Autumn can be one of the busiest opening periods on the London restaurant calendar. We've already covered what's coming in September, now let's look at the big openings coming in the rest of the year.
A permanent home for an excellent Thai restaurant
AngloThai
Marylebone - 22-24 Seymour Place, London W1H 7NL
With apologies to Taylor Swift, it's been a long time coming (having originally been announced three years ago). But the good news is that John and Desiree Chantarasak's permanent restaurant is finally just around the corner. They've been running pop-ups and supperclubs in the meantime (including a long stint at Outcrop last year) while finding their new home, which sees them taking over The Gate site in Marylebone.
The same approach as always will carry through to this restaurant. John is in charge of the food which marries the best of British ingredients with Thai recipes, while Desiree is in charge of the wine, which will include a particular focus on a new generation of winemakers. It's an opening that we confidently expect to have been worth the wait.
Opens in October
Jason Atherton's new flagship restaurant
Row on 5
Mayfair - 5 Savile Row, London W1S 3PB
Jason Atherton is a busy, busy man. In the space of a few months, the restaurateur will have opened four brand new restaurants as well as Mary's which repurposes the Pollen Street Social space. While each seems very promising, it's this flagship restaurant that's the one to watch; it looks like being the spiritual successor to Pollen Street. Opening on Savile Row, which must be a dream for Atherton who loves a well made suit, it sees him teaming up with Spencer Metzger, who was until recently the head chef at The Ritz and who also won Great British menu in 2022.
All we know about the restaurant is that it's small, seating around 25 diners. However the Dubai iteration, Row on 45, won two Michelin stars in near record time, so there are very high hopes for this opening.
Opens in November
A top Thai chef makes a London comeback
Long Chim
Soho - Hovarda, Ground Floor, 36–40 Rupert St, London W1D 6DW
Another big Thai restaurant to look forward to this Autumn is actually a residency - albeit one from a celebrated chef. David Thompson was behind one of London's much-loved Thai restaurants Nahm, which closed back in 2012. The chef has spent most of his time since then outside of the UK and was preparing to open Long Chim, a restaurant which is also in Australia, in a permanent London location. Although that fell through, he has now teamed up with Hovarda in Soho to take over the ground floor with a Long Chim residency.
For this residency, he's bringing over the head chef from Michelin-starred restaurant Aksorn in Bangkok for a menu that's centred around the dishes that Thai people miss the most when they’re away from home. There's a lot of excitement about Thompson's return, so expect this to be super popular.
Opens in October
Santiago Lastra's follow up to Kol
Fonda
Mayfair - 12 Heddon St, London W1B 4BZ
There are currently only two UK restaurants on the World's 50 Best list and Santiago Lastra's Kol is one of them. So, the expectation is sky high for his second opening in London, Fonda. This is designed to be a more laid-back affair than Kol, and takes its primary inspiration from family recipes and the dishes of Santiago's childhood. A great deal of effort is going into the key elements, like the creation of the tortillas using heirloom corn, translating into dishes like baja tacos with a cucumber, pistachio and mint sauce, chipotle and sourdough. As with Kol and its mezcaleria, cocktails will be a big deal and there's even a specific section dedicated to palomas.
Opens in October
A classic Bayswater destination reborn
The Whiteley
Bayswater - 149 Queensway, London W2 4YN
Bayswater is certainly having a moment right now. Recent new openings like The Park and Sol's have brought attention to the area, but the biggest change so far will be the complete redevelopment of what was the Whiteley's shopping centre. Now renamed The Whiteley it's gone very bougie with new apartments, high-end retail and wellness all coming to the revamped mall.
As for the space which once held Rowley Leigh's legendary Le Café Anglais there are plans to open a restaurant there - a Turkish/Japanese space called Cleo. In addition to that, there will be Amsterdam live-fire restaurant Nela, the latest from the Pachamama Group, Effie, a flagship Melrose & Morgan deli and a branch of Guillam Coffee House along with mochi cafe Yuum. And that's before we get to the Six Senses Spa and hotel with its own all-day dining space.
Full details are yet to be revealed but this will have a big effect on the area. That said, if any of the openings on this list are likely to push back to next year, it's this one. We'll keep our eyes on it...
Opening date TBC
Top Birmingham chef goes underground in London
Undercroft
Mayfair - St George's Church, 2A Mill St, London W1S 1FX
Brad Carter is a big-name chef in Birmingham and he's about to make a splash in London too. If you wanted to make an impression with your first restaurant opening in the city, we think that opening in a crypt under a Mayfair church is certainly a good way to go.
Undercroft will be doing just that with the chef delivering his own take on lost British classics. We certainly like the sound of dishes like wild garlic chicken toast or bread pudding with Beauvale and Cotswold sherry. While the restaurant will have an outside terrace, we think this is the kind of place where everyone will want to eat inside the Grade 1 listed crypt, dominated by the huge pillars you see above. We also like the idea of hanging round after dinner for a drink in their special wine room.
Opening in October
Boxpark goes music hall
Boxhall
City of London - The Arcade, Liverpool Street, LONDON, EC2M 7PN
Another company that's been having a big year is Boxpark. Their venues are popular places to watch key sporting events and they're also performing a takeover of Buck Street Market in Camden. The group's original site in Shoreditch is due to close (although they're aiming for a temporary reprieve) but the City will be getting the next evolution of Boxpark as they launch their new food, beer and music hall business.
Boxhall sees them opening in an existing building or space for the first time (with a similar venue opening in Bristol) with a mix of food traders, music and bars in the offing. This one has been delayed for quite a while but they're apparently aiming to open before the end of the year, so expect traders to be revealed soon.
Opening date TBC
Roji chefs try something new
Himi
Carnaby - 4 Newburgh Street, London W1F 7RF
Over the past few years, London has seen a big boom in high-end omakase restaurants, with Roji being among the best. Soon, however, Roji will be taking a temporary hiatus while the chefs, Tamas Naszai and Tomoko Hasegawa, get ready to open something very different. They'll be taking over the space which was Ino in Carnaby and launching a Tokyo-style neo-izakaya which will be a big change from the 10 seater Roji. The menu here will be based on modern interpretations of Japanese classics with a focus on open-flame charcoal cooking, but you will see the odd dish that's gone down well at Roji before, and they'll have a strong sushi and sashimi offering. Roji was excellent, so we're keen to see what they have planned here.
Opening date TBC
The Hyde Park Hilton gets a revamp, top and bottom
Shanghai Me and Mr Porter
London Hilton on Park Lane, 22 Park Lane, London W1K 1BE
This Park Lane hotel has (fairly) recently closed two high-profile restaurants, Galvin at Windows on the top floor and Trader Vic's in the basement, so there's going to be a fair bit of interest in what's taking their place. Down in the basement will be Mr Porter, a modern steakhouse that originally opened in Amsterdam. At the top of the building, the rooftop is getting Shanghai Me, which has previously opened in Dubai and Doha. That's a high-end Pan-Asian restaurant (with designs influenced by 1930s Shanghai). Like the Galvin restaurant before it, it will also have a separate bar (called Bund).
The previous rooftop restaurant here, Galvin at Windows, was a staple of Park Lane for a long time, so we're very curious to see what they have planned for its successor.
Open October and late 2024
And a few more to (maybe) watch out for...
Thre are a couple more openings that are supposed to be coming in the autumn but which are a little more woolly on the dates. Keep an eye out for news on:
Guinness Brewery/Storehouse (Covent Garden) - While you may be forgiven for thinking The Devonshire was the home of Guinness in London, they've been planning a home of their own in Covent Garden for a few years now. The latest date we've heard is October, but this feels like something that may well slip into 2025.
Harrods - We hear news of a well-known chef coming to Harrods in October. We're sworn to secrecy until late September, but watch this space...
And here's what's opening in September
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