Updated 22/5/23 with booking details and opening date
The team behind Juliet's Quality Foods have something big planned. Owners Julian Porter and Lauren Johns have teamed up with chef Giuseppe Belvedere for a new bar and restaurant in Clapton called Leo's.
Belvedere had previously been one of the guest chefs at P Franco before moving on to join William Gleave as chef at the group's sibling restaurant Bright. As for the new restaurant, they have said that it will be "a place to prop up the bar from the early morning with espresso, papers and spuntino, an unfussy pausa pranzo at midday through to a celebratory evening meal from the wood hearth in the dining room."
As for the location, they've taken over the space that was Jim's Cafe, which closed late last year. As it's such a classic building, they'll be looking to protect as many of the historic elements of the interior as possible.
We also caught up with them and they told us that the menu will draw on Giuseppe’s Sardinian heritage, using the best possible produce from the British isles and the continent. The daytime menu will be drawing from old-school Italian cafe staples and in the evening, we were told to expect "elegant, simple food cooked over our wood hearth in the dining room". For drinks, they're looking at a largely Italian low-intervention list.
Sunday lunches also look very promising, with dishes like whole racks of lamb roasted slowly over wood which will be coming with potatoes roasted in the embers overnight.
Ann in all, it definitely sounds like one to watch.
More about Leo's
Where is it? 59 Chatsworth Rd, Lower Clapton, London E5 0LH
When does it open? 26 May 2023 at 9am
How to book: Book dinner online, cafe and bar walk-ins only.
Find out more: Follow them on Instagram @leos.london.
Photo by @samhendel.
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