coq au vin. There will also be a breakfast menu that’ll include signature classics from The Wolseley such as bubble and squeak; grilled kippers; fried haggis with duck eggs; and smoked haddock kedgeree.
68 King William St, London, EC4N 7HR
www.thewolseleycity.com
Pearly Queen
Tom Brown’s follow up to his Michelin-starred Hackney Wick restaurant Cornerstone will launch just south of Spitalfields Market later this month. On Commercial Street, Pearly Queen is billed by the Nathan Outlaw protégé as being both an oyster bar and a restaurant serving UK-sourced oysters both fresh and grilled. Dishes will include grilled lobster served in XO lobster butter; baked crab, black truffle, onion; and 100-layer cuttlefish lasagne. Brown opened Cornerstone - named after his favourite Arctic Monkeys song - in 2018. Announcing the news on Instagram, Brown said: “Very excited to finally announce the opening of my new oyster bar Pearly Queen …it’s felt like a long time coming.”
44 Commercial Street, London E1 6LT
https://thepearlyqueen.com/
The Devonshire
Publican Oisín Rogers and Flat Iron founder Charlie Carroll open the doors to their much-anticipated Soho pub and restaurant mid to late November having restored the site of The Devonshire just off Piccadilly Circus back to a pub. On the ground floor will be a proper pub serving snacks such as house-cured bacon on homemade bread, and house made sausage on a stick, scotch eggs, sausage rolls and cheese and ham hock toasties while the upstairs restaurant will cover two floors and a roof terrace and will centre on a three-metre-long bespoke wood ember grill. Expect expertly cooked steaks, perfectly pulled pints and a few surprises.
17 Denman Street, Soho, London, W1D 7HW
www.devonshiresoho.co.uk
The Tamil Crown
The owners of The Tamil Prince in Islington, Glen Leeson and Prince Durairaj, will open their second site on 18 Novemeber. Called The Tamil Crown and also located in Islington the restaurant and pub will span two floors and serve a menu of Indian and Tamil dishes divided into small plates, large plates and bar snacks. Dishes will include beef masala uttapum with spicy coconut chutney; lime leaf-roasted chicken with pineapple chutney; and Indian street food staple bhel puri. On Sundays, it will offer an Indian-inspired twist on the Sunday roast, with a choice of roasted lamb shank; masala roast chicken; and masala roast beef, as well as a vegetarian roast that will be a twist on a banana leaf thali.
16 Elia Street, London, N1 8DE
www.thetamilcrown.com
Thirty One
Former Royal Navy chef Lee Calver opens his casual fine dining restaurant in Plymouth early next month. Located at the former Rock Salt site on Stonehouse Street the restaurant will serve an a la carte menu that will include starters of ham hock terrine, brawn fritter, charcoal mayonnaise, and pickled vegetables; and pork and sage scotch egg, triple mustard mayonnaise, and pickled red onion; and mains such as Indian spiced hake, braised rice, onion bhaji, garlic and coriander naan bread, butter curry sauce; and poached and roasted chicken, squash, hash brown, pine nut and sage jus.
31 Stonehouse Street, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 3PE
www.thirtyoneplymouth.co.uk
Donia
A Filipino restaurant is coming to Soho’s Kingly Court on the former site of Imad’s Syrian Kitchen. Called Donia, it will serve sharing plates of Filipino food ‘with the techniques of modern British cuisine’ with dishes that will include crispy roast pork with liver peppercorn sauce, a modern take on the classic Filipino lechon dish of a festive whole roasted pig; prawn and pork dumpling, white crab with lime butter sauce and chili oil - a version of the Filipino street food dish that is typically paired with soy and calamansi chili oil; and chicken inasalina in a butter emulsion, which owner Maginhawa Group says will present a fresh perspective on the cherished Filipino dish.
Kingly Court, Carnaby Street, London W1B 5PW
www.doniarestaurant.com
Sune
Sommelier Honey Spencer and partner Charlie Sims’s neighbourhood restaurant is coming to Broadway Market in late November. Called Sune after the Old Nordic word for ‘son’, and the name of Spencer’s wine mentor Sune Rosforth in Copenhagen, it will be headed up by former Acme Fire Cult, Pidgin and Akoko chef Michael Robins whose menu will include small dishes such as egg, chips and anchovy; and smoked eel Caesar salad; homemade pastas such as linguine vongole with fried garlic and bottarga; and larger dishes such as za’atar spiced lamb ribs,honey, harissa and salted yoghurt. The dining room will feature reclaimed timber floors and table tops and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Broadway Market and the Regent’s Canal.
129A Pritchard’s Road, London, E2 9AP
www.sune.restaurant
Bar Levan
Levan founders Mark Gurney and Matt Bushnell are to launch a Parisian-style wine bar on the on the site that previously housed their New York-inspired diner Larry’s in London’s Peckham. Housed next door to the neighbourhood-style restaurant from which it takes its name and launching in November, Bar Levan will draw inspiration from classic Parisian spots like Aux Deux Amis and Septime La Cave, serving a menu of ‘dynamic and playful’ wines alongside a selection of bar snacks. The wine list will follow a similar ethos to its eponymous sister restaurant with a focus on organic and biodynamic wines, alongside a selection of older vintages and unique ‘one offs’ by the glass. The food menu, meanwhile, has been created by the Levan kitchen and will include rillettes; charcuterie; cheese; mussels on crisps; and a croque monsieur.
Unit 5, 12-16 Blenheim Grove, London SE15 4QL
https://barlevan.co.uk/
Tasha’s
This month will see the London debut of South African-born café brand Tashas, which has secured a 4,000sq ft site on Prospect Way at Battersea Power Station for its first foray into a European market. Built on the philosophy of ‘beautiful food served in elegant environments with engaging service’, Tashas was founded by Natasha Sideris (main image) and launched its first restaurant in Johannesburg’s Atholl district in 2005. It has subsequently grown to 15 sites across the country, and also expanded into the UAE with five sites in Dubai and one in Abu Dhabi. The UK menu is expected to be expansive and include signature dishes from Tashas’ South African siblings such as butternut zucchini rosti; lemon chicken; and Texas salad. The space itself will be designed by Sideris and design studio Verhaal, and is billed as an updated version of the group’s original Tashas restaurant, with light and bright interiors featuring work from contemporary South African designers and artisans.
3 Prospect Way, London SW11 8BH
www.tashascafe.com/home
Sam’s Waterside
Located in the new Brentford Project development facing the River Brent, Sam’s Riverside will echo the contemporary brasserie style of Sam’s Riverside in nearby Hammersmith. The menus also have a hint of the successful repertoire from Sam’s Riverside – the popular Parmesan churros and crab on toast will appear, as well as a selection of oysters and shellfish – but there will be a number of new dishes from head chef Jacob Keen Downs including crispy duck salad with watercress and persimmon; bass ceviche with avocado and chilli; and chargrilled octopus with Dorset nduja and potato. Restaurateur Sam Harrison and his business partner Fanny Stocker launched the original Sam’s Brasserie in 2019 adjacent to the redeveloped Riverside Studios overlooking the Thames.
Sam’s Waterside, 3 Kingham Avenue, London TW8 8GP
www.samswaterside.co.uk/
Dalla
Located in Hackney’s Morning Lane in the site that was once Peg, Dalla will be headed up by former P Franco chef Mitchell Damota and Claridges alumnus Gianmarco Leone. The Italian menu will be seasonal in its approach, with offering a regularly rotating series of dishes comprising antipasti, and pasta and risotto alongside two to three larger dishes of meat or fish as well as side dishes. A vitrine outside the kitchen will display desserts and cakes, with a tiramisu and cheese to be a permanent fixture of the menu. The restaurant’s interior will feature classics of Italian design with more personal finds that Leone has sourced in collaboration with Sicilian designer Oscar Piccolo to create a feel that is intended to be ‘intimate, personal and surprising, yet familiar’, according Leone.
120-122 Morning Lane, London E9 6LH
dallarestaurant.com
NOTTO Covent Garden
Phil Howard and Julian Dyer will launch a second restaurant under their premium pasta brand NOTTO in Covent Garden late this month. Operating alongside NOTTO’s flagship site in Piccadilly, the new Henrietta Street restaurant will hold 96 covers. Howard, who also co-owns the Michelin-starred Elystan Street in Chelsea, launched NOTTO’s first site in November last year in partnership with Dyer, founder of desserts business Pots & Co. The brand was originally established as a pasta delivery service in 2021. Louis Korovilas will oversee both sites as executive chef with George Seciu taking up the role of head chef role in Covent Garden. Dishes set to feature on the new menu include gnocchetti with smashed sausage, white wine, fennel and chilli; ravioli of pumpkin and chestnuts with pine nuts, brown butter, sage and parmesan; and pappardelle with slow cooked oxtail and shin of beef, field mushrooms and red wine.
4 Henrietta Street, London WC2E 8PS
www.nottopastabars.com
Dipna Anand Kitchen & Bar
Dipna Anand’s 150-cover eponymous restaurant within Milton Keynes’ Unity Place development is billed as a ‘flavour-rich, planet-friendly experience’ that will offer the chef’s authentic Punjabi and South Indian cuisine alongside ‘a selection of traditional favourites’. Created in partnership with contract catering company Restaurant Associates, Dipna Anand Kitchen & Bar will be a modern and glass-fronted space that will have its own microbrewery operated by TOAST Ale and is billed as a change of direction for Anand, who is best-known for her Brilliant Restaurant in London’s Southall, which serves Punjabi cuisine with a Kenyan twist. The restaurant will be a counterpoint to the more casual Dipna Anand Indian Street Food, which has already opened in Unity Place’s Urban Food Market.
Unity Place, 200 Grafton Gate, Milton Keynes MK9 1UP
www.dipnaanandatunityplace.co.uk/
The Butcher’s Tap and Grill Chelsea
Five years on first arriving in the capital with the opening Kerridge’s Bar and Grill in the Corinthia Hotel, Tom Kerridge is set to launch his first London pub this month having taken over the former The Queen’s Head site on Tyron Street, close to Sloane Square. Opening under the chef’s The Butcher’s Tap & Grill brand, which he first launched in Marlow in 2017, the 100-cover pub will predominately be wet led with a rotating roster of drinks including London craft beers and new world wines. There will also be a ‘British centric’ food menu of butcher-cuts, burgers, hot dogs and small bites, all served in takeaway containers. The design, overseen by Tibbatts Abel, will include a focal hardwood bar topped with zinc, handmade lighting, curated art, vintage flooring, and British-made decorative tiles. There will also be an open kitchen in the basement level, alongside meat ageing fridges.
25 Tryon St, London SW3 3LG
