Best New Restaurants for 2025
It’s looking like another bumper year for London restaurants
There are so many new restaurant openings in London that it can be a hard task keeping track of what’s opening where and when. That’s why we keep a handy list of the best new restaurants regularly updated for you. If you like to plan ahead and secure those reservations early, we’ve also rounded up the best new openings planned for 2025 so you can start working on your restaurant hit-list. With this exciting line-up, we predict your lists are going to be rather long…
Berenjak Mayfair
The JKS-backed Iranian restaurant group Berenjak, led by Kian Samyani and which already has sites in Soho and Borough, is opening location number three in Mayfair, taking over a spot on the corner of Duke Street and Brown Hart Gardens. That’s all we know so far – the latest posts on the restaurant’s Instagram account show that the site has been completely gutted ahead of a refurbishment – but we’re expecting plenty of charcoal-grilled kababs and signature mazeh small plates.
Opens summer 2025
Brown Hart Gardens, London, W1
berenjaklondon.com
Claridge’s Bakery
Claridge’s is opening a bakery this summer that will celebrate the art of British baking. Richard Hart (who’s worked everywhere from San Francisco to Copenhagen to Mexico City) will be leading the charge as Executive Baker & Creative Director. His menu will include classics like bloomers, granary loaves, sourdough breads, iced fingers, jam tarts, Belgian buns, custard tarts and more, with the baked goods being available for both hotel guests and visitors.
Opens late summer 2025
Brook Street, London W1K 4HR
claridges.co.uk
Kebapci Iskender
Kebapci Iskender is a Turkish institution – founded in Bursa in 1867, it’s remained a family-run business for several generations, with Oğuzhan İskenderoğlu now in charge. Iskender has two locations in Bursa and a smart restaurant in Istanbul (which we’re big fans of), and now it’s coming to London. The restaurant is opening on Beauchamp Place, close to Harrods, and though we don’t exactly when yet, the hoardings are up outside the space so we suspect it won’t be too long. We also haven’t seen a menu but given Iskender has been doing its signature iskender kebab – pide piled with tomato sauce and lamb döner, served with roasted aubergine and yoghurt, and finished with plenty of melted butter – for well over a century, this will be the star of the show.
Opens summer 2025
30 Beauchamp Place, London SW3 1NJ
@iskenderofficial
Bad Boy Pizza Society
Bad Boy Pizza Society has been slinging slices at its residencies at Vinegar Yard in London Bridge, Seven Dials Market in Covent Garden and The Railway in Tulse Hill but this summer, the crew is opening the first permanent Bad Boy Pizzeria in Bethnal Green. Running as a slice shop by day and a sit-down spot by night, Bad Boy Pizzeria will serve the New York-style pizza that’s made the BBPS name, with regular specials and a load more Italian-American dishes on the menu. We’re talking dishes like chicken vodka parms, giant Caesar shares, fluffy Sicilian squares and carbonara suppli.
Opens Fri 8th August 2025
419 Bethnal Green Road, London, E2 0AN
badboypizzasoc.com
40FT Brewery Walthamstow
Dalston fave 40FT Brewery is heading east for site number two and joining the Blackhorse Beer Mile in Walthamstow. A much bigger space – room for 100 inside and another 100 in the courtyard garden – and opening in the brand’s 10th anniversary year, the new 40FT will host everything from family-friendly daytime events and food pop-ups to DJs and comedy nights. Of course, it’ll also be a place to grab a cold one, with 40FT beers like Disco Pils, Dalston Sunrise, hazy IPA Main Squeeze, West Coast IPA Rewind and nitro-stout Deep available to drink.
Opens Fri 8th August 2025
Unit 10, Lockwood Way, London E17 5RB
40ftbrewery.com
The Macbeth
As well as keeping the people of Hoxton well watered for over a century, The Macbeth has also played host to the likes of Florence + The Machine, Franz Ferdinand, The xx, Pete Doherty and Fontaines DC (and managed to stave off closure despite development threats and noise complaints). Now a new chapter for the pub is imminent as Jamie Allan, one half of Four Legs and The Plimsoll, is taking it over with good friend Patrick Nolan joining to head up the front of house. The guys are stripping the interiors back to spotlight some of the pub’s original features, including a 19th century tiled mural, whilst also installing an English oak bar. The new-look Macbeth will be taking inspo from Europe, particularly the tascas of Portugal, with drinks being poured until late and food available until 11pm. There’s not a full menu yet but you can expect dishes like morcela fina, chicken samosas, snail rice and pork & cheese rolls.
Opens August 2025
70 Hoxton Street, London N1 6LP
@themacbethhoxton
Legado
Nieves Barragán Mohacho has been at the forefront of London’s Spanish food scene for two decades, leading Barrafina to great acclaim and then opening her own restaurant Sabor in 2018, where she holds a Michelin star. Now she’s celebrating her journey and her love for Spain’s food culture by opening Legado (meaning ‘legacy’), in partnership with JKS Restaurants, in Shoreditch this summer. As her largest project yet, Legado will allow Nieves and her team the space to explore different regional Spanish dishes and dining traditions. Whole-animal butchery will be a big focus, with lamb from Castilla y León, suckling pig from Segovia and ham from Extremadura featuring across the menu, alongside dishes like Crystal Mediterranean prawns with smoked paprika and Moscatel vinegar; confit lobster with chilli, garlic, rose potatoes and fried egg; Grilled catch of the day served by the half (head or tail end) with an Ajada sauce from Galicia; Legado Sandwich – Swiss chard, Cecina and smoked cheese fried in breadcrumbs; Valencian fideuà; and apricot sorbet with aerated almond milk and rosemary oil.
Opens Thurs 28th August 2025
1 Montacute Yards, 185-186 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6HU
legadorestaurants.com
Slayer Pizzeria
The pizzerias continue to come in the capital as Slayer Pizzeria is opening in Notting Hill. We don’t have a menu yet but we’re being promised “no flop, all crunch” from the NYC-style slice shop and restaurant.
Opens Mon 1st September 2025
226 Westbourne Grove, London W11 2RH
@slayernottinghill
Layla Bakery Acton
Layla Bakery in Ladbroke Grove has become one of the most beloved bakeries in town, attracting locals and those from further afield to Portobello Road for its sourdough breads, bow tie pastries, cardamom buns, banana tahini loaves, miso buns, burnt honey tarts, BLT sandwiches and more. Come September, there’ll be even more Layla to go around as founder Tessa Faulkner is opening a second bakery in Acton, just down the road from Acton Central station. Designed primarily as a takeaway spot, though it’ll have a few stools inside and benches outside for coffee and croissant consumption, the Acton outpost of Layla will be very familiar to fans of the original. Like in Notting Hill, the bakery will be partnering with Assembly Coffee, Good & Proper Tea, Estate Dairy, Original Beans Chocolate and Natoora, and Colton Dinner (currently Head Baker at Ladbroke Grove) will move into the role of Executive Baker across both sites. The menu will feature many Layla signatures, with a few exclusives added for Acton locals.
Opens Thurs 4th September 2025
53 Churchfield Road, Acton, London W3 6AY
laylabakery.com
Tobi Masa
The Chancery Rosewood, not content with bringing over cult Italian spot Carbone from the big dogs Major Food Group, has announced another huge coup. This time, it’s New York’s omakase icon Chef Masa Takayama crossing the Atlantic this September to open his first proper UK restaurant, Tobi Masa. He already has an outpost in London, with Sushi by Masa in the Harrods Dining Hall, but this will be much bigger. Housed in the reimagined former US Embassy, now home to The Chancery Rosewood (a luxury hotel from the Rosewood group), Tobi Masa blends Japanese minimalism with Western luxury. Think sushi as fine art, truffle-laced Toro Tartare, and the delicate Surimi Masa Pasta, a dish that’s already made waves stateside. And it’s not just a greatest hits menu. Alongside signature dishes like those Peking Duck Tacos and the now-iconic Toro Tartare with caviar, expect exclusive new creations developed just for London – all with the same deep respect for seasonality, simplicity, and silence (yes, silence) that defines Masa’s style.
Opens September 2025
30 Grosvenor Sq, London W1K
rosewoodhotels.com
ALTA
The second of MAD Restaurants’ summer projects is opening in September. Spanish restaurant ALTA will be landing in Kingly Court, with chef Rob Roy Cameron (who spent time at El Bulli) at the helm. Named after the northern Alta Navarra peninsula, ALTA will spotlight open-fire cooking and flavours from the Basque country, with dishes like Cornish mussels and grilled breadbaked beetroot salad with almonds and balsamic dressing; wood-fired courgette with pumpkin seed romesco; razor clams in white escabeche and homemade txistorra & onion cider jus; grilled 38-day-aged beef sirloin; grilled turbot head; chocolate mousse with smoked olive oil meringue; and Basque cheesecake with escabeche strawberries.
Opens September 2025
Kingly Court, Kingly St, London W1B 5PW
alta-restaurant.com
Angela Hartnett at the Royal Opera House
Angela Hartnett is expanding her empire this year with two new openings – a fourth outpost of Cafe Murano in Marylebone and a new Italian-inspired concept at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, taking over the fifth floor space that’s been home to the Piazza Restaurant and Terrace Bar. The as-yet-unnamed restaurant will serve her signature simple but sophisticated Italian dishes at lunch and dinner, with the all-day terrace bar, featuring views over Covent Garden, taking inspiration from the bars of Turin.
Opens September 2025
Bow St, London WC2E 9DD
rbo.org.uk
Rosi
After being appointed Culinary Director of The Beaumont Mayfair back in April, Lisa Goodwin-Allen (who has held a Michelin star at Lancashire restaurant Northcote for over two decades) is opening a new restaurant inside the hotel this September. At Rosi, alongside Executive Chef Brendan Fyldes, and Executive Head Chef Jozef Rogulski, she’ll be putting a playful twist on modern British classics and showcasing the best seasonal British produce across the menu. As well as steaks sourced from English wagyu, Lake District and heritage Hereford herds, the menu will feature signature pies, including her take on an old-fashioned pork pie. Desserts promise a bit of theatre, with flamed seasonal sponges, a build-your-own sundae, and a Mayfair’s millionaire tart on offer.
Opens September 2025
The Beaumont Mayfair, Brown Hart Gardens, London W1K 6TF
thebeaumont.com
Cô Thành
Nguyễn Thị Thanh, a street-side food vendor in Ho Chi Minh City, became something of a local legend for her noodle soups, but became even more famous after catching the attention of Anthony Bourdain and featuring on his No Reservations show in 2009. Brian Woo went to train under her and learn the traditions of Vietnamese food in 2013, and he went on to continue her legacy by opening Cô Thành in Hong Kong in 2017. Now he’s bringing Cô Thành to London, taking over the former Frenchie site on Henrietta Street. The menu will showcase the vibrant, herb-filled dishes of southern Vietnam, including both signature dishes from Hong Kong and exclusive specials for London – we’re being told to expect Bún Thái, Bún Mắm, Bún bò Huế, Bánh Mì, and a range of refreshing Vietnamese desserts, alongside, natural wines, cocktails, Vietnamese smoothies and Vietnamese coffee.
Opens September 2025
16 Henrietta Street, London, WC2E 8QH
cothanhrestaurant.com
Aki
It’s been popular in Malta and now Japanese restaurant Aki is coming to London, making it the first international outpost for Malta’s Lifestyle Group. Inspired by Kyoto’s farm-to-table ethos and showcasing fish-to-tail to cookery, Aki will have 80 in-house ‘micro-farms’ allowing the restaurant to grow herbs and seaweed, with the kitchen also using various fermentation techniques. The menu includes dishes like tuna tartare with Japanese brown puffed rice and aged soy; wagyu tataki with Japanese beer mustard pickle, truffle, brown butter, enoki mushroom and crispy leeks; hay-smoked scallop with tofu and fennel cream, fuji apple tosazu jelly, myoga & hanaho; and natto and yuzu marinated lamb with ume boshi and house-made herb miso.
Opens September 2025
One Cavendish Square, London, W1
akilondon.com
Labombe by Trivet
After being trialled as a bar at Trivet, Jonny Lake and Isa Bal are taking Labombe permanent and setting it up inside the COMO Metropolitan London hotel on Park Lane. Evan Moore will be heading up the kitchen, doing dishes like grilled duck heart & cherry skewers; hot tongue buns; gurnard crudo with orange ponzu and anchovy garum; Costoletta alla Milanese with cabbage and agrodolce; chocolate fondant with hazelnut ganache and white coffee ice cream. The wine list will showcase both emerging regions and European producers, with a selection that ranges from everyday drinkers to extra-special wines. It’s quite a strange partnership for a Mayfair hotel, which is a tough one to crack in 2025 – we’ve already heard rumblings Mr Back is going back and Mr Caring has exited the Rosewood. With international brands like Carbone and Shanghai Me coming in, this is gonna be one big bun fight.
Opens September 2025
19 Old Park Ln, London W1K 1LB
labombe.co.uk
Amy Poon at Somerset House
Amy Poon‘s parents Bill and Cecilia Poon opened their first Poon’s restaurant on Lisle Street in 1973, with the second site in Covent Garden, opened in 1980, becoming the first Chinese restaurant in the UK to win a Michelin star. Since 2018, Amy has been carrying on the family legacy by doing pop-ups, including a wontoneria at Stevie Parle’s JOY and at Carousel, and selling sauces, condiments and Chinese wind-dried meats, opening a production and retail space in Spa Terminus last year. Now she’s coming full circle and opening a permanent restaurant at Somerset House this September. We don’t have a full menu yet but claypot rice and ‘magic soup’ will feature, alongside dishes that are common fixtures in Chinese homes. Chinese flavours will feature across the cocktails and the wine list will focus on cool-climate bottles, female winemakers and family-owned producers.
Opens September 2025
Somerset House, New Wing Lancaster Place, WC2R 1LA
poonslondon.com
Crisp Pizza Mayfair
There have been rumours of a second Crisp Pizza in central London for a while now and, according to Hot Dinners, it seems like it’s not that far off becoming a reality as the team has been given a licence by Westminster Council to take over The Marlborough Head pub. That’s all we know so far but given they’ve had such success with their crispy NY-style pies, we can’t imagine them changing things up too much.
Opens 2025
24 N Audley St, London W1K 6WD
@crisppizzaw6
Fink’s at Clissold House
After the previous operators went into administration back in March 2024, the cafe at Clissold House, the Grade II-listed events venue in Clissold Park in Stokey has been shut. But it won’t be for too much longer as Fink’s, the collection of delis and cafes run by Mat Appleton and Jess Blackstone, is taking it over. It won’t actually be the first time that the Fink’s crew is opening in Clissold Park as they already operate a coffee shop at the Pump House on the Green Lanes edge of the park. We don’t have an opening date or a menu for the Clissold House site yet but we’d expect to see plenty of their signature sarnies and cakes, plus dine-in dishes as there’s space for tables and chairs inside the cafe.
Opens 2025
Clissold Park, Stoke Newington Church St, London N16 9HJ
@finks.at.clissoldhouse
Carbone
As well as housing Richard Caring’s Le Caprice, the Chancery Rosewood is also going to have a London outpost of iconic NYC hotspot Carbone. First opened in Greenwich Village in 2013, Carbone, an upscale take on classic red-sauce Italian-American restaurants, was popular from almost the instant it opened and has become one of the city’s biggest celeb magnets, drawing in everyone who’s anyone for baked clams, spicy rigatoni vodka and veal parm. Major Food Group, which operates the restaurant, has opened sister sites in Las Vegas, Miami, Dallas and Hong Kong, and now it’s London’s turn.
Opens 2025
1 Grosvenor Square, London W1K 4BN
carbonenewyork.com
Le Caprice
The Chancery Rosewood is opening on the former American Embassy site in Grosvenor Square, promising a number of bedrooms and suites, a ballroom, five shops, a wellness facility and a variety of restaurants. One of those restaurants is going to be a revival of Richard Caring’s Le Caprice (which will no doubt draw comparisons to Jeremy King’s reincarnation of the same restaurant, albeit with a different name). Caring’s two-floor space will hold 120 covers in the main dining space and an additional 88 on the year-round terrace, and the menu will feature some Le Caprice faves like salmon fishcakes, bang bang chicken and steak tartare. But it won’t all be retro, as Caring told The Standard, “Im sure a lot of people will want to see Le Caprice as it was, but I believe it should be moved into the 2020s. I want it to be chic, comfortable and classic. I think it’s fabulous to mix the old and the new both in style, customers and in food.”
Opens 2025
1 Grosvenor Square, London W1K 4BN
rosewoodhotels.com
Velvet Taco
Velvet Taco, which started in Dallas, Texas in 2011 and now boasts almost 50 locations Stateside, is on the expansion train and London is its first stop. The Piccadilly Circus opening, slated for 2025, will be followed up with more UK sites in the coming years. Over in the US, Velvet Taco is known for incorporating global flavours across its 20-taco-strong menu, like the Spicy Tikka Chicken taco made with crispy tenders, house-made spicy tikka sauce, buttered cilantro basmati rice, raita crema and Thai basil; and the Fish ‘n Chips taco with beer-battered cod, curry aioli, french fries, malt vinegar and napa slaw. It also does a WTF (Weekly Taco Feature) where a new special hits the menu each week, and sides like red curry coconut queso dip and elote guac.
Opens 2025
Piccadilly Circus, London
velvettaco.com
Simpson’s in the Strand
Not content with opening The Park and reviving Le Caprice, Jeremy King is also bringing back Simpson’s in the Strand. The restaurant has had a tough time since it closed during the pandemic – it never found a way to open during the ever-changing lockdown restrictions and in the summer of 2023 it auctioned off a load of its assets, including light fixtures, crockery and its famous silver carving trolley. Thankfully that didn’t spell the end of the restaurant for good, merely a wiping of the slate, with King breathing new life into the old dog. The revamped ‘Grande Dame’ restaurant will have two dining rooms, the more traditional Grand Divan and the more relaxed, lower priced Green Room; two bars, Simpson’s Bar and Nellie’s; and a private ballroom with room for 100. Much of the period features will be retained – the restaurant is almost 200 years old so there’s plenty of history to showcase there – and silver-domed trolleys will return to the dining room too for some tableside carving action.
Opens autumn 2025
100 Strand, London WC2R 0EZ
jeremykingrestaurants.com
Kudu Marylebone
After growing the Kudu Collective – which includes Kudu Peckham and events space Curious Kudu, both on Queen’s Road, and Kudu Grill in Nunhead – in south London over the last eight years, husband-and-wife team Amy and Patrick are consolidating the spaces and moving to Marylebone. Opening on Moxon Street in September, the new Kudu will serve the same seasonal European-South African food across a new menu format, featuring brand new dishes as well as faves from across the other sites. The site will have a private dining room and bar area, with nods to traditional South African craftsmanship across the interior design. Many of the original team from Peckham will also be making the move over, so it should feel very familiar to Kudu regulars.
Opens September 2025
7 Moxon Street, London, W1U 4EP
kuducollective.com
Aram
Imad Alarnab, the founder of Imad’s Syrian Kitchen, is continuing to celebrate the food and flavours of his homeland by opening Aram at Somerset House, along with co-founders Michalis Ntais and Christos Georgogiannopoulos. The cafe, deli and restaurant, opening in the venue’s 25th anniversary year, will be set across four rooms overlooking Somerset House’s River Terrace, and will feature dishes inspired by Syria, Turkey, Cyprus, Jordan and beyond. The deli, open for breakfast and lunch, will feature a counter piled with pastries (like za’atar croissants and halva brownies), dips, breads, wraps and salads, and a bar serving coffees and Syrian mint tea. The two main dining rooms, also open for breakfast and lunch, will serve a menu of dishes like roasted aubergine salad with chickpeas, confit red pepper, tahini dressing, pomegranate, parsley and dill; curry cauliflower with rocket, red chilli, parsley and black onion seeds; labneh and poached eggs with grilled sourdough, Aleppo chilli oil and crispy onions; potato rosti with house cured sumac salmon, poached eggs and coriander oil; and French brioche toast with tahini clotted cream and carob molasses syrup. The fourth room, known as Salamlik will be used as a space to host charity events, supper clubs, and cooking classes in the evenings.
Opens autumn 2025
Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA
arambyimad.co.uk
Aces Foodcraft
After working for Jason Atherton for 15 years, including heading up his Japanese restaurant Sosharu, before cooking overseas in Japan, Romania, Marbella and Singapore, Alex Craciun is now back in the capital. He’s opening Aces Foodcraft in Fitzrovia with his wife Aleksandra, a director of high-end costermonger Primeur, so as well as being a family affair, the restaurant will have a big focus on quality seasonal produce. Aces Foodcraft is also promising a bit of theatre. It’s running a casual, a la carte menu with daily specials for lunch and come evening, the restaurant will turn into a more immersive experience, with a tasting menu being cooked and served at the nine-seat kitchen counter (with the option to also eat a la carte and out on the small terrace). You can expect dishes like English baby lamb truffle souffle with fave beans and spring vegetables; Kagoshima wagyu asparagus and pickled himeji mushrooms; and Aji horse mackerel from Okinawa with crispy nori and fresh wasabi.
Opens September / October 2025
8 Pearson Square, London W1T 3BF
acesfoodcraft.com
Bonheur by Matt Abé
Not long after opening the massive 22 Bishopsgate project in the City (including an outpost of his Asian-inspired concept Lucky Cat and chef’s table High, from the three-star Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea) Gordon Ramsay also acquired the old Le Gavroche site in Mayfair. Matt Abé, who’s spent 18 years working with Ramsay, most recently as chef patron of the three-star Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, is heading up the new project. Called Bonheur by Matt Abé, the restaurant (his debut solo spot) will serve modern fine dining food across a la carte and tasting menus, alongside six-seater chef’s table experience Petit Bonheur.
Opens autumn 2025
43 Upper Brook Street, London, W1K 7QR
bonheurbymattabe.com
Solaya
Kenny Atkinson, a Great British Menu-winning chef who has Michelin stars at his Newcastle restaurants House of Tides and Solstice by Kenny Atkinson, is opening his first place in the capital this autumn. Solaya, on the 25th floor of the Art’otel Hoxton will be led day-today by Head Chef Nicola Losquadro (ex-Sucre and Mere) and will serve a Southern French-Mediterranean menu and a complementary wine and cocktail list, with impressive views over Shoreditch.
Opens autumn 2025
25th Floor, Art’otel Hoxton, 1-3 Rivington Street, London, EC2A 3DT
solayalondon.com
The Shaston Arms
Burgers may have made his name but Patty & Bun founder Joe Grossmann is proving himself to be quite the publican too. After successfully launching riverside pub The Waterman’s Arms in Barnes in 2023, he’s doing another one this year by taking over The Shaston Arms in Soho. The pub, just off Carnaby Street, has been managed by Sally Graham, aka the Lady Shaston, for the past 25 years and was a popular watering hole for the likes of Oasis. Under Grossmann, the pub will retain its name but will undergo a little refurb before launching in October. Like at The Waterman’s Arms, food will be a big part of the new operation, with a focus on seasonal produce and cooking over coals.
Opens October 2025
4-6 Ganton Street, London W1F 7QN
@theshaston.arms
Khao-Sō-i
Founded by husband-and-wife duo Win Srinavakool and Por Haruethai Noicharoen in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, 25-cover noodle bar Khao-Sō-i has become a cult fave for its signature Khao Soi, coconut curry noodle soup – TravelAtlas even voted it the best soup in the world. After opening a site in Bangkok, the duo are expanding again, this time internationally, with a restaurant in Fitzrovia. Opening in October, the London outpost of Khao-Sō-i will come a year after the group had a sold out pop-up in the city where they served noodle soups to over 500 people a day. As well as serving the signature Khao Soi, made to a 20-year family recipe with house-squeezed coconut milk, 32 Thai spices and fresh egg noodles, the Fitzrovia menu will also include Glub Glam small plates like sai ua sausage, larb kua (spicy stir-fried minced pork) and young jackfruit salad.
Opens October 2025
9-10 Market Place, London W1W 8AQ
khaosoilondon.com
Oula
Chef and food curator Boutheina Ben Salem is opening Tunisian cafe and pantry Oula, which celebrates matriarchal rituals and the culture of Tunisia, in Fitzrovia this October. Oula will be taking up residence inside Ibraaz, a six-floor space that showcases art, culture and ideas from the Global Majority through exhibitions, a library, a bookshop and public events.
Opens October 2025
93 Mortimer St, London W1W 7SS
@oula.london
Nora
Canary Wharf continues to be a magnet for the city’s restaurateurs with brothers Ozgur and Sidar Akyuz, who operate four Cafe Beam locations across town, choosing the area as the destination for their new modern Turkish concept Nora. The 130-cover site (with a further 30 on the terrace) will feel familiar to Cafe Beam customers thanks to mid-century modern furniture and soft lighting, bolstered by Anatolian textiles. Taking inspiration from Istanbul, including the city’s mangals and seyyar satici (street carts), the Nora menu will reflect both traditional recipes and modern re-stylings, with dishes like hummus with house sucuk and pine nuts; spiced lamb börek with sivri pepper yoghurt; hellim with smoked olive oil and Epping honey; crab rice dolma with preserved tomato and white carrot foam; leek manti with hen of the woods and aged kaşar cheese; adana köfte kebabs; and künefe with orange blossom.
Opens October 2025
7 West Lane, Canary Wharf, London E22 3AA
nora.london
Michael Caines at The Stafford
Michael Caines has been appointed as Culinary Strategist of The Stafford in St James’s (his Devon restaurant and hotel Lympstone Manor has just been acquired by the Stafford Collection), so he’ll be overseeing all the food and beverage at the hotel. The current restaurant, The Game Bird, will be relaunched under a new name and with a new identity, offering a refined dining experience featuring ingredients from across the British Isles.
Opens autumn 2025
16-18 St James’s Place, London SW1A 1NJ
staffordcollection.com
Nela
Nela, the Amsterdam-based live-fire restaurant from chefs Hari Shetty and Ori Geller and entrepreneur Gilad Hayeem, will be taking up residence at The Whiteley this year. The London outpost of Nela will feature an open kitchen, so you can see that fire in all its glory, as well as a 360-degree centrepiece bar. We don’t have any details on the menu yet but we’d expect it to be similar to the Amsterdam one, which includes a large vegetable section plus meat and fish dishes, a raw section and wood-fired pizzas.
Opens autumn 2025
149 Queensway, London W2 4YN
thewhiteleylondon.com
Holy Carrot Spitalfields
Originally started as a pop-up, Irina Linovich finally took vegetable-forward, root-to-tip restaurant Holy Carrot permanent in the summer of last year when she teamed up with chef Daniel Watkins (co-founder of Acme Fire Cult) and opened on Portobello Road. Since then, the restaurant has won a legion of fans (and a listing in the Michelin Guide) for its inventive approach to plant-based cooking, sustainable ethos, and cocktails created in collaboration with A Bar With Shapes For A Name. Now it’s heading east, opening in Old Spitalfields Market later this year. The new site will also have that same creative, low-waste ethos but will represent an evolution of the Holy Carrot concept, taking inspiration from its east London surroundings and the history of Spitalfields.
Opens late 2025
Old Spitalfields Market, London, E1 6AA
holycarrot.co.uk
Kricket Covent Garden
Rik Campbell and Will Bowlby are men on a mission; the pair opened a Kricket restaurant and a second branch of cocktail bar SOMA in Canary Wharf towards the end of 2024, before establishing a fourth restaurant in Shoreditch this spring, which was also the first Kricket site to operate all-day with a breakfast offering. Now a fifth Kricket is on the way, opening in Neal’s Yard later this year. Joining neighbours like The Barbary and Story Cellar, this Kricket take up residence in a 4000 sq ft space and have room for 130 covers. Like the Shoreditch site, the Covent Garden restaurant will also run all day and serve breakfast (dishes on the Shoreditch menu include eggs bhurji, bacon pao and kedgeree), alongside an a la carte selection of modern Indian plates.
Opens late 2025
Neal’s Yard, London, WC2H 9DP
kricket.co.uk
Varrons
Jack Williams, who’s led some of the best kitchens in north London, including Westerns Laundry; bartender William Thompson, who opened Jolene and was most recently GM at Cadet; and wine expert Ben Clyde, former manager of Primeur, boast some mega CVs and now they’re pooling all their knowledge and experience together to open Varrons. The restaurant is named after a piece of land in the Jura region of eastern France, which sits between Alsace, Burgundy and the Swiss border. Varrons will be a celebration of French country-style dishes from the area, made using the finest seasonal produce, Jura wines, and quality service.
Opens 2025
Location tbc
@varronsrestaurant
DUÉ
With a stint as Executive Chef of Pujol, one of the best restaurants in Mexico City and currently number 13 on the World’s 50 Best list, under his belt, plus time spent in French restaurant Les Moustaches (also in CDMX) and the three Michelin-starred El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, it’s safe to say Jesús Durón knows his way around a kitchen. And now he’s bringing one of his own to London with DUÉ, which he’s opening in partnership with Lindsay Jang, founder of Hong Kong establishments Yardbird and RONIN. DUÉ will take inspo from global flavours with roots in both French and Mexican cuisines, and while we don’t have a menu yet (or a location either), dishes at pop-ups around the world have included chicken chicharron with pico de gallo and maylor shrimp; scallop tsukune with corn dashi and egg yolk; cuttlefish with green mole and crache leaves; and roast pigeon with spring onion and cacao.
Opens 2025
Location tbc
duerestaurant.co
Effie
£1 billion is being spent on the redevelopment of the old Whiteleys shopping centre, transforming it into transformed into luxury development The Whiteley. One of the new restaurants at the site is going to be Effie, a new concept from the Pachamama Group (who also have Pachamama in Marylebone and Pachamama East in Shoreditch, Bottarga in Chelsea and Zephyr in Notting Hill). Like Zephyr, the two-floor, 5000 sq ft Effie will have a Mediterranean rather than Peruvian slant, serving a menu of mezze and chargrilled meat and fish dishes inspired by the Aegean coast.
Opens 2025
149 Queensway, London W2 4YN
thewhiteleylondon.com
