There are so many new restaurant openings in London that it can be a hard task keeping track of what’s opening where and when, which is why we keep a handy list of the freshest new spots regularly updated for you. But if you like to plan ahead and get those ressies in early, we’ve also rounded up the best new openings planned for 2023 so you can start working on your restaurant hit-list for the year. With this little lot all coming, we predict those lists are going to be rather long…
Darjeeling Express
Asma Khan and Darjeeling Express have been on quite the journey in the five years it’s been open as a permanent restaurant. Following a pop-up at Soho pub The Sun & 13 Cantons in 2014, Darjeeling Express opened in Kingly Court in 2017, where she stayed until 2020. Post-lockdown, Asma moved the restaurant to a space in Covent Garden, which lasted until this summer, and while she looked for a new permanent site, she went back to her pop-up roots with a residency at The Pembroke pub in Kensington. Now Darjeeling Express is going full circle and returning to Kingly Court with a permanent restaurant. One of the reasons Asma wanted to move from Covent Garden was to find a bigger space with an open kitchen so people could see her all-female kitchen team at work, so we can only presume that’s what she’s secured in Kingly Court.
Opens Mon 30th January 2023
Kingly Court, Kingly St, London W1B 5PW
darjeeling-express.com
JOIA
Henrique Sá Pessoa, named 38th at The Best Chef Awards in 2021 and one of the most lauded chefs in Portugal, is coming to London to open JOIA at the new art’otel London Battersea Power Station. JOIA will be made up of three different spaces spread across the top floors of the art’otel; a bar on the 14th floor, a restaurant on the 15th floor and a rooftop bar by the infinity pool, with views over Battersea Power Station. The restaurant will take inspo from Sá Pessoa’s background and his travels across the Iberian peninsula and showcase the best of both British and Iberian produce, with dishes like wild mushroom rice with Azores Island cheese, grilled carabinero with orzo bisque & coriander, braised Iberian pork cheek with apple & turnip puree and fig & plum chutney, and chocolate & chorizo crumble with sherry vinegar.
Opens February 2023
1 Electric Boulevard, Nine Elms, London SW11 8BJ
artotellondonbattersea.com
Archway
Hospo and catering company Spook London is opening its first restaurant and wine bar in a railway arch in Battersea this February. Archway will be headed up by ex-River Cafe chef Alex Owens and will offer a relaxed, seasonal menu paired with a selection of old and new wines.
Opens February 2023
Arch 65, Queen’s Circus, London, SW8 4NE
archwaybattersea.co.uk
Papi
After a series of deliveries, pop-ups and residencies, Matthew Scott is finally taking Hot 4 U permanent and he’s got Charlie Carr of Wingnut Wines in on the action too. Opening in London Fields early next year, Papi will combine the creative cooking (who can forget the garum pom bears and whisky bone marrow luge?) we’ve come to know and love from Hot 4 U, with Wingnut Wines’ selection of under-represented natural wines. Papi will be split across two floors, with a 28-cover dining room on the ground floor, featuring an open kitchen and four seats at the counter, with an intimate cocktail bar the next floor down. Matthew will be showcasing his signature mix of sustainable, zero-waste and fun cookery with the Papi menu, which’ll nod to some of the Hot 4 U classics but in a slightly more refined and elegant way.
Opens early 2023
1F Mentmore Terrace, London, E8 3PN
@papi.restaurant
Midland Grand Dining Room
Marcus Wareing and The Gilbert Scott are checking out of the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in King’s Cross and Patrick Powell is checking in, to open the Midland Grand Dining Room in the same space. Harry Handelsman, the man behind the hotel (which is one of the best hotels in London), has worked with Patrick twice before – first at Chiltern Firehouse where Patrick was head chef for four years and then supporting the opening of Patrick’s restaurant Allegra at Manhattan Loft Gardens in Stratford – so we’re expecting big things from this next collab. Architect and designer Hugo Tore, who recently did the redesign of Booking Office 1869 in the hotel, is also coming back to head up this project, which will consist of a restaurant, bar and private dining areas, so we’re sure it’ll look amazing as well.
Opens early 2023
St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, Euston Rd, London NW1 2AR
@midlandgrand
Kapara
Out of the success of his Southwark-based spot Bala Baya, chef Eran Tibi is launching a second restaurant in 2023. Following in the footsteps of Bala Baya, Kapara will take inspiration from Israeli cuisine, as well as the energy of Tel Aviv’s rooftop bars and the city’s artistic neighbourhood of Neve Tzedek. Alongside Milk Beach’s Soho outpost, Kapara will be making its home inside the mixed-use redevelopment of the former Foyles site, Ilona Rose House. The space will comprise a 70-cover main dining area with a raised stage for live music and performances, a 50-cover terrace and a basement dining room and a six-cover counter, both of which will double as private dining areas. The drinks list will feature a selection of Israeli wines alongside Gazoz, traditional Israeli sodas made with botanical herbs and fresh exotic fruit.
Opens early 2023
Ilona Rose House, 111-119 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0DU
@erantibi
Rambutan
She’s released her new cookbook Rambutan, celebrating the food of Sri Lanka and her Tamil roots, and soon Cynthia Shanmugalingam is opening a restaurant of the same name in Borough Market. The two-floor, 60-cover spot will make use of both suppliers within the market and produce from Sri Lanka to serve village-style Sri Lankan food with a focus on regional dishes from the north of the island. That means the likes of aged mutton rolls, spicy fish malu buns, daikon & mint sambol, carrot & lime kosambari salad, Jaffna crab fried rice with bitter greens, grilled mackerel with turmeric & tamarind, grilled lamb chops, black coconut pineapple curry, pickled pork curry, red beef & bone marrow curry, and hoppers, dosas and rotis on the side. The eight-seater downstairs bar will be shaking up cocktails making use of ingredients like pandan leaf, Ceylon tea and lemongrass, with local beers and natural wines also on the drinks list.
Opens early 2023
10 Stoney Street, London, SE1 9AD
@rambutan_ldn
Bossa
After working for the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Tom Aikens in London the early 2000s before he moved back to his native Brazil in 2006, Alberto Landgraf is returning to the capital in 2023 to open Bossa. It’ll be his first international restaurant, and after winning stars with both Epice in São Paulo and Oteque in Rio de Janiero (which also hit 47 on the World’s 50 Best list), we’re expecting something pretty special.
Opens early 2023
3 Vere St, London W1G 0DG
@bossa_uk
Nessa
Tom Cenci, who was last cooking at Stoney Street by 26 Grains in Borough Market, is teaming up with Guy Ivesha, founder of Maslow’s (which runs Mortimer House and Mortimer House Kitchen) to open Nessa in Soho next spring. Inspired by Vanessa Bell and other creatives of the Bohemian movement, the 98-cover restaurant will be on the ground floor of the new 1 Warwick members’ house, itself taking up residence in a renovated 1910 neo-baroque building. Tom will be cooking a seasonal modern British menu that also incorporates his love for global flavours, with dishes like cheese & onion croquettes with grape husk mustard; celeriac carbonara with confit egg, parmesan breadcrumbs & truffle; roast chicken with morels & chicken butter sauce; ox cheek hotpot with confit potato; and roly-poly with custard.
Opens March 2023
86 Brewer Street, London, W1F 9UB
@nessasoho
Akira Back London
The new Mandarin Oriental Mayfair in Hanover Square is going to be home to Michelin-starred chef Akira Back’s debut UK restaurant, joining his collection of 16 sites, including Bangkok, Las Vegas, Singapore, Paris and Istanbul. Back will be taking over two restaurants, a bar and a rooftop space, where he’ll be serving a menu that mixes elevated Japanese food with Korean-American influences.
Opens spring 2023
22 Hanover Square, London, W1S 1JP
mandarinoriental.com
Manzi’s
The long-awaited seafood spot from The Wolseley Hospitality Group is finally opening in Soho in May 2023. An homage to the great fish restaurant that used to be just off Leicester Square, this Manzi’s will be spread across two floors of Bateman Buildings, an alley that runs down from Soho Square parallel to both Greek Street and Frith Street, and will be a fun, casual all-day affair, with mermaids and mermen, nautical adornments, and a palette of blues, whites and sea greens reflecting the seafood-heavy menu.
Opens May 2023
Bateman Buildings, Soho, London
thewolseleyhospitalitygroup.com
Dovetale
Two-star chef Tom Sellers is taking on the in-house restaurant for 1 Hotel Mayfair, which is opening overlooking Green Park this spring. Dovetale will focus on the best seasonal produce, with an a la carte menu featuring dishes from a raw bar and a grill as well as knickerbocker glory trolley doing tableside desserts. As well as an expansive wine offering, there’ll also be a destination cocktail bar opening next to the restaurant, so there’ll be plenty in the way of drinks.
Opens May 2023
1 Dover Yard at 1 Hotel Mayfair, London, W1J 8DJ
1hotels.com
Yannick Alleno
Yannick Alléno is a pretty big name in France, holding Michelin stars for his restaurants Alleno Paris (three star and former entry on the World’s 50 Best list), L’Abysse (two star), and Pavyllon (one star), and now he’s coming to London. We had expected Yannick’s London restaurant to be an outpost of Pavyllon but the new spot, opening next summer, is at-yet-unnamed so it may or may not mirror the counter dining set-up of his Parisian restaurant. We do know that it’s going to take up residence inside the Four Seasons Park Lane and that the menus, running from breakfast through to dinner, will showcase his philosophy of modern French cooking whilst also taking inspo from the capital and making use of British produce.
Opens summer 2023
Hamilton Pl, London W1J 7DR
yannick-alleno.com
AngloThai
For a couple of years, AngloThai, the British-Thai kitchen concept run by husband and wife team John and Desiree Chantarasak, has been popping up across town and releasing very popular meal kits – and now they’re going perm with their very own restaurant. Details are thin on the ground at the moment – we only know that it’s going to be in Fitzrovia – but the opening is backed by restaurant group MJMK, who are also behind Casa Do Frango, KOL, and Bar La Rampa. We don’t know what’s going to be on the menu either yet, although it will showcase their signature blend of British ingredients and Thai flavours – dishes at past pop-ups have included the likes of som tam farang salad, red curry pork sausage and grilled poussin with fish sauce caramel glaze. Desiree will be overseeing the wine list, so we’re expecting to see low intervention and natural bottles.
Opens 2023
Central London location
anglothai.co.uk
Arcade Food Hall Battersea
They only launched Arcade Food Hall on Tottenham Court Road in 2022 but JKS Restaurants aren’t wasting any time rolling the concept out, with a second Arcade Food Hall opening at Battersea Power Station in 2023. The new Arcade will be 24,000 sq ft – the original one is 12,500 sq ft and is home to nine brands just for context – so it’s gonna be a whopper of a site. We don’t know how many kitchens will be taking up residence yet, though JKS Founder and Creative Director Karam Sethi has said they’ll be “creating a number of exciting new brands which showcase even more global cuisines, while also expanding and developing some of our existing Arcade brands”, so we can expect a mix of the new and the familiar. The Battersea Arcade will also be home to three standalone restaurants, including a brand-new outpost of BAO and an as-yet-unannounced Thai joint.
Opens 2023
Circus Rd W, Nine Elms, London SW8 5BN
arcadefoodhall.com
Socca
Bibendum’s Claude Bosi and Samyukta Nair (the restaurateur behind MiMi Mei Fair and Jamavar) are teaming up to open French-Mediterranean bistro Socca in Mayfair, on the spot where Richoux used to be. We don’t have any firm menu details yet but the restaurant will focus on the flavours of Nice, Marseilles and Cannes so we’re expecting a good dash of French Riviera chic.
Opens 2023
41 S Audley St, London W1K 2PS
soccabistro.com
Nammos London
A Mykonos beach club is coming to Knightsbridge…..yes really. The London outpost of Nammos won’t be able to offer the sea views and cabanas on the beach you get at the original one, but it will be transforming a Grade II-listed building in SW7 into a neighbourhood Aegean haven with lots of white and lots of terracotta courtesy of Joyce Wang Studio, with a Mediterranean menu featuring signature Nammos dishes alongside whole fish dishes and large cuts of meat.
Opens autumn 2023
13 Montpelier Street, London, SW7 1HQ
nammosneighbourhood.com
Tomos Parry
It’s very early days for this prospective restaurant, but traction’s picking up thanks to the name behind it. It’s headed up by Tomos Parry (formerly of Kitty Fisher’s, presently of Brat) who’s reportedly looking at opening his second permanent site, this time in Soho. As yet, there’s no confirmed name, but we’ve been told that the restaurant will land at the former Byron site on Beak Street and to expect similar things to Parry’s debut – and that is very good news.
Opens 2023
16-18 Beak Street, London W1F 9RD
@tomos_pp
