Eaters of London, we come bearing good (and tasty) news. November is a bountiful, bumper month for new restaurants.
On the fast-ish food side there are brand new branches of The Breakfast Club and Yard Sale Pizza set for Seven Dials and Hither Green, as well as a second site for pasta pros Notto in Covent Garden.
If it’s old classics you’re into, the former Larry’s site in Peckham will become the Parisian-styled Bar Levan on November 23. Head there for loads of trendy wine, and a decadent, outright filthy croque monsieur to soak up the intense mezcal selection they’re also promising.
Now, it’s over to November’s hugest hitters…
1.The big comeback
So we meet again, Mr Oliver. After the 2020 collapse of his restaurant empire, Jamie’s back to give it all another swing. This time he’s sensibly going for just the one restaurant, opening next door to Covent Garden’s Theatre Royal and putting seasonal, well-sourced ingredients on the main stage. There’ll be devilled eggs with sustainable Exmoor caviar, roast Sutton Hoo chicken with stroganoff sauce and fish stew packed with Dorset clams and Welsh mussels. The curtain is officially raised on November 28.
6 Catherine St, London WC2B 5JY
2. The forever-fave offshoot
Like Bill Nighy, Lily Allen and a bunch of other hungry celebs, we love The Wolseley. The flouncy all-day dining spot will attempt to repeat its ineffable magic with a second, bigger spot in the old House of Fraser building just to the north of London Bridge. Opening on November 8, the massive space will look not unlike the Piccadilly original (which is pictured above), with baroque ironwork, vaulted windows, and the vague feeling you might be sipping champagne alongside Dorothy Parker in a 1920s New York hotel. Breakfast classics such as kedgeree and eggs royale will be on the menu, naturally.
68 King William St, EC4N 7HR
3. The great desi dining pub 2:0
The Tamil Prince knocked Time Out’s socks off when it opened last year, with esteemed editor Joe Mackertich praising their ‘high-quality, smart stuff, but done to impress and delight ordinary idiots like me.’ We’re expecting Joe to get frothed up again when the team behind this Indian and Sri Lankan small plates pub open up their second spot on November 18. Taking over the lovely Charles Lamb pub, which has been pretty vacant since before lockdown, Prince Durairaj’s menu will include beef masala uttapam with spicy coconut chutney, lime leaf-roasted chicken with pineapple chutney and whole roasted crab. Cocktails come from Dalston’s nifty Three Sheets.
16 Ella St, N1 8DE
4. The arty grocers
Ever swanned about the arty Somerset town of Bruton? You may have popped into the very posh Somerset Farm Shop at Durslade Farm, right by the fancy Hauser and Wirth gallery. As of November 15, you can save yourself the three-hour journey and pop to South Audley Street and get all the pricey produce you like (wine! veg! cheese! coffee! meat!) in this roomy 4,000sqft Victorian space, which was once home to the OG domestic goddess Constance Spry’s flower shop.
64 S Audley St, W1K 2QT
5. Tom Brown’s oyster bar
If you still haven’t schlepped over to Hackney Wick to eat Michelin star seafood at Cornerstone then worry not – you no longer have to get on the overground to sample Tom Brown’s fabulous fish. Opening on November 11, the East End boozer-ish Pearly Queen is all about oysters. If you’re not the shucking kind, then there’ll be other fishy treats on offer; shellfish hummus, tuna and parmesan gougères, cockle bhajis, prawn scotch eggs and a ‘100-layer’ cuttlefish lasagne will all be up for grabs.
44 Commercial St, E1 6LT
6. The slick new theatre restaurant
Cafe Kitty comes from the same stable as Mayfair’s discreet Kitty Fisher’s. You’ll find it in Soho’s Walker’s Court – aka pervert’s alley – and on the first floor of the recently opened Underbelly Boulevard cabaret venue. Officially launching on November 3, it’ll be a classy little place, with flashy British food, including mushroom thermidor, welsh rarebit and boozy plum knickerbocker glory.
6 Walker’s Ct, W1F 0BT
7. The new Broadway Market neighbourhood joint
Sune, Hackney
Does Hackney need any more restaurants? Probably not, but we’ll make an exception for the canalside Sune. With two industry titans at the helm – renowned sommelier Honey Spencer and former Noma manager Charlie Sims – Sune seems like a dead cert for deliciousness, with former Pidgin head chef Michael Robins in the kitchen cooking up egg, chips and anchovy, smoked eel caesar salad and za’atar spiced lamb ribs.
129A Pritchard’s Rd, E2 9AP
