Barboun, Shoreditch
When: 2nd December 2019
Where: 61-67 Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3HU
What: From the people behind Soho’s Hovarda comes this new restaurant Barboun – a Levantine restaurant (the name means red mullet in Turkish) with an emphasis on cooking over smoke and fire. Barboun will feature a seasonally led menu and have sustainability at its core, with the philosophy of using great ingredients and cooking with smoke and fire from the robata and josper grills.
Price range: £££
Brother Marcus, Spitalfields
When: 25th November
Where: 2 Crispin Place, Spitalfields, London E1 6DW
What: Brother Marcus are heading to the City with their largest restaurant yet. Expect a similar Eastern-med approach to the cooking as with their other restaurants in Balham and Islington, with some new dishes on the menu. You will find the usual Brother Marcus mix of inventive brunch fare named after family members – the Step Sister, for example, is a pile up of sweet potato, courgette and feta fritters, avocado, spinach, kale, turmeric yoghurt and a poached egg.
Price range: ££
Paradise, Soho
When: 28th November
Where: 61 Rupert Street, Soho, Soho, Central London, W1D 7PW
What: A Sri Lankan restaurant taking over from the old Spuntino space on Rupert Street. The food will draw from traditional Sri Lankan recipes all put together by chef Charith Priyadarshana, and will use British ingredients wherever possible – the seafood will come from day boats, the pork will come from a farm in Gloucestershire, etc. There’ll be cocktails too, with interesting menu-fillers planned like a tamarind chilli martini, and something called an Arrack-O-Lada which blends coconut cream, arrack, pineapple syrup, and a little burnt jackfruit.
Price range: £
Manteca, Soho
When: 22nd November
Where: 58 Great Marlborough Street, Soho W1F 7JY
What: The creators of 10 Heddon Street, Chris Leach and David Carter, have returned with this permanent restaurant, Manteca. The restaurant is all based around nose-to-tail cooking using meat from small independent butchers, hand-rolled pasta, and fire-cooked cuts. It’s inspired by Chris Leach’s travels in Rome and Napoli, crossed with the food scene in New York and LA.
Price range: ££
Davies & Brook at Claridges, Mayfair
When: 9th December
Where: Claridge’s, Brook Street, W1K 4HR
What: Head chef of Eleven Madison Park, Daniel Humm, has come to London to open the new Claridge’s restaurant, Davies & Brook. It promises to be a ‘relaxed yet refined’ space, with specially commissioned artwork by Roni Horn on the walls, and a cocktail bar (and terrace) at its heart. The opening menu looks pretty exceptional, with caviar ‘for the table’; roasted poussin stuffed with lemon and parmesan; his famous lavender and honey-glazed duck; and cabbage mille-feuille roasted with mushroom and Thai basil.
Price range: £££
Bancone, Soho
When: 12th December
Where: 10 Lower James St, Soho, London W1F 9EL
What: Having opened last year in Soho, Bancone are opening their new restaurant in Soho with room for almost 100 people. Alongside the fresh pasta classics – you can expect more ‘silk handkerchief’ pasta and bucatini cacio e pepe – there’ll be monthly grilled specials, kicking off with suckling pig pork belly. And as well as a hefty wine list, they’ll be expanding the drinks with the likes of ‘Amaresso Martinis’, served in a subterranean bar.
Price range: ££
Patty & Bun, Carnaby Street
When: 9th December
Where: 26 Kingly St, Soho, London W1B 5QD
What: It’s the ninth Patty & Bun (and the second in Soho) and you can expect a completely different look from Breddos – which was in the space before them. And the old downstairs bar is being turned into a space for private hire. They’ll be bringing along all the burgers you’ve loved from their other restaurants, including the ‘Ari Gold’ Cheeseburger, the ‘Smokey Robinson’ and their vegan ‘Whoopi Goldburger’.
Price range: ££
