Restaurant radar: October 2024
Fonda
Santiago Lastraʼs much-anticipated follow up to his hugely successful Mexican restaurant Kol will open early next month on Mayfairʼs Heddon Street. Fonda once again sees the chef partner with MJMK Restaurants and promises to showcase ‘the evolution of Mexican cuisineʼ serving traditional dishes in a more informal setting than his Marylebone-based fine dining restaurant. The corner restaurant - which will count the newly opened Ambassadors Clubhouse and Sabor as well as Casa do Frango, another MJMK restaurant, as its neighbours - will be split across two floors and will serve a contemporary a la carte menu that brings together the disparate regional styles from across Mexico. Smaller dishes will include sikil pak, a toasted pumpkin seed ‘guacamoleʼ with pine oil served with fried totopos for scooping; and chalk stream trout ceviche topped with thinly sliced squash aguachile and tostadas, while larger options will include ribeye topped with a layer of melted swaledale cheese on a flour tortilla; baja tacos with a cucumber, pistachio and mint sauce, chipotle and sourdough; and tostada with baked beetroot, seaweed oil, marigold and elderflower vinegar. The cocktail list also promises something different, with creations that will feature lacto-fermented tomatoes and chillies and mushrooms.
12 Heddon Street, London, W1B 4BZ
fondalondon.com
Fantomas
‘Modern European food ‘with an eye on Asia, particularly Japan’ is how chef Chris Denney describes the offer at his soon-to-open restaurant in Chelsea. Named after the arch villain fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre, Fantomas sees Denney bring his diverse experience in various international cuisines to bear to ‘focus on an innovative and precise culinary experience’. Denney has a (not so) secret weapon up his sleeve in that he is partnering with George Bukhov-Weinstein and Ilya Demichev, the duo behind respected London restaurants Goodman, Beast, Wild Tavern, and Lita, for his project, which makes it even more of a mouth-watering prospect.
300 King’s Road, London, SW3 5UH
www.fantomas.co.uk
Three Darlings
Jason and Irha Atherton’s English bistro in Chelsea is named loosely after the couple’s three girls and is described as being a place ‘where relaxed elegance meets al-day delight’. Open from breakfast onwards it will serve healthy morning dishes such as a super greens salad; acai bowls; and yoghurt and granola moving into a menu of small and larger plates as the day progresses. Options will include small plates of nduja, cackle bean egg, and iquillo pepper; Dorset clams, 1,000 clove garlic butter, sourdough ball; and crapaudine beets, English fig, and nasturtium; and heftier dishes such as spiced spatchcock partridge, chicken fat butter; skate wing schnitzel, katsu curry, lime; alongside a range of aged meat and fish.
241B Pavilion Road, London, SW1X 0BP
threedarlingslondon.com
Lima Shoreditch
Lima founders Gabriel and José Luís Gonzalez are heading east with an opening at Shoreditch’s Sun Street Hotel. Lima Shoreditch will replace the hotel’s South East Asian-inspired Quercus restaurant and is a follow up to the original Lima restaurant in Fitzrovia, which launched in 2012 and was the first Peruvian restaurant in Europe to win a Michelin star. Like the Charlotte Street original, the brother’s latest restaurant project will offer a modern take on traditional Peruvian cooking, with references to Nikkei as well as Chifa (the blending of Japanese and Chinese techniques respectively with native Peruvian ingredients) cuisine alongside traditional Peruvian plates.~
5-15 Sun Street, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 2EP
www.limalondon.com/shoreditch
Margo
The team behind Scotland’s Ox and Finch and Ka Pao are launching a new restaurant concept in Glasgow. Located on Miller Street, the 138-cover Margo will serve a menu of snacks, small plates and sharing dishes that ‘highlight curated seasonal produce, sourced from the finest growers and makers’. The menu will evolve regularly, while retaining a flavour-led approach with a focus on Scottish seafood, meat butchered in-house, and bread and pasta made from scratch. Margo will offer Scoop’s most comprehensive wine list to date, with classic fine wines sitting alongside natural and biodynamic bottles from small, independent producers. The latest addition to Scoop restaurant group’s portfolio will be led by chef Robin Aitken.
68 Miller Street, Glasgow, G1 1DT
margo.restaurant
Tamila
The team behind highly-rated Islington Indian food pubs The Tamil Prince and The Tamil Crown will venture south of the river for the first time later this month with a new casual dining concept. Located on Clapham’s Northcote Road in the space that was most recently home to vegan restaurant VE Kitchen, Tamila is out to ‘redefine the curry house’ with a roti and curry-focused menu that has been trialled at the Hackney Bridge food hall in Hackney Wick. Other dishes will include Masala dosa, chicken lollipops and masala poori (wheat flour puffed fried bread served with coconut chutney and potato masala). Tamila will have seating for 50 people inside, with additional outdoor seating in the warmer months.
39 Northcote Rd, London SW11 1NJ
tamila.uk
Amari
The team behind Brighton restaurants Halisco and Anakuma have partnered with chef Ian Swainson to launch a new Spanish restaurant in the seaside city. Amari will take over the site previously occupied by Pastan on Baker Street, just off London Road, and will serve ‘contemporary and original takes’ on classic Spanish dishes. Swainson, who previously ran fine dining restaurant Amarillo in the city, has worked with Halisco owners Ali and Mo Razavi to develop the concept. “We will not be a fine dining restaurant, but more fun dining, with affordable prices and a warm welcome,” explains Ali. “Our end goal is to make a successful business that the neighbourhood are proud of and will want to come back to time after time. We do believe in the community and love Brighton, so to be able to give some happiness back would be a huge honour.”
15 Baker St, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN1 4JN
19 Motcomb Street
The former Pantechnicon site in London’s Belgravia is being rebranded and will be home to two new restaurants and a cocktail bar. Now known as 19 Motcomb Street, it will house Japanese restaurant SACHI, Provençale restaurant Amélie ,and LUUM, a Latin American inspired bar and lounge that intertwines ‘mixology with music and extravaganza’. Located on the second floor SACHI will have a 62-cover dining room with a omakase table overlooking an open kitchen as well as a 115-cover heated rooftop space with a retractable ceiling. Beneath it on the ground floor and mezzanine will be Amélie, a Mediterranean restaurant led by head chef Steve Raveneau, formerly of The Arts Club.
19 Motcomb Street, London, SW1X 8LB
Pearly Cow
Originally set for a summer launch, Pearly Cow’s Brighton site is expected to launch later this month. Within boutique hotel No.124 by GuestHouse on King’s Road, Pearly Cow Brighton will seat 65 covers and - in keeping with the brand’s other locations in Margate and York will offer a menu that is ‘devoted to all that thrives in the British Isles’ and will see the ‘very best local produce from field and sea’ cooked over open-fire. Dishes include the likes of crab croquette with lemon mayonnaise and pecorino; whole lemon sole with mussels, glazed potato and sea herbs; and the restaurant’s signature dish the The Pearly Cow, a beef tartare with Exmoor caviar, oyster cream and charred sourdough.
124 Kings Rd, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN1 2FY
pearlycow.co.uk/pearly-cow-brighton
Motcombs St John’s Wood
The team behind Belgravia restaurant Motcombs is doubling up this month having secured a site in London’s St John’s Wood. The 80-cover restaurant will be open from breakfast through to dinner serving a menu of British, European and Asian dishes as well as a New York-style pizza menu that will be exclusive to Motcombs St John’s Wood. The restaurant will also have an eight-cover standalone bar and a outdoor terrace for 16 guests that, mercifully, is covered given the current weather,
3 Circus Road, London, NW8 6NX
www.motcombsrestaurants.co.uk
El Bolillo
Chef Greg Clarke and his partner and front of house counterpart Matty Salvetti will launch a casualyet-high-reaching Mexican restaurant in Hove later this month. Taking its name from a Mexican slang word for a Western person, El Bolillo will offer a tight sharing menu centred on tacos and feature a clean and minimalistic design. Among the small plates will be tuna tostada with l ardo crudo, achiote dressing and finger lime; and smoked pork jowl with summer herbs and ancho pickled apple. Taco options will include a barbacoa wagyu short rib to share; and grilled maitake with smoked garlic mole and chili and black bean ‘matcha crack’. Spend per head on food is expected to be between around £60 per person with most dishes, including the tacos, pitched at between the £10 and 20 mark.
60 Church Rd, Brighton and Hove, Hove BN3 2FP
www.elbolillo.co.uk
Delamina Townhouse
Delamina owners Limor and Amir Chen will launch a third London restaurant at the end of the month. The 110-cover Delamina Townhouse is set to open on 28 October on Covent Garden’s Tavistock Street and will join Delamina in Marylebone and Delamina East in Shoreditch. Limor is billed as the creative force behind the restaurants’ menu, drawing ‘eclectic heritage to deliver a menu that combines bold Eastern Mediterranean flavours with a health-conscious approach, and a focus on grilling and roasting complemented by the fragrant herbs and spices of the region’. Set in a Grade-II listed Georgian townhouse, the restaurant will comprise multiple dining areas, including a generous dining bar, two drawing rooms with fireplaces, and several private dining spaces, as well as a small outdoor terrace.
13-15 Tavistock Street, London WC2E 7PS
www.delaminakitchen.co.uk/delamina-townhouse
