New opening

A few weeks ago, we told you about the closure of The Crusting Pipe, a mainstay of Covent Garden for over 45 years. It was sad to see it go but, in fairness, the last time we were in the area, it was almost empty. 

But now, we already know what's taking its place - it's the latest opening from Mr Fogg's. They're a group that have taken over quite a few difficult sites and made a success of them, so perhaps they're the ones who can bring some life back to this part of

Bara, a new cafe and sandwich shop in Peckham, is bringing something new to the table: a little bit of Welshness.  It comes from Zoë Heimann and Cecily Dalladay, a private chef who made it to the quarter-finals in MasterChef - The Professionals. 

That Welshness comes through with a big focus on produce sourced from Wales. It's also very prominent in a few elements like their own Bara Brith (a Welsh fruit loaf) and a Swansea Breakfast, which is smoked bacon, Blas Y Tir leeks, Câr-y-Môr cockles and laverbread on toasted focaccia. Their own focaccia will be a big part

Updated 20/1/25 with full details and an opening date.

It's been nearly 10 years since the original Hoppers launched in Soho. Now they're about to open their fourth restaurant, but this one is taking things in a different direction than before. Up until now, Hoppers has been known as a Sri Lankan restaurant but with this Shoreditch opening, they're bringing in more influences from South India. 

Led by Karan Gokani (who tells us more about it

It is a boom time for cafes and bakeries at the moment. Recently, we've had the very successful opening of Onsu in Soho and this week, we're also getting the new Claridge's Bakery. Now it turns out that we're also getting a new cafe from a chef who has made his name at Claridge's sister hotel, The Connaught. 

Nicolas Rouzaud, who runs Nicolas Rouzaud at The

Asma Khan's hugely successful Darjeeling Express has moved around quite a bit in the past. It originally started as a supperclub in Soho, then opened in Kingly Court. It moved to Covent Garden for about a year and a half and then back to Kingly Court for its longest stint yet. But now, after three years, Darjeeling Express is on the move again. 

The new Darjeeling Express will open at 36-40 Rupert Street, taking over the space that was once Hovarda (and for a short while David Thompson's Long Chim). It's a much bigger space than the current Darjeeling Express (it will fit in

Over the past few weeks, a contender for the hottest new bakery in London has opened its doors. But you won't find this one in Notting Hill or Soho; you'll have to travel out to Leyton for it.

Farha's key claim to fame is that in the kitchen is head baker Vanessa Campanelli, who was a baker at the area's much-missed Morny bakery. She's also worked in a roster of impressive London bakeries, including Toklas, Fortitude and Cedric Grolet at The Berkeley. Vanessa is supported by head of coffee Laura, who's an award-winning barista.

Owners Nargis Shaikh and Umar Raza are locals

Japanese handroll restaurant Temaki opened in Brixton in 2021 and quickly found a dedicated following. However, all good things come to an end and they closed up in Brixton last August, and went on the hunt for a new central London location. They've now found just that, thanks to help from The Crown Estate. The new Temaki will be launching on Maddox Street in Mayfair, taking over a space right next to Maddox Gallery and a few doors down from Patara. 

Not surprisingly, Temaki focuses on the Japanese handrolls of its title, originally taking its inspiration from Californian

Last year, we wrote about how The Evolv Group (previously D&D) were going all-in on their Sartoria brand, expanding the restaurant that was originally launched by Francesco Mazzei into a mini group of restaurants. Well, that's continuing apace as they're already about to launch the fourth outpost. 

Rather than opening brand new places, Evolv have been repurposing some of their existing restaurants, this one being just opposite Liverpool Street Station. Once, this was a pair of restaurants - New Street Grill and Fish Market. New Street Grill has relaunched as Liverpool

Chef Dom Taylor's The Good Front Room was a massive hit when it took over the Palm Court at The Langham for the best part of a year. He had won a reality TV programme, Five Star Chef, where the prize was to open a restaurant and he more than delivered the goods. 

Since then, the chef has been looking for a new location for the restaurant. He did open a more

13/1/25 - updated with the opening date and menu details.

The man behind the hugely popular Korean/Japanese restaurant Dotori is getting ready to open a second place, this time in the City. Alan Tse has been running the much-loved Finsbury Park spot for the past eight years, during which time he also managed to squeeze in training at the Japan Culinary Institute in Tokyo.

Now Tse is gearing up to open The Azuki, just off Chancery Lane. He's taking over the site that used to be The Pineapple Club on Rolls Passage and is turning it into what he's describing as an

Mid last year, the Shoreditch expansion of Nobu quietly drew to a close. And what was the Nobu hotel has now become the London home of Aethos hotels. However, even though the new hotel opened back in October, they were holding back on what was going to replace the space that housed the Nobu restaurant. But now we know what's coming. 

The new restaurant will be called Mitsu, which will be a Japanese restaurant that they say will be "capturing the spirit of East Tokyo's izakayas", albeit with something of an East London approach. So it sounds like less of a high-end affair than

In 2024, Opheem became the first Indian restaurant in the UK to be awarded two Michelin stars (followed only a few minutes later by Gymkhana). The restaurant is one of Birmingham's best and is its only two-starred venue. Now the man behind it, chef Aktar Islam, is coming to London for his first opening in this city. 

Aktar is opening Oudh 1722 in Borough in a three-storey listed Victorian building (it looks like it's taking over from Lupins). It's named after the Awadhi region, and that year refers to the roots of the local cuisine there, which originated in Lucknow, one of the

12/1/26 - updated with the opening date

For a small pub residency, Tiella at The Compton Arms got a lot of column inches. There was something about chef Dara Klein's cooking that reflected the places she'd worked in London (Brawn, Trullo, and Sager & Wilde) and her background that included a childhood spent both in Emilia Romagna and New Zealand. Her cooking was different, exciting, yet deeply hospitable.

Now, like The Compton's Four Legs residency before it, Tiella is moving into permanent digs. We have a strong gut feeling that Tiella Trattoria

Chef Michael Kwan has worked everywhere from The Fat Duck to Laduree and Hakkasan and, most recently, was the Executive Pastry Chef at The Dorchester. Now the Hong Kong-born chef is gearing up to open his much-anticipated new bakery in the heart of Soho.

ONSU sees the chef turning out a variety of breads and patisserie inspired by Asian flavours. On the sweet side, you've got the salted egg yolk mille feuille, popcorn and miso caramel Paris Brest and an oolong and milk chocolate tart. For the savoury, there's seaweed croissants, black truffle toast and a wagyu beef curry bun,

There couldn't be a more perfect time of year to open a stall devoted to steaming bowls of wonton soup than January. So hats off to the folks at HOKO who are doing just that. They're one of three new traders launching at Seven Dials Market this month.

Five years after launching, this will be the team's first central London spot. And unlike the milk tea diner in East London this one's going to focus on Hong Kong wonton noodle soup. The launch menu will feature three soups and two tossed noodles with wontons, along with new dishes like a Cantonese braised beef brisket and tendon