Those keen to dine out on New Year’s Day, thus ringing in 2024 with admirable sensibility and style, are presented with slimmer options than most bank holidays. January 1 brings understandable, albeit temporary closures. Here are a few options for those eager to get out and about at the dawn of another 12 months.
Yauatcha
Soho’s Cantonese joint is a dimly lit, fish tank situation. Dining there feels a little like being on a movie set. The dim sum would be a good shout for those nursing hangovers, a strong start to the year for anyone else; 2024 marks 20 years of the West End hangout and so all the more reason to feel celebratory.
15-17 Broadwick Street, W1F 0DL, yauatcha.com
Hawksmoor
Britain’s best steakhouse group will operate on a reduced hours basis on January 1-2, but its restaurants are open and willing. The set menu would be a fine way to begin a new year: two courses for £27, three for £31; dishes such as mackerel salad, steak frites, and peanut butter shortbread are invariably restorative.
Hawksmoor, various locations in London, thehawksmoor.com
Kettner’s
Kettner’s reopened to the public after a four-year hiatus early in 2023. Today, the Soho House-run fixture still breathes history, but serves a modern menu alongside East London pub the Clarence Tavern. Food is British and seasonal; the dining room remains beautiful. Champagne: why not?
29 Romilly Street, W1D 5AL, sohohouse.com
Scott’s
Many would suppose a wise move is to begin the year as one means to go on: book a table at Scott’s Mayfair, therefore. The celebrity hangout is one of glittering heritage. The food - fine seafood - is better than it needs to be. Oysters, shellfish bisque, lobster, Dover sole… these are dishes to enjoy when January plans are otherwise sparse.
20 Mount Street, W1K 2HE, scotts-mayfair.com
Pahli Hill
Pahli Hill is modelled on the communal dining locations of Mumbai, serving small plates of home-style dishes that exude warmth and charm. It would be a standout space to see in 2024 - an informal, calm and measured restaurant with excellent Indian cooking and soft service. Those in need of a livener might head downstairs to the bar, where cocktails await.
79-81 Mortimer Street, W1W 7SJ, pahlihillbandrabhai.com
St. John Bread & Wine
Anyone would be hard-pressed to find anywhere more clinical and righteous than St. John Bread & Wine. It is a temple of gastronomy and one that would inoculate against any hangover threatening to last longer than the agreed 12 hours. To visit here is to accept the graces of pie; of light red wine from the South of France; of more madeleines than are needed but are eaten nonetheless.
94-96 Commercial Street, E1 6LZ, stjohnrestaurant.com
Officina 00
On New Year’s Day, few would argue with pasta. Officina 00, in Shoreditch or Fitzrovia, serves excellent and affordable bowls. The corzetti, with wild mushrooms, pork sausage and port, is always bright and fortifying; ink tagliatelle of clams, garlic cream and fried parsley would enliven even the sleepiest diner.
Officina 00, Shoreditch and Fitzrovia, officina00.co.uk
Seabird at the Hoxton
Hoxton hotels are beautiful and the Southwark outpost might be London’s most fabulous. The views from the rooftop restaurant, seafood joint Seabird, are grand indeed. Anyone intent on beginning 2024 with aplomb should probably do so with langoustines overlooking the Thames.
