Din Tai Fung Canary Wharf
Din Tai Fung has chosen Canary Wharf’s Crossrail Place for its fourth London site. The site - the xiao long bao specialist’s first outside the West End - will have space for 112 covers plus a private dining room that seats 16. At the heart of the restaurant will be a show kitchen where diners can see chefs make Din Tai Fung’s signature dumplings, a process that passes through six stations manned by different teams of chefs. The new site joins Din Tai Fung’s UK venues in Covent Garden, which launched in 2018, and Selfridges and Centre Point, which opened in 2022. It is part of the brand’s global growth, which includes recent openings in New York’s Times Square and Disneyland in California.
Unit CR32, 1 Crossrail Pl, London E14 5AR // dintaifung-uk.com
One Club Row
Located on the first floor of newly-opened Shoreditch pub The Knave of Clubs, One Club Row will be chef Patrick Powell, The Camberwell Arms co-owner James Dye, and former JKS Restaurants director of strategic projects Benjy Leibowitz’s interpretation of a New York-style restaurant. The menu will feature timeless classics such as steak tartare and a burger au poivre as well as centrepiece sharing dishes such as whole lobster tagliatelle; and bone-in ribeye with chipotle hollandaise. To finish, there will be New York-style cheesecake and Dutch baby pancakes, baked to order.
1 Club Row, London E1 6JX // oneclubrow.com
Burger and Lobster Brighton
After an eight-year hiatus, Burger & Lobster is back on the expansion trail with a new opening in Brighton, which has just launched on Market Street. It’s the second play for a regional presence for the Misha Zelman-led group and will operate alongside its nine London sites and nine international sites in locations including New York, Singapore, Bangkok and Kuwait City. Burger & Lobster is working with local suppliers and businesses including the Flour Pot Bakery, and the menu features the brand’s first-ever brunch offering. Dishes include the B&L Benedict featuring a choice of lobster, smoked salmon or spinach with a poached egg and hollandaise sauce, served with either a signature B&L brioche roll or sourdough. It’s the first of two forthcoming openings planned by Burger & Lobster with the group set to open its tenth London restaurant next month on Kensington High Street.
15 Market Street, Brighton BN1 1HH // burgerandlobster.com/locations/brighton
Pip at Treehouse Hotel Manchester
Former The Fat Duck and Aumbry chef Mary-Ellen McTague will launch a restaurant that ‘celebrates seasonal, low-waste cooking and local produce’ at Treehouse Hotel Manchester early this month. Located on the ground floor of the high-profile Blackfriars Street venture, Pip will offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as a grab-and-go. McTague will take a ‘hands-on approach’ to sourcing ingredients working directly with suppliers including Littlewoods Butchers, Organic North, Courtyard Dairy, Platt Fields Market Garden and Cinderwood Market Garden. McTague will soon be joined by fellow chef Sam Grainger and Luke Cowdrey and Justin Crawford of Volta.
Blackfriars St, Manchester M3 2EQ // treehousehotels.com/manchester/pip
Tatar Bunar
Ukrainian restaurateurs Alex Cooper and Anna Andriienko will open their debut London restaurant this month. Tatar Bunar will be inspired by Cooper’s hometown of Tatarbunary in southern Ukraine and will ‘reflect decades old family traditions with a menu led by his grandmother’s recipes’. Heading up the kitchen will be Kate Tkachuk who has worked alongside the pair to create a menu that celebrates the biodiversity of the Bessarabia region with dishes including chicken Kyiv and borscht. The 90-cover restaurant will be located on Shoreditch’s Curtain Road on the site that was once home to Tapas Brindisa. It will feature an open kitchen that will overlook the restaurant and internal courtyard filled with greenery and plants while in summer, guests can make use of the outdoor terrace that seats a further 20 people.
152 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3AT
Templar
Darkhorse founders Lee Glen and Ian Goodman will launch a wine bar and sharing plates restaurant in Stratford early this month. Templar is part of the Stratford Cross development, which is located between The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and The London Stadium and is also home to Sadlers Wells East, the V&A, UAL and BBC Music Studios. The kitchen - which will serve modern European dishes - is being overseen by Richard Sinclair, whose CV includes London Italian restaurants Terra and Lardo as well as the Michelin-starred Pied à Terre The wine list is focused on Old World low-intervention producers.
5 Redman Place, Stratford Cross, London E20 1JQ // templarlondon.com
Winsome
‘Northern hospitality and thoughtful British cooking’ is what Shaun Moffat is offering at his new Manchester restaurant when it opens on12 March. The Manchester-based chef is opening Winsome on Princess Street adjoining the Whitworth Locke Hotel, which will serve a regularly changing menu of dishes that will have ‘a comforting familiarity’.
74 Princess St, Manchester M1 6JD // winsomemcr.co.uk
Market Halls Paddington
Opening tomorrow (4 March), Market Halls latest site will have a total of eight traders. The line-up will include five newcomers to the street food hall operator - BAO Night Market, which will serve its range of classic baos, Taiwanese fried chicken and bubble tea; Farm Girl, offering breakfast bowls, pancakes, salads, avocado on toast, sandwiches, and all-day egg options; and Souvlaki by Opso, which will deliver handmade souvlaki wraps, hearty gyros bowls, spicy chicken pasta, and vibrant vegetable sides. Also joining the 11,000sq ft venue will be From the Ashes Parrilla, a new concept from the From the Ashes team that will serve a South American-inspired menu of grilled meats and vegetables; and modern taqueria Breddos. Market Hall favourites Gopal’s Corner by Roti King, Black Bear Burger, and 20ft Fried Chicken will complete the line-up.
1 Paddington Sq, London W2 1DL // markethalls.co.uk/paddington
27 Old Compton Street
London-based restaurateur Nima Safei will launch an Italian pasta bar concept in Soho later this month, his third opening in the area. Safaei, who operates Italian restaurants 40 Dean Street and 64 Old Compton Street, will launch 27 Old Compton Street on 24 March. The concept will be ‘rooted in the tradition of tavola calda’, meaning ‘hot table’, with 30 covers available and a walk-ins-only policy. The menu will feature pasta dishes such as rigatoni amatriciana with pancetta and chillies; pumpkin, ricotta and sage ravioli; and paccheri puttanesca with tiger prawns. Drinks will range of Italian wine to cocktails including a pomodoro piccante, an Italian take on a spicy Bloody Mary.
27 Old Compton Street, London W1D 5JP
Kricket Shoreditch
The latest restaurant from Kricket duo Rik Campbell and Will Bowlby is their most ambitious yet, serving a breakfast menu for the first time alongside an all-day offer. Opening tomorrow (4 March) on Charlotte Road, the first Kricket Kafe serves breakfast items such as fried eggs with curry brown leaf butter; bacon pao; kedgeree; and sesame cruffin alongside its more traditional a la carte offer. The space has been opened up and a lot of pink paint has been put on the walls to create a space that feels distinctly different to the others.
35-42 Charlotte Rd, London EC2A 3PB // kricket.co.uk/shoreditch
Crunch
London’s sandwich game has never been stronger, and this month its ranks will swell even further with the deluxe sandwich brand Crunch’s is first bricks and mortar site. Located on the corner of Dean Street and Old Compton Street, the shop will serve a rotating range of sandwiches made with house made brioche that will include the patty melt; katsu sando; and the umami ‘shroomwich’. It’s Crunch time on 17 March.
60 Dean Street, London W1D 6AW // sandwichuprising.com