New opening

• Shiok! will be TV chef Cherish Finden's new patisserie in Bishopsgate

  

  She's best known to TV audiences as the oh-so-exacting judge from Bake Off: The Professionals. But now Cherish Finden is realising her dream of opening her first standalone patisserie in London.

  SHIOK! (it's pronounced Shook) will be a Singapore-influenced patisserie located in the new Pan Pacific hotel in Bishopsgate. It's something of a homecoming for Finden who first worked at the Pan Pacific in

  ...
• Gladwin Brothers to open The Black Sheep in Wimbledon Village

  

  19/5/22 - Updated with the opening date

  There was some concerned murmuring in Wimbledon Village when much-loved French restaurant The White Onion announced its closure on Instagram just last week. The good news is the site won’t be empty long, with the Gladwin Brothers to open their latest venture, called The Black Sheep.

  If you’re new to the Gladwin story, as the

  ...
• Mezcalito Mexican bar and restaurant comes to Newington Green

  

  18/5/21 - Updated with the opening date

  They've been popular in Chelsea (they even got a visit from Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston) and now Mexican restaurant and bar Mezcalito is heading to Newington Green.

  Food-wise, it'll be the same as the original - a mix of tacos, quesadillas, burritos and small plates. That includes: 

  • Mexican Bao - Mexicanised Bao
  ...
• The Tamil Prince is a new Islington pub from ex-Roti King team

  

  The people behind Tamila in Hackney, Chef Prince Durairaj and Glen Leeson (both ex Roti King), are heading to Islington for their next opening - The Tamil Prince. 

  They're taking over what used to be The Cuckoo pub in the middle of Barnsbury and are transforming it into a pub showcasing South Asian cuisine, which they say is underrepresented in the area (as locals,

  ...
• Lina Stores expands its pasta empire to The City and Marylebone

  

  18/05/21 - updated with Marylebone opening date

  Fans of Lina Stores, the distinctive pistachio-green pasta restaurant and deli, are being rewarded with a couple of new openings. 

  First up (and open now), Lina Stores City has taken over the Bloomberg Arcade site that was previously

  ...
• Berenjak heads to Borough Market for their next restaurant

  

  18/5/22 - Updated with the opening date

  We only heard a few weeks back about the closure of Flor in Borough (although they do still have their bakery in Bermondsey) but a replacement has been lined up already. Flor was backed by JKS so it's no real surprise to see another JKS restaurant is poised to fill the gap, Berenjak. 

  Berenjak, if you're unfamiliar, is all about

  ...
• Glasshouse is a new panoramic rooftop bar for Holborn

  

  London really seems to love rooftop bars at the moment. Recently we've had Wagtail open in the City and another in Covent Garden on the roof of the Amano

  ...
• Riding House Cafe is coming to Bloomsbury

   

  Another Riding House Cafe is on the way - this time to Bloomsbury. They've already been pretty successful over in Fitzrovia for over ten years and also with the Rail House Cafe in Victoria. As with those before it, the new Riding House Cafe will be a modern brasserie and will find its home in the Brunswick Centre and they're aiming for a club-like feeling with this one (no membership needed, of course). 

• The Ivy Asia Mayfair comes to North Audley Street

   

  Updated 10/5/22 with opening date and booking info

  The Ivy Asia might have had a problematic history, but it's still continuing to expand in London. The brand, which in some ways is a slightly more affordable version of the same group's Sexy Fish, is opening its next

  ...
• Modern Malay Mambow returns, this time to Market Peckham

  

  Chef Abby Lee's first foray into the restaurant world, Mambow, didn't have the best timing, opening in Spitalfields just weeks before the first lockdown. But now she's ready to hit the ground running with her second attempt, this time in Peckham.

  Lee is opening at Market

  ...
• Belvedere in Holland Park sees the Goodman and Wild Tavern team take on an iconic restaurant

  

  Updated 1/11/22 with opening date and booking info

  Back at the turn of the millennium, The Belvedere was quite the West London hotspot. It was a beautiful Holland Park restaurant with a new makeover by David Collins (much to local resident Michael Winner's annoyance) and was run by Marco Pierre White and Jimmy Lahoud. Fast forward two decades later and most locals would probably

  ...
• Napoli Gang are opening their first pizza shop, in Ladbroke Grove

  

  4/5/22 - Updated with the opening date

  While we wait for more details of what the Big Mamma Group (the people behind Ave Mario and Circolo Popolare) have planned for their next big restaurant in Kensington, they're already moving ahead with bricks and mortar plans for their Napoli Gang brand which is now opening a pizza shop in Ladbroke Grove.

  If you haven't encountered Napoli Gang on Deliveroo

  ...
• Mr Fogg's Apothecary comes to Mayfair

   

  Mr Fogg's have opened bars across town, and now they're ready for their eighth - this time right in the heart of Mayfair, just down the road from Claridge's.

  Mr Fogg's Apothecary takes the familiar look of the other bars - it's based on Phileas Fogg, has a Victorian feel and it's designed with references to Around the World in 80 Days. It's taking over what used to be the Balls Brothers, but

  ...
• Chop Chop by Four Seasons is opening underneath The Hippodrome at Leicester Square

  

  They already have three restaurants in Chinatown but Four Seasons are adding a fourth, just around the corner, when they open a new contemporary Chinese restaurant underneath The Hippodrome casino.

  The new concept, Chop Chop by Four Seasons, is part of a slew of new openings at the casino in the coming months, including an unnamed cocktail bar. Chop Chop will be in the lower ground floor of the building

  ...
• Upstairs at 23 launches at The Guinea in Mayfair

  

  A Hot Dinners exclusive

  Back during the days of social distancing, The Guinea in Mayfair made the clever decision to take over an old Pizza Express site across the road from the pub, to expand their dining space.

  Now, as the time they have with the site draws to a close, they've decided to have a little fun with the space. To that end, this week they're soft-launching Upstairs at 23 in the building's

  ...