Restaurant radar: March 2020

Larry’s​
The team behind popular London restaurants Salon in Brixton and Levan in Peckham will launch a third south London venue later this month. Larry’s will be located right next door to Nicholas Balfe, Mark Gurney and Matt Bushnell's Levan and will take its cues from the corner bars, diners and cafes of New York. “Larry’s is somewhere we’d expect Larry Levan to go to after playing one of his sets”, says Balfe. “We’ve cherry-picked everything we love about eating in New York, and combined them into the kind of place we would want in our neighbourhood.” The restaurant’s interiors will pay homage to Larry Levan’s 1970s heyday with tables topped with orange laminate and reclaimed green Eames chairs. Open throughout the day, Larry’s is described as Levan’s ‘naughty little brother’.

Unit 5, 12-16 Blenheim Grove, Peckham, London​
www.larryspeckham.co.uk​​

Six by Nico London​
Scotland-born chef Nico Simeone is brings his ‘ever-evolving’ Six by Nico dining concept to Fitzrovia this month following considerable success in the regions. The London opening, which was first mooted by BigHospitality back in November, marks the next stage in an astonishing expansion drive that has seen the fine dining group triple in the size over the last 12 months. Six by Nico London will follow the same formula as other sites, albeit with a slightly inflated price of between £33 and £35. Six by Nico’s concept revolves around a six-course tasting menu that changes every six weeks and is themed around different places, memories and ideas. Simeone launched the first Six by Nico in Finnieston, Glasgow, in 2017. The London opening brings the group up to seven locations.

33 Charlotte St, Fitzrovia, London​
www.sixbynico.co.uk​​

Pizza Pilgrims Academy​
First reported by BigHospitality​ last year, Pizza Pilgrims pizza academy will function as both a pizzeria and a training academy and operate as a social enterprise, with all profits from the pizzeria being used to fund the training academy. Located in Camden, the site will be ‘aimed at the young, ex-homeless, ex-offenders, or anyone that needs a fresh start’, and ‘provide a genuine qualification for its graduates to take home ideas for self-improvement and business theory’. Founded by brothers James and Thom Elliot in 2012, Pizza Pilgrims currently operates 11 sites across London, with one further location in Oxford.

40-42 Parkway, Camden Town, London​
www.pizzapilgrims.co.uk​​

The 3rd​
Details remain scant, but Peter Sanchez-Iglesias is expected to open a third restaurant in Bristol called - appropriately - The 3rd towards the end of the month. The restaurant will be located in the space that was once home to the Michein-starred chefs pizza restaurant Pi Shop. The 3rd concept has been developed to link to the Michelin-starred Casamia and Paco Tapas - which share the same building - providing a space for customers before and after meals as well as a ‘creative chef’s table’ and a coffee and pastry offer. Pi Shop opened in 2016 shortly after Sanchez-Iglesias’ flagship Casamia and upmarket tapas restaurant Paco Tapas offering a ‘simple and affordable’ menu of sourdough pizzas but closed two years later. Sanchez-Iglesias is currently London-based having made his debut in the capital with stylish Spanish/Mexican restaurant Decimo late last year.

8 The General, Lower Guinea St, Bristol​
www.sanchez-brothers.co.uk​​

Steven Edwards at the Bingham Riverhouse​
MasterChef: The Professionals winner Steven Edwards’ eponymous restaurant at Richmond’s the Bingham Riverhouse hotel opens later this month. Edwards will continue to oversee his Hove fine dining restaurant Etch, which opened in 2017. Edwards revealed on Instagram that his London debut will - in contrast to the tasting-menu only Etch - offer a full a la carte menu. According to its website, Steven Edwards at Bingham Riverhouse will ‘celebrate an ever evolving menu showcasing local and British produce’ with dishes created ‘to be nostalgic, fun and have a real purity of flavour’. The dining room at Bingham Riverhouse - which was called The Bingham prior to an overhaul and re-brand at the beginning of last year - held a Michelin star between 2010 and 2011 when chef Shay Cooper was at the helm.

61-63 Petersham Road, Richmond, London​
www.binghamriverhouse.com​​

Erpingham House Brighton​
Loui Blake’s Erpingham House concept arrives in Brighton later this month following the success of its inaugral Norwich outpost. The multi-faceted vegan concept is taking the former The Canna Kitchen site on Duke Street and will have a more refined offer to appeal to wider audience rather than exclusively those who consider themselves to be vegan. “Since opening in early 2018, the response has been phenomenal, which is why we feel there is an appetite to take it further and look to pastures new,” says founder and managing director Blake. “While our Norwich site will always be close to my heart, we have big plans for the Erpingham House brand, and I’m excited to see what the future brings.” Dishes at the Norwich Erpingham House currently include smashed avocado on toast; hoisin jackfruit pancakes; and a Moving Mountains cheeseburger.

14 Duke Street, Brighton, East Sussex​
www.erpinghamhouse.com​​

Goods Way​
Located to the rear of St Pancras Square, Goods Way will comprise The Courtyard, featuring five food traders, as well as New Orleans inspired bar Sweetwater, and live music venue Lafayette. New York-based omakase restaurant Sushi On Jones is the most notable of the restaurants in the new development, with Goods Way its first location outside of the US. It’s being joined by vegan fast food front-runners Temple Of Seitan, The Duck Truck, Pomelo, which will serve a menu of British tapas dishes, and Breddos Tacos, which marks its first opening in the capital since closing its Carnaby restaurant.

11 Goods Way, Kings Cross, London​
www.goodsway.co.uk​​

Bobo Social​
This month will mark a return to the capital for Bobo Social since closing its Fitzrovia restaurant last year. The small plates and cocktail concept is opening within the Elephant Park development in south London serving a menu of that includes dishes such as braised lamb croquettes; Devonshire crab and shrimp cakes; and chia seed and chickpea falafals alongside a four-strong burger menu - including one featuring peanut butter, cheddar, maple-cured bacon, peanut butter, lettuce, tomato, red onion and house sauce, served in a buttermilk bun. Cocktials, meanwhile, will include The Last Mexican, made with chilli-infused mezcal, Kings Ginger liquor, lychee liqueur, lime juice, agave syrup, ginger beer and berries; and Koko Bobo made with Ron De Jeremy spiced rum, Malibu, orgeat and lime juice.

23 Sayer Street, London​
bobosocial.com​​

Club Mexicana​
Carnaby’s already bustling Kingly Court is to get yet another restaurant later this month when vegan brand Club Mexicana opens its first bricks and mortar site. The new Club Mexicana will be the group’s fourth location in the capital, and will serve a tight menu of tacos and small plates, including a beer-battered tofish taco; a ‘beef’ cheeseburger taco; and a queso flameado – a fondue of melted vegan cheese topped with spicy ‘chorizo’. It will also have two cocktails on tap - margarita and grapefruit paloma. Founded in 2015, the group also recently opened a site in Kerb’s Seven Dials Market.

Kingly Court, Carnaby, London​
www.clubmexicana.com​​

Talad​
Following on from a series of successful supper clubs held last summer, chef Natalie Tangsakul will open a ‘perma pop-up’ of her Northern Thai restaurant concept Talad in Chelsea this month. Drawing on the ‘flavours, textures and memories’ of Tangsakul’s upbringing in Chiangrai, at the northern most tip of Thailand the food offer will focus on seasonally-changing plates that steer away from more ‘mainstream’ Thai ingredients and instead include ingredients such as butterfly peas, pandan, and nam prik chilli sauce. Dishes will include ‘nibbles’ of wings and fish sauce; burnt carrot, coconut yoghurt and nam jim; and grilled pork and soy as well as larger dishes of fresh clams with basil chilli jam; chicken and wild ginger masala hung le; Isaan-style crispy cauliflower with pickled garlic; and a tum lao shiitake papaya salad. It will also begin to serve a breakfast and brunch menu ion the coming months.

533 Lots Road, Chelsea​
www.taladeatery.com​​

Wildflower​
Opening next week, Wildflower is an intimate 30-cover restaurant contained within Camden’s Buck Street market from Irish chef Adrian Martin. The restaurant serves three menus, a set lunch (two courses £25, three courses £36); a tasting menu and a vegan tasting menu (both £60) with dishes such as dry aged short rib of beef with truffle, wild mushrooms and lumper potato; wild turbot with courgette flower and a sweet spicy broth; and hay baked celeriac with smoked burdock. Martin’s debut solo venture also benefits from nearby The Garden Terrace in Buck Street where some ingredients for the restaurants are grown.

Buck Street Market, Camden High Street, London​
www.wildflowerrestaurant.co.uk​​