9 Of London’s Best Recent Restaurant Openings
64 Goodge Street
Fitzrovia
64 Goodge Street quietly opened in Fitzrovia August, but soon caught the attention of food critics Marina O’ Loughlin and Jay Rayner. It’s from the team behind Portland and Clipstone, with a menu based on chef Stuart Andrew’s vision for “French cooking from an outsider’s perspective”. The à la carte offering is crammed with autumnal hits: snail, bacon and garlic ‘bon bons’; scallops with lentils and beurre blanc; lobster vol-au-vent served with sauce américaine; and ballotine of partridge with pumpkin and Lyonnaise sausage. Like Portland and Clipstone, wine is celebrated in all its diversity, albeit with an unapologetic focus on burgundy. It might also be useful to know there’s a wood-panelled 12-seat private dining room downstairs.
Visit 64GoodgeStreet.co.uk
Bouchon Racine
Farringdon
Farringdon’s Bouchon Racine is a smart, French-leaning pub and dining room by Dave Strauss and Henry Harris. Overlooking Cowcross Street, the upstairs restaurant is inspired by the bouchons of Lyon and the bistros of Paris. The pair set out to provide “unashamed French cooking” with a French-led wine list, and fine apéritifs and digéstifs in an informal setting. Harris has devised the daily changing menu, which features classics and staples from his iconic and much-missed Knightsbridge restaurant Racine. Drawn up on a chalkboard, dishes could include a starter of egg mayonnaise with black truffle; chicken liver pate with cornichons; rabbit with bacon and mustard sauce; and grilled veal chop with Roquefort sauce. At ground level, The Three Compasses – a pub for the last 300 years – serves decent beers, wines and a simple menu reflective of the kitchen upstairs.
Visit BouchonRacine.com
The Portrait
Covent Garden
Irish chef and restaurateur Richard Corrigan has opened his latest spot at the National Portrait Gallery – and it’s just the place to book if you’re having a cultural day out in the capital. On the corner of Trafalgar Square – offering unique views over the square and towards the Houses of Parliament – The Portrait pays homage to the great dishes of Corrigan’s career. We rated the whole artichoke with cock crab mayo and kombu; poached smoked haddock with potato and egg; and pig’s trotters on toast. It wouldn’t be a Corrigan restaurant without his beloved oysters, and here the dressed Carlingfords come with ginger, lime and coriander. The bar focuses on a concise wine list available by the glass and classic cocktails (don’t be shy if you’re offered a salt and vinegar martini) and there’s an all-day snack menu featuring a fun twist on Scampi Fries.
@Bouchonraccine
Mountain
Soho
On Beak Street, the new place from Brat’s Tomos Parry and his team is a wood grill and wine bar, showcasing Tomos's favourite meals from journeys across Spain over recent years. Inspiration comes from long lunches around BBQs in friends’ vineyards, small plates of raw prawns in fish markets and braises of shellfish. As at Brat, Tomos's cooking is guided by long-standing relationships with fishermen and farmers in Wales and Cornwall. The current menu includes pink bream served whole, split and gently roasted on the plancha, a plate of wood-grilled lamb chops, and an aromatic braised dish of whole Anglesey lobster caldereta. The traditional Menorcan caldereta is brought from the grill to the tables in steaming ceramic pots for two to three people to share. Given Mountain’s huge popularity just months in, if you want a table any time soon, you’ll need to book immediately.
Visit MountainBeakStreet.com
Forza Wine at the National Theatre
Southbank
Forza Wine – the Peckham rooftop venue known for simple and fun seasonal drinks, considered Italian snacks and views of the capital – has launched its long-awaited second site. In a cool spot at the National Theatre, the 160-cover indoor/outdoor space has taken over the north-west terrace of the Brutalist London landmark. The ‘sort of Italian’ snack menu includes cauliflower fritti with aioli; mozzarella with figs and hazelnuts; pancetta potato cakes; and signature soft serve. Each can be ordered individually alongside drinks, or the entire menu will serve four for those after a full meal, including pudding (£120 all in). On the cocktail front, the classics sit alongside a cherry negroni, a limonata bianca and a frozen peach margarita.
Visit ForzaWine.com
Tim Atkins Photography
Bébé Bob
Soho
From the team behind French-inspired phenomenon Bob Bob Ricard – which celebrates its 15th birthday this year – Bébé Bob is a fun spin-off across the road from the Soho original. On a corner of Golden Square, Bébé Bob offers two varieties of rotisserie chicken, with fine wines (including white and red burgundy) and champagne to match. The star of the show, chickens are served whole at the table and carved in view of guests. Diners will then be encouraged to pick from a handful of elevated sides and sauces to accompany the bird, including truffle french fries, winter leaf salad, sautéed kale and truffle jus. Expect lavish interiors to rival the blue, red and gold opulence of the original spot.
Visit BebeBob.com
Solis
Battersea
Solis has just opened in Arcade Battersea. The latest project from the duo behind TĀ TĀ Eatery, the restaurant is named after Juan Díaz de Solis, a 16th-century explorer said to have been the first European to land on what is now Uruguay. The menu focuses on chicken and steak, with flavour influences from both the European and South American ends of the voyage. Served straight from the grill, there’s flat-iron steak with Solis’s version of entrecôte sauce or half chicken served with aji-aji sauce. Other highlights include on-trend gildas, huevos rellenos – a play on devilled eggs with a spiced tuna filling and salsa golf sauce – and beef croquetas. We also have our eye on the Basque-style cheesecake, served with blueberry sauce. Quality cocktails include a Fernet Cola (Fernet Branca, Coca Cola top and mint) and a Sevilla negroni (Tanqueray Flor de Sevilla, Antica Formula, Campari and orange).
Visit ArcadeFoodHall.com
Chef’s Studio at The Tent (At The End Of The Universe)
Fitzrovia
Chef John Javier made a name for himself staging at the likes of Noma and cooking at some of the capital’s best pop-ups. His newest restaurant focuses on Middle Eastern food and this month sees Javier launch an intimate Chef's Studio experience directly below it at 17 Little Portland Street. In an atmospheric basement, Javier will host up to 12 diners, guiding them through a curated eight-course set menu. It will feature some of his best-loved dishes from his trademark Chinese cuisine, including pork and prawn siu mai; lobster noodles with superior sauce; wagyu beef short rib, malt pickled onion, shio kombu and master fried rice. The menu will be served family style against the backdrop of the club's gallery wall. The experience is available to book now, and is priced at £100 per head.
Visit Little-Portland.com
Bistro Freddie
Shoreditch
Dominic Hamdy is the founder of Crispin in Spitalfields and Bar Crispin in Soho. He only launched Bistro Freddie at the end of September, but it’s fast become the place to get a table – partly thanks to its seriously cool, old-school London dining room. Retaining the same ethos as its siblings, the kitchen focuses on small and predominantly independent producers and growers. The menu is overseen by head chef Anna Søgaard, who joined from Manchester restaurant Erst and began her career in Copenhagen. Anna describes her menu as “the kind of food I genuinely love to eat – robust, hearty dishes with soul” and we couldn’t agree more. Imagine pork crackling and pickled walnut ketchup; Dorset snail flatbread, beef fat, garlic and parsley butter; pork chop, apple glaze and bacon jus; or fried skate wing, peas and curry sauce. There are also pies to share and a pudding menu that nods to decades past – look out for raspberry roly-poly, milk ice-cream with brown ale caramel, and malt bread with cheese.
Visit BistroFreddie.com
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