Even for those of us who haven’t set foot in an educational institution for years, every September still brings bittersweet back-to-school feelings. And London’s restaurant scene is no different – the capital’s restaurateurs have come back from the August lull in a big way, with some of the biggest names in the game dropping their new launches this past month. Think: Kid by Mangal II’s Sertaç Dirik and Oma and Manteca’s David Carter, a new Japanese bistro by the Dorian team, a high-level surf’n’turf restaurant and more. Below, all the openings that won us over in the past month.
• One of the most exciting restaurant openings of the year arrived this month and it doesn’t disappoint: Kid, the Soho Turkish spot by Mangal II’s Sertaç Dirik and Oma and Manteca’s David Carter, where contemporary flair meets mangal tradition.
• The team behind beloved Peckham spot Levan has opened a Francophile follow-up: Cassette, a gorgeous bistro in Covent Garden that’s doing less-represented French dishes and a £27 pre-theatre set menu.
• Nakimushi is the new timber-clad Japanese bistro by the team behind Dorian and Eel Sushi – visit for ramen that brings in European ingredients and influences, and deft takes on Japanese dishes, including red prawn gyoza and a memorable steamed fish with viscous red vinegar sauce.
• Subtle references to the sea are everywhere at The Horses, the latest pub by the Public House Group (The Pelican, Fat Badger, etc), where the focus is on British seafood and each space is a feat of great design.
• The husband-wife team behind the now-closed Waterhouse Project have unveiled their next step: Waterhouse, a serene restaurant in a former Victorian warehouse just off Columbia Road, which pays tribute to chef-owner Gabriel Waterhouse’s rural Northumberland upbringing.
• Soho stalwart G-A-Y Bar closed last October – but Coven, a new multipurpose queer venue that plans to host fashion concessions, club nights, a cafe and more, has just opened in its place.
• A Grade II-listed pub in Clerkenwell has been reopened by Marc Francis-Baum (who’s behind Mare Street Market and The Starman in Soho, among others), with a spot-on refurbishment and the first permanent spot for surf’n’turf restaurant Island upstairs.
• Beloved Hong Kong cafe Hoko has opened a spin-off bakery, doing Ovaltine cream buns, bolo pineapple buns with thick slabs of salted butter and egg tarts.
• With just 18 seats and a five-course set menu for £60, Pompette in Hornsey is a boon for the neighbourhood – but its precise British cooking is also worth travelling for.
• A new bakery and cafe in south London has been selling out pastries – including babka, cheese straws and merguez sausage rolls – since it opened a few weeks ago (and it doubles as a florist).
• A sexy new French restaurant has opened in Mayfair hotel The Twenty Two, headed up by Guillaume Glipa, who helped launch Chiltern Firehouse and oversaw the reboot of Annabel’s.
• Tom Kerridge has pubs on lock – but with Georgie’s in the Corinthia London, he’s turning his hand to the bar game (though it remains pub-coded with scotch eggs and a take on the chef’s famous fish’n’chips sitting alongside the Martinis).
• A new Tottenham club, Radial, is putting on DJs spanning multiple genres – from jungle to techno, psychedelia and post-punk – and has a custom-built sound system to do them justice.
• One for your next trip to Dover: Docker is the first sit-down cafe by a beloved Kent bakery group, and is doing onion bhaji sandwiches and bakes including a savoury spinach and cashew-cheese swirl.
