Most of us welcome comfort wherever it is found, and seek it in familiar places. Last year was a cluster of troubled months, so perhaps the success of restaurants trading on warmth and conventionality came as no surprise. This year is likely to offer at least some of the same; many openings are second comings, while others are driven by names already known. Money is the thing: there is too little of it about. It is not conducive to motion, movement, change. But among the grey of the familiar, there are sparks of innovation — proof that Londoners still chase and cherish the new. We have other things to look forward to: more unusual fish is beginning to swim onto the menus — trout over salmon is already a thing, and Jack Stein points out the abundance of crayfish in UK waters — while the ocean also provides for wine lists, as bottles aged on the seabed are hauled to the surface (Mauro Colagreco at Raffles London at The OWO has four). Otherwise, expect fermented everything, regenerative farming championed, veganism to continue waning. Oh, and a new pub — someone is bound to want a little of what the Devonshire is pulling in (the Albert’s Schloss “bier palace”, opening nearby in the spring, may prove a rival). Here’s where we’ll be eating in 2024.
