Restaurant radar: April 2024
AGORA
SMOKESTAK founder David Carter will open two restaurants at his Borough Market site this month, the first being AGORA. Located on street level on Bedale Street, AGORA will have a two-metre charcoal rotisserie ‘souvla’ and serve a menu that begins with wood-fired flatbreads with house spreads and moves into rotisserie dishes featuring different cuts of meat, including rolled lamb shoulder marinated in garlic, lemon zest and oregano; native breed pork shoulder ‘kontosouvli’ (marinated then roasted), brushed with rosemary and pork fat; and Somerset Saxon chicken. The all-day offer will be a relaxed affair, with communal seating as well as individual tables. There will also be a take-away hatch serving coffee, pastries and frozen green chilli margaritas should the mood take you.
2-4 Bedale Street, SE1 9AL, london
www.agora.london
OMA
David Carter’s more ambitious Greek restaurant will open above AGORA (see above) on 16 April and will bring flavours of the Greek isles and the surrounding coastal regions to Borough Market. There’ll be daily-changing selection from the raw bar that might include gilthead bream, jalapeño aguachile and datterini tomato; and yellowfin tuna with clementine and aged soy, alongside classic Greek dishes such as Santorini fava with capers and a soft-boiled egg, and a Greek salad using carob rusks, Flourish Farm tomatoes and mizithra cheese. As with AGORA below, fire will be a key element in the cooking, with dishes on the launch menu to include butterflied or slow-grilled red mullet served with red miso butter; skewered Cornish squid brushed with a garlic and za’atar oil; and lamb belly skewers.
2-4 bedale street, SE1 9AL, london
www.oma.london/
abc kitchens
Jean-Georges Vongerichten will open his latest London restaurant at new The Emory hotel in Knightsbridge on 4 April. Called abc kitchens, the restaurant will combine the chef’s vision across his three New York restaurants - abc kitchen, abcV and abc cocina - showcasing farm-to-table fare, plant-based, and Latin-inspired cooking. Executive head Chef Ben Boeynaems, who has worked for Gordon Ramsay and Eric Chavot, including most recently at The Beaumont Hotel, will oversee the menu.
Old Barrack Yard, London, SW1X 7NP
www.the-emory.co.uk/restaurants-bars/abc-kitchens/
Carmel
Brothers Josh and Paul Katz along with Mattia Bianchi, the team behind Berber & Q and Shawarma Bar, will open Carmel in Fitzrovia on 8 April. Following the success of Carmel in Queen’s Park, which opened in 2021, 95-seater Carmel Fitzrovia will focus on the flavours of the eastern Mediterranean. Expect an extensive menu of small plates and sharing dishes such as monkfish crudo with sheep’s yoghurt and tomatoes; lamb tartare with amba, pickled cucumber, challah and za’atar; whole sea bream with Calabrian hot honey, lemon butter, fennel and kalamata olive; and hanger steak cis, bone marrow, burnt onion, sour cherry molasses reduction.
7-8 Market Place, London, W1W 8AG
www.carmelrestaurant.co.uk/
Los Mochis City
The Tokyo-meets-Tulum restaurant finally throws open the doors to its huge second site in the capital on 11 April. The 14,000sq ft restaurant will occupy the 9th floor rooftop of 100 Liverpool Street, boasting a 3,000sq ft outdoor terrace with panoramic views of the city and a 3am license. Led by ex-Nobu executive chef Leonard Tanyag, the menu will showcase dishes such as ‘make your own tacos' with king crab legs and wagyu grade 5 tomahawk steak designed for guests to assemble themselves. The restaurant will also have a sushi bar and robata grill with a selection of makis, nigiris, and sashimi and 15 different kushiyaki (grilled skewers) on offer.
9th Floor, 100 Liverpool St, London, EC2M 2AT
www.losmochis.co.uk/
Cloth
Late April will see the launch of wine importer Joe Haynes and Ben Butterworth and chef Tom Hurst’s restaurant and wine bar in Farringdon. Located within a Grade II-listed building on Cloth Street, Cloth will have a bar area offering drinks and snacks from 12pm until close alongside a more formal restaurant that will be open for lunch and dinner. British produce will take centre stage with launch dishes to include Cornish squid, black olive, preserved lemon and lardo; Somerset hogget, grilled cos lettuce, smoked tongue and anchovy; and rhubarb sorbet with blood orange caramel. Cloth will be a proper bistro with low ceilings, wood panelling, antique wall lights, while marble tables, long dark wood banquettes, antique crockery, and silver plate cutlery. It opens on 29 April.
44 Cloth Fair, London, EC1A 7JQ
www.clothrestaurants.co
Bangers
Sausage-focused delivery brand Bangers makes the move into bricks and mortar this month. Opening on 19 April at Shoreditch’s Leonard Circus, Bangers will serve its signature smashed sausage, egg and cheese sarnies alongside the B.E.C made with free-range maple bacon; and the VEGGIE, featuring a Symplicity smashed plant-based sausage, all of which will come with a choice of a brioche bun or toasted English muffin.
5 Leonard Circus, London, EC2A 4DQ
www.bangerslondon.co.uk/
Rose Street Falafel
The team behind Liverpool and Manchester-based Middle Eastern restaurant concept Maray will be part of Boxpark Liverpool’s opening line up of traders. Rose Street Falafel is billed as a homage to the group’s roots in the Marais District of Paris, which is famous for its casual Middle Eastern cuisine
TÓU
TĀTĀ Eatery founders Ana Gonçalves and Zijun Meng are relaunching their pioneering katsu sando concept above The Globe Tavern in London’s Borough Market. Opening on 5 April, the permanent residency will take the form of a Japanese Americana-inspired sando bar and reflects a partnership between Gonçalves and Meng and food brand licensing platform Sessions. The menu will feature TÓU’s signature pork katsu sando, which sees an Ibérico pork neck cutlet breaded and deep fried and served with cabbage, raspberry sauce and xo shallot sauce in a lightly toasted brioche sandwich, priced at £16.50. There will also be skin on fries with house sprinkles as a side; and a coffee and biscuits sundae featuring homemade coffee ice cream with Biscoff, mascarpone custard and cocoa powder.
1st Floor, Globe Tavern, 8 Bedale St, London, SE1 9AL
Boojum
Ireland-based Mexican restaurant brand Boojum is taking the fight to Tortilla with the open its first restaurant on the UK mainland this month in Leeds. Boojum’s offer includes burritos, fajitas, tacos, nachos, quesadillas, and salads as well as churros as a dessert option. The group has big plans for England and beyond, and is said to be looking at new sites in Nottingham, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester.
Merrion Street, The Merrion Centre, Leeds, LS2 8NG
www.boojummex.com/
El Pastor Battersea
Harts Group is taking its Mexican restaurant El Pastor to Battersea Power Station. Located on the riverside, opposite the north entrance to the Grade II listed power station, the restaurant will comprise a 90-cover indoor dining room; a drinks-led standing bar area for 20; a 26-cover Mexican greenhouse-inspired private dining room; and a 60-cover open-all-year outdoor terrace.
Circus West Village, Battersea Power Station
www.tacoselpastor.co.uk/
Two Drops
Also from Harts Group is Two Drops, a 63-cover bar with aims of elevating the cheese toastie to new heights. Executive chef Marvin Jones’ menu will include variations on the cheese toastie made with jurarégal – a cheese made from raw cow’s milk in the Franche-Comté region of eastern France – with fillings such as salt beef, pickled gherkin and horseradish; smoked haddock and English mustard; and Marmite and shallot. Outside will be a sheltered riverside terrace, seating 20, for the warmer months.
Circus Road West, London SW11 8EZ
thedropbar.co.uk/two-drop
Lina Stores South Kensington
The pasta focused restaurant group continues to expand across the capital with it latest site opening in west London on 19 April. The corner restaurant, located where Exhibition Road and Thurloe Square meet, will be looking to target the museum-going crowd with its all-day menu of fresh pasta, antipasti, secondi and dolci.
15-17 Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London, SW7 2HE
www.linastores.co.uk/
