The arrival of July tourists for Wimbledon, Pride and the Proms can only mean one thing: hotel dining is back with a bang for summer. Next month will see hotel restaurant openings from chefs Yannick Alléno from France, Shinji Kanesaka from Japan and our very-own Tom Sellers, each trailing a comet’s tail of Michelin stars to dazzle diners with their culinary brilliance.
Still, there will always be those restaurant-goers for whom crossing a hotel lobby is a line in the sand, unless, of course one is actually on holiday and surrounded by sand. Look, then, to Richard Corrigan’s new restaurant on top of the splendidly re-imagined National Portrait Gallery, or the return to the West End of Tomos Parry, whose new Soho restaurant Mountain will evoke the holiday vibe of the hills and coastlines of Wales and Spain.
Hordes of visitors might be a seasonal annoyance for Londoners stuck sweating in the city, but with restaurants of this quality opening in the stickiest of tourist honeypots, the message for hungry Londoners this July is that if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
Pavyllon London
The first of a wave of new London hotel restaurants from the world’s most famous chefs — Mauro Colagreco, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Akira Back are all due in autumn — this UK outpost of Pavyllon in Paris comes courtesy of Yannick Alléno, a chef who is not only the grandest of fromages on the French dining scene but one of the most Michelin-awarded chefs on the planet, with 15 stars twinkling above 17 restaurants. It is a long time since the Park Lane Four Seasons had a destination restaurant to rival the Hyde Park setting; hopes must be high in the hotel group’s Toronto HQ that this will equal the two Michelin stars of Anne-Sophie Pic over at the Four Seasons in the City.
Opens: July 1
Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane, Hamilton Place, W1J 7DR, pavyllonlondon.com
Sushi Kanesaka
Multi-course omakase menus have been one of the more unlikely restaurant trends in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis but, often like the meals themselves, one which shows no sign of ending. This nine-seat cedar counter within the Dorchester Collection’s 45 Park Lane is overseen by a team of eight chefs, sommeliers and hosts and promises the sort of personal service one would expect from one of Park Lane’s glitziest hotels as well as the habitual perfectionism of a two-Michelin-starred sushi master such as Shinji Kanesaka. The Japanese chef has imported a team from the Tokyo Sushi Kanesaka to prepare up to 20 courses of seasonal seafood from British and European waters laid atop Kanesaka’s own rice blend from Yamagata Prefecture.
Opens: July 1
45 Park Lane, W1K 1PN, thedorchestercollection.com
The Portrait Restaurant
Following the recent opening of the excellent Lasdun at the National Theatre, the revamped National Portrait Gallery is the latest London arts venue to get somewhere to eat that matches the quality of the culture. Star billing goes to chef Richard Corrigan, who will be serving signature dishes from his 40-year-career at Lindsay House, Bentley’s and Corrigan’s Mayfair, such as crispy oyster croque monsieur and Bentley’s fish pie, either in the dining room or at a chef’s counter by the open kitchen. The view over Trafalgar Square, eye level with Lord Nelson, is as picturesque as the hand-embroidered wall coverings by de Gournay.
Opens: July 5 (lunch) and July 12 (dinner)
National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, WC2H 0HE, theportraitrestaurant.com
Mountain
Third time’s a charm for Tomos Parry, who is following up his pair of Brats in east London with a Soho restaurant that brings the chef’s open-kitchen, wood-fired cooking to the West End. Parry grew up on Anglesey and has travelled widely within the Basque Country and Mountain’s Welsh-accented Spanish menu will include steaming ceramic pots of calderata, the Menorcan lobster stew here made with whole Anglesey crustacean. Elsewhere is whole pink bream roasted on the plancha, wood-grilled lamb chops and a daily selection of aged beef cuts, but it’s not all so protein-heavy. Seasonal fruit and veg for July will include sunflower heads, aubergines and English cherries, plus breads and pastries baked in the wood ovens.
Opens: July 11
16-18 Beak Street, W1F 9RD, mountainbeakstreet.co
Dovetale
This new Mayfair hotel restaurant ticks off pretty much every current restaurant trend: a sustainably-driven menu; a raw bar; dishes cooked over the grill; an onsite butcher for ageing steaks; English sparkling wines. The involvement of chef Tom Sellers of two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Story in Bermondsey means that Dovetale should be more than just an exercise in lip service, however, with modern takes on classic luxury including day boat-caught sole Véronique, English olive-fed Wagyu carpaccio and Grand Marnier soufflé with tonka bean crème anglaise. All eyes, however, are likely to be on a knickerbocker glory trolley whipping up sundaes tableside, plus there’s a terrace with a copper fireplace and pergola which should see alfresco last well into the autumn.
Opens: July 13
1 Dover Yard at 1 Hotel Mayfair, W1J 8DJ, 1hotels.com
Also opening
Mexican Seoul
A taco bar on the corner of Victoria Park from the street-food fave and Wing Fest winner, serving Mexican-Korean small plates (corn ribs, tuna tostadas, pork belly tacos) washed down with kimchi Bloody Marys.
Opens: July 1
Bow Wharf, 221 Grove Road, E3 5SN, mexicanseoul.co.uk
Chuo
Sushi conveyor belts are so 20th century; this Shoreditch joint instead delivers made-to-order raw fish via what is claimed to be Europe’s first sushi monorail system — sadly not called the mullet train.
Opens: Mid July
20 Paul Street, EC2A 4JH, @chuosushi
Grassfed
The London debut for Paul Foster of Michelin-starred Salt in Stratford-upon-Avon sees the chef turn to grass-fed beef, from prime rib to ox cheek, grilled over coals in an open kitchen, plus dayboat fish.
Opens: Mid July
Dockray Place, NW1 8QH, grassfedrestaurant.co.uk
The Bugis Singapore Restaurant
One of London’s few Singaporean and Malaysian specialists reopens with a swish new look, albeit rather more upmarket than when it was a caff round the corner frequented by Singapore Airlines staff on layovers.
Opens: July 20
The Bailey’s Hotel London Kensington, 140 Gloucester Road, SW7 4QH, thebugisrestaurant.com
Tendril
A permanent site for chef Rishim Sachdeva’s plant-first (i.e. mostly vegan) pop-up, serving the likes of smoked peas with pickled wild garlic, mint tabbouleh and rye crumbs, plus mostly vegan wines.
Opens: Late July
5 Princes Street, W1B 2LQ, tendrilkitchen.co.uk
