Triple threat: Joia will combine Portugese, Spanish and British-inspired cooking
(Picture: Charlie McKay)For restaurateurs and diners alike, this year is likely to carry many of last year’s hopes. Last January, as the pandemic began slowly to subside, there was optimism that the industry might finally catch a break. Not so: staff shortages, rising costs of energy, food and cost-of-living, and Christmas trade wrecking train strikes mean the coming 12 months have a lot of heavy lifting to do.
Still, hospitality is an industry of perpetual motion, and rarely does it slow. Already dozens of places are in motion; some delayed from last year — expect more of that — but plenty new, too. And while many operators are apprehensive about what’s next, others are more bullish, determinedly standing their ground. As with last year, much of what will define London’s eating in 2023 speaks more to market forces than consumer demand — which is to say, restaurateurs will offer what they can, rather than trying to fit into any kind of fashion. Still, new and cheap set menus are launching in London, as operators recognise consumers’ increasingly limited budgets. Of these, try top Thai Speedboat (£9, W1, speedboatbar.co.uk) or Pip Lacey’s Hicce Hart (£12, N1, hicce.co.uk), or perhaps Ravinder Bhogal’s Jikoni (£30, W1, jjikonilondon.com). Others will no doubt do likewise to draw people in. And happily, one thing is certain: Londoners with an appetite — and the means — for eating out won’t go hungry.
Settling down
A few pop-ups will be popping-down and going permanent. Hot 4 U’s Matthew Scott is crowd-funding with Charlie Carr of Wingnut Wines to open Papi (E8, @papi.restaurant) in Hackney — a nod to both Carr’s late father and Scott becoming a dad — which will offer both Scott’s critically-acclaimed food and Carr’s cellar of rare wines. If they hit the £65,000 target, it’ll open soon with sustainable seafood and meat dishes at its heart; hopefully the famed garum pom bears make an appearance, too. Budgie Montoya is likewise crowdfunding to take Sarap, his modern Filipino temporarily on Heddon Street into Kingly Court (W1, saraplondon.com). Filipino cooking is on the up in London, certainly compared to a decade ago, but largely remains light on the ground; it’s gladdening to see Montoya find success.
In the summer, and after a series of supperclubs in their own home, John and Desiree Chantarasak will open Anglothai on Fitzrovia’s Eastcastle Street (W1, anglothai.co.uk). The name is the clue here; British ingredients cooked to Thai recipes. Similarly long-awaited is middle-eastern Anan (tbc, @ananlondon), which proved a hit earlier this year with a residency at Rochelle Canteen. Little is out there about its plans, but make a note of the name and keep an eye on Instagram for more.
More certain is the new Taqueria Sonora (N16, @sonora.ldn), which opens its doors in a couple of months on Stoke Newington High Street; desire for these tortilla specialists is high, with the crowd-funding target quickly shattered a month ago. There’s a similar buzz about Borough Market’s Rambutan (SE1, @rambutan_ldn) from Cynthia Shanmugalingam, who, following her cookbook of the same name, will open towards the tail end of January serving food inspired by her Tamil family in Sri Lanka.
Look-out too for the new incarnation of Chishuru (tbc, chishuru.com), from Nigerian chef Adejoké ‘Joké’ Bakare. What was meant to be a brief pop-up in Brixton ran on for a couple of years, such was the popularity of Bakare’s West African cooking; at the new 50-cover site, expect it to be similar albeit somewhat elevated, and with more focus on cooking over the grill.
All change in the centre of town
The rebirth of west London looks to continue — just look at restaurateur Markos Tsimikalis shutting his Shoreditch Greek Hungry Donkey in favour of Vori (W11, vorigreekitchen.co.uk) in Holland Park, which opens on Friday. Similarly, Lino (NW6, linolondon.co.uk) has swapped Smithfield for Queen’s Park, open at the end of the month; while on January 20, the Big Mamma Group are set to liven up High Street Kensington with madcap but high-end Italian Jacuzzi (W8, bigmammagroup.com). Notting Hill will soon welcome modern Palestian spot Akub (W8, akub-restaurant.com) to boot.
Still, Soho and Chinatown look set for the most change. Last year was tough on longstanding sorts: Jen Cafe and Joy King Lau, stalwarts both, closed, and while much-loved Italian deli I Camisa is still just about hanging on, the future looks unsteady. There are plenty of new contenders waiting to step centre stage, though. In March, Tom Cenci — known for cooking at Duck & Waffle and the Loyal Tavern — is heading to Brewer Street for all-day British bistro Nessa (W1, @nessasoho). It looks disarmingly old-fashioned, and dedicated to comforting classics; one for lunches that become supper by the sounds of it. Not far away and work is underway at the old Byron Burger on Beak Street for a third incarnation of Brat, althought it might not have that name (W1, bratrestaurant.co.uk). Chef Tomos Parry will be heavily involved — go for more of his magnificent, Basque-influenced meat and fish. The new Brat will, incidentally, be a couple of minutes wander from Kiln, which shares the same owner, Super 8 restaurants. Kiln’s present head chef is the mercurial Meedu Saad; Super 8 are said to be working on a new site for him too, though nothing has been clarified yet. It is almost impossible to eat badly at Kiln so expectations are high; follow @meedu_saad to stay up to speed.
May is looking to be a good month: the Wolseley Hospitality Group will finally open Manzi’s (W1, thewolseleyhospitalitygroup.com) just off Soho Square. Before being ousted from the company, Jeremy King and Chris Corbin had designs on it being an affordable spot, in a similar mould to Brasserie Zedel. Whether that turns out to be the case remains to be seen, but it will stay an all-day seafood spot that spans over two floors. Also in Soho, look out for Kapara (W1, kapara.co.uk), which is being sold as a “Tel Aviv fantasy” open day and night with a “debaucherous soundtrack”. Bala Baya chef Eran Tibi and his team are behind this one, so it should be a cracker — is also sounds a bit of a riot, given it’s boasting of an “anything goes” policy. Of which, those looking for fun might want to try Lio London, the Ibiza import taking over the old Cafe De Paris (W1, liolondon.co.uk), or Sheesh, opening in the next few weeks on Piccadilly (W1, sheeshrestaurant.co.uk). The Chigwell original apparently gets pretty lively and has drawn the likes of Tyson Fury, Katie Price and various Love Islanders, including Ekin Su. If it all sounds a little Essex-on-steroids, that appears to be the point.
More refined but likewise a celebrity hit is Asma Khan’s Indian Darjeeling Express — Paul Rudd appears to be obsessed — which, having been moved on from its Covent Garden site, is headed back to Kingly Court (W1, darjeeling-express.com). It opens halfway through this month and should have room for Rudd to bring his pals from the MCU universe: it will be twice the size of the old spot.
Turning Japanese
Some had 2022 as the year of African cooking and granted, it is happily on the up (searches for jollof rice apparently soared 70 per cent on Google over the past year). But last year was really marked the rise of the izakaya. The latest of these will be Edo Izakaya (EC1, @robata.soho) which arrives on OId Street in the spring from the team behind the excellent Robata: expect sushi rolls and a keen interest in sake. But more broadly, this year is marked by a slew of Japanese openings, or Japanese-adajacent — our count has it at about nine announced already. There’ll be grill-it-yourself spots — always a confusing concept for those of us who go out to have a professional do the cooking instead — with High Yaki (WC2, @highyaki) sizzling just off Leicester Square this month, and mega-chain Yakiniku Like (W1, kintan.uk) following its 260 sites across Asia with its European debut later this year. In the spring, Kinoya arrives in Harrods (SW1, @kinoya.ae), while Contigo (WC2, eatcontigo.co.uk) will do high-end Nikkei cooking, where Japanese and Pevurian cuisine are melded, here with British ingredients too. Peruvian is the influence at Nakanojo; the Chelsea favourite is opening a second branch in Marylebone (W1, nakanojo.com). For Japanese-Mexican, meanwhile, 100 Liverpool Street at Broadgate will play home to a new Los Mochis from the autumn; it’s a way off but given the success of the Notting Hill original, and the fact this one is nine floors up with a 3,000 square foot terrace, it will likely be a huge hit in the city (EC2, losmochis.co.uk).
Money talks
Elon Musk might be in the midst of collapsing his fortune — losing some £170 billion in a year does look rather careless — but in the main, the wealthy will remain largely unbothered by the economic crisis engulfing the rest of us. Accordingly, costly restaurants will always open — and besides, after a certain point, investors are in too deep to back out. Held over from 2022, the Raffles’ restoration of the Old War Office (SW1, theowo.london) should finally be concluded by the spring; there are nine restaurants and three bars planned. Three will come from chef Mauro Colagreco, of the three-Michelin starred Mirazur in Menton — expect artful precision, high price, lots of caviar — while the only other announced so far will be Milanese import Paper Moon; go for traditional top-end Italian cooking, with the likes of lobster-dotted linguine and lamb shank with saffron risotto likely to make the menu. There will be more Italian a hop and a skip from Sloane Street at Cantinetta Antinori (SW1, cantinetta-antinori.com). The Antinori family are what might be thought of as Italian wine-making royalty and are opening next door to Louis Vuitton, which should give an idea of the customers they’re after. Other big names to look out for include Yannick Alléno at The Four Seasons (W1, @fslondon), apparently opening in the summer; Alléno, a French chef in the traditional mould, is perhaps little-known here, but has collected 15 Michelin stars over his career. Another Michelin man is Henrique Sá Pessoa, the Portugese chef who owns two-star Alma in Lisbon; in late February, he will open Joia on the 15th floor of the Art’otel at Battersea Power Station (SW11, @joiabattersea). Go for a triple threat of Portugese, Spanish and British-inspired cooking, and the vermouth bar, too.
Mayfair, of course, isn’t missing out on the fun: in Hanover Square, the new Mandarin Oriental hotel (W1, mandarinoriental.com) is slated for a spring opening and with it will come the Korean-born chef (and former snowboarder) Akira Back, who has 22 other restaurants dotted about the globe. Details remain scarce but it will be (surprise) Japanese. Elsewhere, the old Westbury hotel on the corner of Bond Street is having a £90million do-over and will open as the St Regis (W1, st-regis.marriott.com) at some point this year, keeping the popular Polo Bar but with a brand-new restaurant; it’s likely to pitch for the top of the market. Not far away MiMi Mei Fair restaurateur Samyukta Nair and two-star Bibendum-chef Claude Bosi have spent the past 11 months on an arduous renovation of South Audley Street’s old Richoux — granted, not personally — which should finally open early this year. It will be called Socca (W1, soccabistro.com) and will be a Mediterranean bistro; Nair’s places have a knack for being stylish spots that tend to draw a glittering crowd. Before that, look out for Gaia (W1, gaia-restaurants.com) which is part of the same development as 1 Hotel Mayfair, which opens opposite the Ritz later this month; it’ll do a very high-end riff on Greek food — expect lots of raw fish, truffle everywhere — and that the other two Gaia’s are in Monaco and Dubai respectively should give an idea of the vibe. The bigger news here, though, is more that Tom Seller’s, of Restaurant Story fame, is opening Dovetale in the 1 Hotel Mayfair (1hotels.com) itself in May, complete with a Knickerbocker Glory trolley. One that might be a little more approachable, although only just, should be the Midland Grand Dining Room (NW1, @midlandgrand) inside the St Pancras Hotel, which is slated for March. Formerly Marcus Wareing’s The Gilbert Scott, it’s been entirely remodelled and will have Allegra’s Patrick Powell in charge of the food — he’s a talented one — with Emma Underwood as general manager. It will likely prove a potent mix. Here’s to a belt-loosening 2023.
