8 New London Restaurants To Book Now
From the fun offshoot of one of 2024’s biggest launches to a handful of revamped favourites, there’s lots going on in the London restaurant world this month. This is where to book a table…
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Don’t Tell Dad
Queen’s Park
After a successful soft launch last month, restaurant-bakery Don’t Tell Dad has officially opened in Queen’s Park. The space is headed up by Daniel Land, co-founder of Coco di Mama. Named in tribute to his late sister Lesley, the restaurant reflects her joyful spirit through its signage and menu. By day, the bakery serves nostalgic pastries and sandwiches, like hazelnut croissants and pistachio danishes, while the evening menu features French and British-inspired dishes like crab tart with crab oil mayonnaise and watercress; roast pumpkin with brown butter, hazelnut and crispy sage; and spiced mallard with celeriac and Swiss chard.
Visit DontTellDad.co.uk
Dove
Notting Hill
Dove emerges from what was Jackson Boxer’s award-winning Orasay on Kensington Park Road. Thanks to the ever-rising costs of having seafood delivered into London each day, Jackson’s new approach to the space focuses on elevated comfort food. Like Jackson’s other restaurants – Brunswick House, Henri and The Corner at Selfridges – simple ingredients are treated differently: expect a menu that includes dishes like deep fried taleggio and Wiltshire truffle lasagne; whipped fava with braised chicoria and Szechuan crumb; ricotta dumplings with lobster cream and lime leaf; and a roasted half herb-fed chicken, with Tokyo turnips and cafe de paris butter. On the drinks front, there’s a list of classic cocktails and a short, considered selection of wine.
Visit Dove.London
Bar Valette
Shoreditch
Bar Valette is a forthcoming restaurant from chef Isaac McHale, a member of the impressive trio behind the two-Michelin-starred The Clove Club in Shoreditch. Opening on Kingsland Road at the end of the month, Bar Valette will take cues from Isaac’s love of southern French and simple Spanish cooking, with some ideas and influences from The Clove Club’s back catalogue joining the menu. Considered yet casual, this is a restaurant designed for long dinners fuelled by wine and sherry. Made for sharing, dishes are rooted in McHale’s elegant approach to cookery with a fresh take on old classics. As a prelude to the main menu, an array of snacks will be served from the bar, such as devilled crab tartlets, barbajuans and venison meatballs will nod to the raciones that are a mainstay of San Sebastian’s pintxos bars, alongside grouse sausage rolls with greengage ketchup; and the renowned buttermilk fried chicken in pine – familiar favourites borrowed from The Clove Club.
Visit Barvalette.com
Shakara
Marylebone
We’re pleased to see that West African restaurants in London are continuing to open at pace. Shakara is the newest to the scene, bringing the flavours of Nigeria, Ghana and The Gambia to Marylebone. With Masterchef: The Professional's semi-finalist head chef Victor Okunowo at the helm, the restaurant aims to showcase authentic African cuisine through a modern lens. Signature dishes include jollof rice, and native blue lobster with peppersoup bisque and tagliatelle. The space's aesthetic is inspired by the colours of West Africa, with abstract artwork showcasing contemporary African artists. Resident DJs and live performances spanning Afrohouse, Afrobeats, R&B and house music invite diners to an electric late-night dining experience. Set over two floors, the space includes the main restaurant, cocktail bar and spacious private dining areas.
Visit ShakaraLdn.com
La Môme London
Knightsbridge
This month saw French restaurateurs Ugo and Antoine Lecorché bring the glamour of the French Riviera to London’s five-star hotel The Berkeley with a new iteration of La Môme. This is the fourth venture from the brothers, who opened La Môme Plage in 2018 and La Môme Monte Carlo in 2022. La Môme London will feature many signatures from Cannes, where the brothers are known for serving quintessential Mediterranean dishes with a taste of Provence and Italy. The ten-seater bar offers cocktails and small bites, while the main restaurant seats 170 inside and 30 outside on a newly created terrace. Both are open seven days a week for lunch and dinner.
Visit The-Berkeley.co.uk
Fantômas
Chelsea
Fantômas is the latest restaurant from Chris Denney, one of the most inventive chefs cooking in London right now. After heading up the kitchens at the likes of 108 Garage and Fiend, he’s taken over a gorgeous site on the King’s Road, a high-ceilinged, atmospheric spot where a thick curtain conceals the entrance, the lighting is dark and moody and there’s plenty of statement candlelight. Largely cooked over flames, menu highlights from our visit included incredibly light focaccia with distinctively pink chicken liver parfait and cornichons (something of a Denney special, as we’d tried this at a pop-up he hosted at Caia last year); punchy raw bream with jalapeno, cucumber and citrus; braised hispi cabbage with a wonderfully sharp smoked cod’s roe tarama; and crab truffle tagliolini. The drinks are just as well considered and the service was some of the most welcoming we’ve experienced in a while.
Visit Fantomas.co.uk
Applebee’s
Borough
Applebee’s, which has been a Borough Market institution for 25 years, is set to celebrate its milestone anniversary with a relaunch on 13th February. The restaurant marks the start of the team’s next era with a fresh concept, new menu and beautifully redesigned space. Still family-run and independent, the restaurant’s menu will be dictated by what lands on the Devon and Cornwall dayboats each morning, continuing the team’s commitment to serving the best seasonal, sustainable British seafood. Standout dishes will include dry aged grilled dover sole, a zero-waste British bouillabaisse that uses Lincolnshire poacher cheese, alongside Applebee's signature fish and chips and extravagant seafood platters. The menu will also incorporate the use of British coastal greens, sourced from sea vegetable foraging specialists in Cornwall, while the wine list will offer a wide selection of bottles from English growers. Fish also makes in onto the cocktail list – we love the sound of the Gilda martini, finished with olives, anchovies and a piquillo pepper.
Visit ApplebeesFish.com
The Dreamery
Islington
The team behind Goodbye Horses (Alex Young and George De Vos) – one of last year’s biggest success stories – has now opened The Dreamery, an artisanal ice-cream shop and wine bar next door to their coffee shop, Day Trip. The opening completed their vision of creating the trio of playful spaces on a residential corner of Islington. Jack Coggins, the head chef of Goodbye Horses, oversees a seasonally changing menu of ice-creams that balances innovative flavours with comforting classics. In keeping with the colder weather, the opening flavours include options such as gingerbread, mint chocolate chip, croissant, and custard. Meanwhile, Sophie Mathieson has pulled together a selection of light glou-glou wines from small, independent producers to pair perfectly with ice-cream. The shop is set within a beautifully repurposed 19th-century building, with eye-catching murals by artist Lucy Stein that draw inspiration from British folklore and mythology.
Visit Dreamery.London
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