The Best London Restaurant Openings This October
By Something CuratedHighlighting this month’s most promising London food launches, Something Curated takes a closer look at what to try, as well as the chefs and proprietors behind the openings.
Decimo || Peter Sanchez-Iglesias
Peter Sanchez-Iglesias, behind Michelin-starred Casamia and Paco Tapas in Bristol, launches his new restaurant Decimo in the Standard London hotel this month, serving up Mexican and Spanish flavours in a tenth floor dining room. The 114-cover restaurant will offer panoramic views of the city through the floor to ceiling windows encircling the space. Dishes will include jamon croquetas, caviar-topped tortilla, a tableside prepared Caesar salad, a vegan mushroom paella, suckling pig shoulder, and extra large langoustines.
10 Argyle St, Kings Cross, London WC1H 8EG
Oren || Oded Oren
After two sell-out residencies, one at Elephant & Castle’s Louie Louie, and the other at Borough Wines in Kensal Rise, chef Oded Oren is set to open is first permanent site. The Tel-Aviv-inspired menu will include a number of the chef’s signature dishes, from ox cheek and hummus to cardamom panna cotta with lemon verbena, as well as grilled lamb sweetbreads with za’atar; brill tartare with raw courgette; burnt aubergine with tahini; and Monkfish chraime – a Sephardic Jewish spicy fish stew.
89 Shacklewell Ln, Dalston, London E8 2EB
Mo Diner || Mourad Mazouz
Mo Diner, opening on Mayfair’s Heddon Street, next door to its sibling Momo, is the latest venture from restaurateur Mourad Mazouz, who is also behind London’s Sketch. The new eatery has been dubbed as Momo’s “playful cousin” and offers a novel twist on the American diner, with Mediterranean touches. Breakfast offerings include hash browns with pomegranate and brown sauce, or pancakes topped with fig marmalade. Later, try the grilled octopus with saffron aioli or a lobster roll, and finish with the hibiscus, rhubarb and basil cheesecake.
23 Heddon Street, London W1B 4BH
Wilder || Sir Terence Conran & Richard McLellan
Sir Terence Conran will open contemporary British restaurant Wilder in collaboration with chef Richard McLellan at the Boundary hotel in east London this month. McLellan, previously of the Typing Room and Alyn Williams at The Westbury, will use British ingredients with a focus on sustainability and seasonality, with produce sourced from Conran’s 145-acre Barton Court estate. Dishes at the restaurant will include scallops, turnip, green plums and broth; venison, elderberries and rye as well as short rib, smoked onions, tongue and sorrel.
2-4 Boundary St, London E2 7DD
Kolamba || Eroshan & Aushi Meewella
Husband and wife duo Eroshan and Aushi Meewella are opening their first restaurant, Kolamba, on Soho’s Kingly Street. Celebrating Sri Lankan home cooking, the pair have asked friends and family to share their favourite recipes, so the menu feels like something akin to a home cookbook, taking inspiration from Colombo’s Sinhalese, Tamil, Moor, Burgher and Malay communities. Dishes on offer include fish cutlets, kalu pol pork, black pepper prawn fry, and pineapple curry, served alongside sambols, hoppers, string hoppers and coconut roti.
21 Kingly Street, Soho, London W1B 5QA
Trivet || Jonny Lake & Isa Bal
Ex Fat Duck duo, chef Jonny Lake and Master Sommelier Isa Bal, will launch their restaurant, wine bar, and cellar, Trivet, at the Snowsfields Yard development in London Bridge this month. Expect dishes like red mullet with pici pasta and artichokes; chicken with a vinegar sauce, mashed potato, glazed turnips, and trompette mushroom’ and a baked potato mille-feuille, with sake and white chocolate mousse and a butter and sake gelato to finish. Wines, selected by Bal, will traverse France and Italy, Armenia, Turkey, and Georgia, offering over 300 selections.
London Bridge, 36 Snowsfields, Bermondsey, London SE1 3SU
Stoney Street || Alex Hely-Hutchinson & Henrietta Inman
Alex Hely-Hutchinson, founder of breakfast spot 26 Grains in Neal’s Yard, will open his latest concept with the help of chef Henrietta Inman at Borough Market this month. Breakfast highlights at the new eatery include a slow roasted tomato galette with tomato and chilli jam on fennel and coriander seed pastry, while lunch and dinner feature a host of delights from salads and fresh pasta to a bavette steak. A bakery counter will serve seasonal tarts and pastries and there will also be a hatch in the window serving coffees and pastries for take-away.
2-3 Stoney Street, London SE1 9AA
Feature image via Kolamba