It’s looking like another bumper year for London restaurants
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 2024 so you can start working on your restaurant hit-list for the year. With this little lot all coming, plus an unnamed West End spot from Stevie Parle, we predict those lists are going to be rather long…
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 sites in cities including Bangkok, Las Vegas, Singapore, Paris and Istanbul. Back will be opening two restaurants – the the 148-cover Akira Back restaurant and chef’s table restaurant Dosa – as well as the cocktail bar ABar Lounge. Back is known for mixing inspirations from his childhood in Korea with his modern take on Japanese food and that’s exactly what’ll be on show in the main London restaurant, with dishes like AB tuna pizza and wagyu tempura wellington, while Dosa will serve up contemporary Korean dishes.
Opens 2024
22 Hanover Square, London, W1S 1JP
mandarinoriental.com
July
July, a new Alsatian-inspired restaurant and wine bar, founded by Solynka Dumas and Julian Oschmann, will open on Charlotte Street in Fitzrovia in the spring. Holly Hayes (ex-40 Maltby Street) will lead the kitchen and her menus will have a big focus on seasonal produce and comfort food, with pastries and coffee available in the morning, and sandwiches and stews on at lunchtime, with a family-style whole roast Fosse Meadows chicken & homemade mayo served for Saturday lunch. In the evenings, there’ll be snacks, cheese, charcuterie and small plates on offer, alongside a low-intervention wine list curated by sommelier Honey Spencer, featuring bottles from small European producers.
Opens spring 2024
10 Charlotte Street, London, W1T 2LT
july.london
The Park
Jeremy King may be resurrecting two legends of the London dining scene in 2024 but he’s also finding the time to debut a brand new project. The Park, opening in the new Park Modern building near Kensington Palace Gardens in the spring, will be in the same vein as the brasseries and grand cafes that made his name.
Opens spring 2024
123 Bayswater Road, London W2 3JH
Kricket Canary Wharf
Will Bowlby and Rik Campbell are taking Kricket eastwards in the spring, opening a fourth modern Indian restaurant in Canary Wharf. The 85-cover spot in the North Dock will be open seven days a week and the group’s lauded cocktail bar SOMA will also be making the move over, so you’ll be able to drop by for a late-night cocktail after your dinner.
Opens spring 2024
6 Frobisher Passage, London E14 5HA
kricket.co.uk
ZULA Burger
Turkish burger joint ZULA, which began life in the Harbiye area of Istanbul and has since grown to five sites, is launching its first UK outpost in Marble Arch in the spring. Alan Yau and Yamabache’s Reha Arslan are both helping to launch ZULA in London and it sounds like this restaurant is just going to be the first in a rollout of the concept.
Opens spring 2024
5 Old Quebec Street, London W1H 7AF
@zulaistanbul
Lolo
José Pizarro, who was recently awarded Spanish honour the Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, is opening a new all-day restaurant in Bermondsey, making it his third restaurant in the area (joining his José Tapas Bar and his Pizarro restaurant) and his fifth London site (he also runs restaurants in the City and at the Royal Academy). The new spot will be called Lolo, in reference to his middle name Manuel, and will be serving food from breakfast, a first for a Pizarro joint, through to late-night bites.
Opens summer 2024
Bermondsey Street, London, SE1
@lolo_bermondseystreet
Effie
£1 billion is being spent on the redevelopment of the old Whiteleys shopping centre, transforming it into transformed into luxury development The Whiteley. One of the new restaurants at the site is going to be Effie, a new concept from the Pachamama Group (who also have Pachamama in Marylebone and Pachamama East in Shoreditch, Chicama in Chelsea and Zephyr in Notting Hill). Like Zephyr, the two-floor, 5000 sq ft Effie will have a Mediterranean rather than Peruvian slant, serving a menu of mezze and chargrilled meat and fish dishes inspired by the Aegean coast.
Opens 2024
149 Queensway, London W2 4YN
thewhiteleylondon.com
Simpson’s in the Strand
2024 is shaping up to be a busy year for Jeremy King. Not content with opening The Park and reviving Le Caprice, he’s also bringing Simpson’s in the Strand. The restaurant has had a tough time since it closed during the pandemic – it never found a way to open during the ever-changing lockdown restrictions and then this summer it auctioned off a load of its assets, including light fixtures, crockery and its famous silver carving trolley. Thankfully that didn’t spell the end of the restaurant for good, merely a wiping of the slate, with King and The Savoy breathing new life into the old dog.
Opens 2024
100 Strand, London WC2R 0EZ
simpsonsinthestrand.co.uk
Cafe François
Maison François has been a hit in Mayfair and now the team has its sights set on Borough Market for its next opening. The two-floor Cafe François will be an all-day brasserie and deli with an in-house bakery and patisserie, so you can expect plenty of sandwiches (including rotisserie chicken baguettes and pork belly banh mi) and pastries, with French classics available in the restaurant.
Opens autumn 2024
Borough Market, London
@cafefrancoislondon