Restaurant radar: June 2018

Cora Pearl​
The team behind Kitty Fisher’s in Mayfair will launch a second restaurant later this month on Covent Garden’s Henrietta Street. Cora Pearl is named after a Covent Garden prostitute who moved to Paris and became a glamorous courtesan, and the two-storey restaurant's decor will mirror her decadent life with vintage light fixtures and parquet floors. Kitty Fisher’s head chef George Barson will be heading up the kitchen when the restaurant opens on 18 June. The menu will combine British and French influences, including the likes of confit pork belly with smoked quince; leek heart with smoked eel; and milk sorbet.

30 Henrietta Street, London WC2E 8NA
http://www.corapearl.co.uk/​  

Henrietta Bistro​
On 1 June, Covent Garden’s Henrietta Hotel is replacing Ollie Dabbous’ Henrietta with the southwest France and Basque country-inspired Henrietta Bistro. The restaurant will be headed by Sylvain Roucayrol, whose CV includes Bar Boulud and Compagnie des Vins, which is part of the group that owns Henrietta Hotel. The menu will comprise snacks such as Getaria anchovies with house-made balsamic and chilli paste alongside larger dishes such as grilled octopus with herb relish; and veal sweetbreads with nettles and vin jaune. There will also be a large selection of pastis.

14-15 Henrietta St, London WC2E 8QG
www.henriettahotel.com/#restaurants​ 

Brigadiers​
JKS restaurant group will open its Indian barbecue restaurant and 'drinking tavern' in the City’s Bloomberg Arcade early this month. Inspired by the army mess bars of India, Brigadiers will offer pool; card games; live sport on-demand; a reception area, complete with in-house shoe shine attendant; self-serve beer taps; and a whisky vending machine. The large menu will be focused on barbecued dishes, as well as bar snacks such as chaat masala pork scratchings; and smoked roe with fennel raita.

Bloomberg Arcade, 3 Queen Street, London, EC4N 8BN
https://brigadierslondon.com/​ 

Native​
Foraging-focused Covent Garden restaurant Native closed down this month due to planning permission being declined, but the team has already found a new home in Flat Iron Square near London Bridge. Opening on 5 June, the new space will have twice the capacity of the previous restaurant, and will also offer a seasonal cocktail list. The team behind the restaurant have launched a crowdfund campaign, and are hoping to raise £50,000 towards refurbishing the space, buying equipment and paying their 12 members of staff.

32 Southwark Street, London SE1 1TU
https://www.eatnative.co.uk/​ ​

Sambal Shiok​
Sambal Shiok owner Mandy Yin will launch her first permanent restaurant in north London later this month. Opening on Holloway Road, the new restaurant will be a laksa bar, serving the spicy Malaysian dish that earned Yin glowing reviews from the likes of Jay Rayner at her previous pop-up residencies. Founded in 2013, Sambal Shiok started out as a street food stall, serving satay and rendang burgers, rice boxes and salads, but customer demand led Yin to focus on laksa instead.

171 Holloway Rd, London N7 8LX
https://www.sambalshiok.co.uk/​ 

Hans' Bar and Grill​
The team behind Chewton Glen, Lygon Arms, Cliveden and 11 Cadogan Gardens will open Hans’ Bar & Grill in Chelsea on 1 June. Located on Pavilion Road near Sloane Square, the 106-cover restaurant is being headed up by chef Adam England, previously at Le Pont de la Tour, with Simon Smith, formerly of London restaurants Berners Tavern and Hakkasan as general manager.

164 Pavilion Road, London, SW1X 0BP
https://www.hansbarandgrill.com​

St. Leonard’s​
Jackson Boxer and Andrew Clarke, the duo behind south London restaurant Brunswick House, will open their second restaurant this month, in the St Leonards area of Shoreditch. Based around a ‘fire and ice’ theme, the restaurant will serve both raw fish, and grilled and roasted meat and seafood dishes. Set to be considerably bigger than its Vauxhall sister, the site will have 120 covers.

70 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4QX
https://saintleonards.london/​ 

Old Chang Kee​
Singaporean snack chain Old Chang Kee is bringing its curry puffs back to London with the launch of its first permanent site this month. The opening for the brand, which ran a sold-out pop-up in Kentish Town in 2017, will mark the European debut for the group, which was founded in 1956 and has since grown to 78 sites in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia. The quick-service menu will focus on the famous curry puffs - a twist on the British pasty invented during Singapore’s colonial era - as well as other curries; laksa; nasi lemak; and “finger food”.

15a New Row, London WC2N 4PD
https://www.facebook.com/Oldchangkeeuk/​ 

Rovi​
Yotam Ottolenghi will launch Rovi in Fitzrovia on 21 June with a menu that focuses on fermentation, cooking over fire, and waste reduction. As mooted late last year, Rovi will open in the 55 Wells Street development, and while its Ottolenghi roots will show through, the new restaurant will have a “different feeling and character” to Ottolenghi’s eponymous restaurants. Comprising a dining room; counter seating; 16-cover cocktail bar; and deli, Rovi will serve lunch and dinner initially before introducing a breakfast offering in July.

59 Wells Street London W1A 3AE
https://ottolenghi.co.uk/rovi​  

Bancone​
Ex-Locanda Locatelli chef Louis Korovilas Bancone will open an all day fresh pasta restaurant in Covent Garden later this month. Located just off Trafalgar Square next to the former Les Deux Salons site, the restaurant will serve pastas alongside antipasti such as fried polenta with mushroom and lardo; cured meats; charred hispi with chilli, garlic and olive oil; and seasonal arancini.

39 William IV Street, London, WC2N 4DD
http://www.bancone.co.uk/​ ​

St. John at Hackney Brewery​
St John at Hackney Brewery is a brewery, bar and restaurant concept and launches mid this month with an offer centred around craft beers and traditional Cypriot small plates. Conceived by brewer Ryan Robbins and his business partner Luke Scanlon, St John at Hackney Brewery (named after the neighbouring church, and not affiliated in any way with Fergus Henderson's restaurant group) will span two railway arches in the newly renovated Hackney Central arches. Alongside the drinks offering Cypriot restaurant Ɛlα will be serving chicken; pork; halloumi; and tempeh dishes with salads and pita breads.

16 - 17 Bohemia Place, Hackney, London E8 1DU
http://www.stjohnathackneybrewery.com/​

Ruya​
Anatolian-inspired restaurant Ruya has chosen Mayfair to open its first UK outpost on 7 June, with a former Zuma chef at the helm. Located in the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane, Ruya will serve Istanbul-inspired dishes with contemporary twists, from a menu designed by chef patron Colin Clague.

Grosvenor House, Park Lane, Mayfair W1K 7PH
http://ruyalondon.com/​