About Time: You Discovered London’s Hottest New September OpeningsBy Alicia Grimshaw
We love nothing more than a new restaurant opening, and spying on new menus is one of our favourite things to do. This feature has it all; healthy eating, vegan fare, meat feasts and boozy brunches. If you’re looking for somewhere new to dine in the capital, take your pick from our September favourites. Time to feast:
1. For Sri Lankan Cooking: Hoppers
What: We love Hoppers, but we can’t justify spending our whole evening queuing to get our mitts on their famed egg hopper. But that’s all changed as Hoppers have branched out, opening their new 85-seater restaurant at St. Christopher’s Place on Tuesday (12th September).
Eat and Drink: As at the Soho restaurant, the St. Christopher’s Place menu will centre around Hoppers’ namesake dish, a bowl-shaped pancake made from fermented rice batter and coconut milk, and the dosa, made from a fermented batter of ground rice and lentils. These will be served alongside a selection of new karis to include lamb shank, aubergine, crab, cauliflower and prawn. New to St. Christopher’s Place and going hand in hand with the larger space will be the introduction of ‘Rice and Roast’ dishes designed to be shared, family feasting style. Feasting dishes will include banana leaf roasted plaice with green mango and madras onion sambo; jaffna lamb cutlets and cucumber mooli sambol; and chicken buria with chicken heart acharu and yoghurt.
Where: 77 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 1QE
2. For Seasonal Food: Wringer and Mangle Spitalfields
What: Wringer & Mangle first made waves back in 2015 when they first opened their Hackney hangout. And the gang have set their sights on another part of east London: Spitalfields. The new project, opening on Tuesday (11th September) will present hearty seasonal food, a lunchtime deli counter and cocktails to boot, whilst also replicating the successful bottomless brunches the London Fields location has become infamous for.
Eat and Drink: For lunch, feast on salads, a hot counter, sandwiches, pastries and sweet treats. However, if you’re not a lunchtime local to Spitalfields, the restaurant will be the go-to place for bottomless brunch. Brunchers can dig into breakfast inspired dishes and enjoy an £15 bottomless prosecco brunch, or the punch of the month. Sundays will also offer an all-day roast with a range of mouth-watering roasted meats with a wide choice of sides to ensure that every appetite is satisfied.
Where: 94 Middlesex Street, Spitalfields, London E1 7EZ
3. For Vegan Grub: Essence Cuisine
What: Essence Cuisine is a newly opened fully plant-based and free-from food concept, located on Leonard Street in Shoreditch. Founded by Bart Roman, a Belgian music-festival entrepreneur, the menu is 100% meat, dairy, gluten, and refined sugar-free, and has been developed with the renowned US celebrity chef Matthew Kenney, who has gained cult status in the world of vegan dining.
Eat and Drink: To begin the day Essence offers breakfast and brunch dishes such as golden quinoa porridge with radish, sprouts, chilli flakes and seeded bread; garbanzo scramble made from scrambled chickpeas, kale, green harissa, asparagus and anchovies; and raw pancakes with candied walnuts, berry salad, mint and vanilla coconut cream. At lunch and dinner, try a range of salads and main dishes, which are all available either to eat in or to go. Choose from the likes of the Essence bowl, a combination of tricolour quinoa, cumin sweet potato and jerusalem artichoke cream and pumpkin seeds; heirloom tomato lasagna, beautifully presented layers of courgette and tomato topped with sun dried tomato marinara, pistachio pesto and macadamia ricotta cream; and raw pad Thai, made from kelp noodles with marinated kale, tamari almonds and lime.
Where: 94 Leonard Street, London, EC2A 4RH
4. For Home-Style Cooking: Villa Mama’s
What: This month, Bahraini chef and restauranteur Roaya Saleh will bring Villa Mama’s from the Saar district of Bahrain to Elystan Street, London. Drawing on Roaya’s rich Bahraini heritage and a life well-travelled, Villa Mama’s seasonal, home-style dishes combine flavours and culinary traditions from across the Khaleej, Persia and beyond.
Eat and Drink: The menu focuses on sharing plates of traditional Bahraini dishes and those of the six countries of the GCC, alongside recipes influenced by her travels around the world; Roaya’s second love after food. ‘Mezzeh’ offerings includes Khubus, a tandoor-cooked flatbread, served with meyhawa, a Bahraini speciality of fermented sardine sauce (made especially for Villa Mama’s by Roaya’s aunt); Mathrooba, slow-cooked chicken, rice and cracked wheat; and lamb and feta kofta finished with cherry molasses. Larger plates include Sayadieh, turbot cooked in fragrant stock with pilaf and crisp onions; and Tacheen for two – a saffron rice cake layered with spiced chicken and pine nuts.
Where: 25-27 Elystan Street, Chelsea , London SW3 3NT
Photo Credit: Carol Sachs
What: There ain’t no party like a ramen party, and the ramen party certainly never stops at Shoryu. After already opening 10 outlets across the capital, the team are opening their 11th site in Shoreditch this month. Located on Great Eastern Street the restaurant will offer their signature Hakata tonkotsu ramen, Shoryu buns, cocktails and Gekkeikan Royal Warrant sake.
Eat and Drink: Shoryu specialise in Hakata tonkotsu ramen which originates from the Hakata district of Fukuoka city on the southern island of Kyushu, Japan. Hakata tonkotsu ramen is a style of ramen made with a thick, rich, white pork soup and thin, straight ramen noodles. Creating tonkotsu pork stock takes over 12 hours cooking at a rolling boil. Traditionally the stock is then combined with ‘motodare’, a concentrated base to create the final soup. Shoryu’s motodare is made using the best soy and spices from Japan. For the noodles, Shoryu have worked extensively with a UK based Japanese noodle-making master, using strong Cotswold flour to create the perfect original hosomen (meaning ‘thin noodle’) for their ramen.
Where: 45 Great Eastern Street London EC2A 3HP
6. For a Dining and Drinking Experience: Cub
What: This is a bit of a game-changer, isn’t it? Cub is the new concept to launch at the former White Lyan site by Ryan Chetiyawardana (aka Mr Lyan) and his team, who have partnered with friend and long term collaborator Doug McMaster of Brighton’s pioneering zero-waste restaurant Silo. Opening its doors early September, Cub will offer a new and unique luxury drinks-led dining experience for guests, and the venue will blur the boundaries of food and drink by approaching them as a united entity, presenting the pair’s own modern interpretation of a restaurant.
Eat and Drink: The menu will go beyond a usual food and drink pairing and be laid out in ‘courses’ – some of which will present food and drink alongside each other, whilst other courses may just be a stand-alone dish or drink. Rather than looking at food and drink as separate entities, the team will approach them as seamless offerings with no boundaries between where drinks end and food begins; instead everything will be designed to reflect the different stages of a meal, and provide a complete experience by deciding whether the serve should appropriately be on a plate or in a glass. Cub will champion the idea that well considered food and drink can help elevate a gathering, and will provide a space and offering that puts this upfront, but with layers and depth to the menu for those who want to understand more.
Where: Cub, 153 Hoxton Street, London, N1 6PJ
Photo Credit: Xavier Buendia
What: City workers, your lunchtime just received a tasty upgrade. Opening on Thursday (7th September), Waka is a new grab-and-go eatery bringing Nikkei – the vibrant fusion of Peruvian and Japanese cuisine – to the City of London.
Eat and Drink: The menu features dishes such as; ceviches, including seabass and prawn, and tiraditos – thinly-sliced raw fish – including salmon and yellowtail, served with freshly-made citrus sauces. Hot bowls include salmon anticucho with Peruvian purple potato and chicken katsu curry, and also available are cold bows of tofu rice and Waka chirashi. A wide variety of sushi, sashimi, nigiri and dumplings also feature on the menu.
Where: 39a Eastcheap, London EC3M 1DE
Photo Credit: John Carey
8. For Cheese and Wine: La Fromagerie Bloomsbury
What: Cheese lovers, you can now bathe in more dairy goodness at La Fromagerie’s third site in Bloomsbury, opening on Tuesday (11th September). Established in 1991, La Fromagerie is now well known for its shops and cafes in Marylebone and Highbury, a thriving online retail shop, as well as supplying cheese to some of the best chefs and restaurants in and around London.
Eat and Drink: The ground floor will feature a shop selling seasonal fruit and vegetables, breads, cakes, and own label products, along with a 26-cover bar and café with al fresco pavement dining, and a downstairs tasting room. La Fromagerie Bloomsbury will be open every day beginning with their signature breakfast menu, followed by a menu showcasing the produce sold in the shop with cheese and wine pairings alongside charcuterie, a smoked salmon and oyster bar, freshly prepared salads, seasonal dishes and of course its famous Fondue Savoyarde.
Where: 52 Lambs Conduit St, London WC1N 3LL
First Image Credit: Tim Green Photo
9. For Indian Flavours: Gul and Sepoy
What: Harneet and Devina Baweja have already bowled us over with their home-style Indian cooking at Gunpowder, and the incredible Himalayan flavours found at Madame D’s. And now, they’re opening their third restaurant, Gul and Sepoy on Commercial Street in London’s Spitalfields this month.
Eat and Drink: Showcasing the breadth of Indian cooking, the menu will be divided into two sections, with ‘Sepoy’ reflecting Chef Nirmal’s modern interpretation of the rustic, provincial-style food associated with the soldiers of the Indian army who would cook whilst on the move. Dishes will include; masala wild rabbit terrine with celeriac and fig; potted Coorgi pig’s head; and wild berries and lavender kheer, championing nose-to-tail cooking and drawing on the food Nirmal grew up on at his family home in Maharashtra. The Gul menu, on the other hand will echo the age-old banquets of the Raj palaces in North-Western India with lavish flavours featuring; three bird’s awadhi korma; jackfruit and walnut-ke-sheek and kid goat raan with pickled root vegetables, designed to share. Desserts will include rum soaked dough pillows with spiced cream cheese and berries, and walnut fudge with baked Alaska and salted caramel.
Where: 65 Commercial Street, London E1 6BD
What: Orée has just opened a new store on High Street Kensington. A traditional boulangerie full of French flair, the bakery offers artisanal European fare with a taste created especially for Londoners. Orée owner, Laurent d’Orey, is on a quest to bring the joys of French breakfast, brunch and lunch to the capital – without the trip through the Channel Tunnel.
Eat and Drink: A taste of rural France in the capital, Orée creates freshly-baked viennoiserie, artisanal breads and fine patisserie alongside delicious breakfasts, brunches, lunches and coffees. From the hearty to the healthy and the virtuous to the indulgent, there’s sweet and savoury bites for all.
Where: 147 Kensington High Street, London W8 6SU
One for luck…
11. For Healthy Living: Farm Girl x Sweaty Betty
What: Farm Girl is spreading the healthy love far and wide with their second opening within Sweaty Betty’s new flagship store on Carnaby Street. The three storey concept store will offer fashion, fitness, food and beauty all under one roof. Located on the first floor, Farm Girl will provide the best brekkie and lunch bowls in town, for a post workout or shopping refuel.
Eat and Drink: The exclusive menu will be packed with beneficial, natural antioxidants, including signature smoothie bowls, superfood lattes and healthy cocktails. Serving food all-day, highlights include salads, a selection of toasts, build-your-own breakfast bowls and the infamous coconut BLT. Dessert comes in the form of Farm Girl’s signature gluten-free doughnut line. New to Farm Girl Soho, a bar will serve superfood cocktails using strawberry and lavender infused FAIR Vodka, alongside biodynamic wines. A beautifully crafted super latte selection returns with a signature Liquid Gold (turmeric, cinnamon, astragalus, honey and coconut milk), while therapeutic smoothies will include a Muscle Recovery (cacao, cashew milk and espresso).
Where: 1st Floor, 1 Carnaby Street, London W1 9QF
We’re feeling pretty lucky…
12. For Doughnuts and Coffee: Crosstown
What: What fabulous news: Crosstown are launching a new doughnut and coffee bar at 35 Piccadilly, London, with some sweet deals and fresh new flavours. Opening on Friday (8th September), the new Piccadilly location is only a few minutes walk from where Crosstown opened their pop-up store in Piccadilly Circus underground station 3 years ago.
The Lowdown: To celebrate the launch, Crosstown are releasing a trio of brand new doughnut flavours over the course of September,with Boysenberry and Apple doughnut launching the same day that the store opens.Their vegan offering is also expanding, with two new seasonal additions – Strawberry and Elderflower and Yuzu and Matcha – which will be available on rotation at all Crosstown locations every Fri-Sat-Sun.
Where: 35 Piccadilly, Mayfair, London W1J ODW
