The Good Front Room
Chef Dominic Taylor is making his elevated Caribbean dining concept The Good Front Room a permanent fixture, having taken on a site in Dalston, east London. The restaurant will occupy the ground floor of Thomas Tower, next to Dalston Junction station. Taylor’s menu will feature small plates such as the Coco Stack Slider, Irish ‘Proper’ Chips with maple, lime and chilli-glazed plantain, and Taylor’s signature rum and raisin pork belly strips. The project follows the success of a 10-month residency of the same name at central London’s Langham Hotel, which launched after Taylor’s win on Five Star Kitchen: Britain’s Next Great Chef, streamed on Channel 4 and Netflix.
1 Thomas Tower, Dalston Square, London E8 3GU // https://www.thegoodfrontroom.co.uk/
MA/NA
Los Mochis and Sale e Pepe operator Thesleff Group will launch a ‘ground-breaking’ luxury Japanese restaurant in Mayfair later this month. At 30 Upper Grosvenor Street, in the space that was until recently home to modern Turkish restaurant Rüya, MA/NA will be overseen by Los Mochis executive chef Leo Tanyag. According to the group, MA/NA will “celebrate the craft of Japanese cuisine” through the “quiet mastery of precise cuts, the patience of fermentation, and the connection between earth and ocean”. The 156-cover restaurant and bar will offer dishes including tiger shrimp tempura with creamy wasabi; teriyaki edamame with black truffles; king crab with Asian leaves, yuzu masago, pink peppercorns, espelette chilli, truffle ponzu and caviar pearls; and robata-seared avocado with asparagus, mushrooms and spicy mayo baked in a flaming shell.
30 Upper Grosvenor Street, London W1K 7PH // https://manarestaurants.com/
The Crazy Goose
Brighton-based restaurateur Raz Helalat is opening a food-led pub on the former site of his original Coal Shed restaurant on Boyce’s Street. The Crazy Goose serves classic British and European comfort food “elevated with seasonal creativity” and is described as being “premium without being formal and relaxed without being loose”. Set across a ground-floor pub and a first-floor dining room called The Blue Room, Helalat says his latest venture has been designed to feel warm, confident and lived-in. Dishes include coronation devilled eggs; king prawn vol-au-vent with Marie Rose sauce; Cornish hake with Umbrian lentils and chicken fat; Tamworth pork jowl, Alsace bacon and butter bean cassoulet; and Guinness custard tart.
8 Boyce’s Street, Brighton BN1 1AN // https://thecrazygoose.co.uk/
Napoli on the Road Soho
Offering London’s first pizza tasting menu experience, Napoli on the Road is set to make an unusual foray into the world of fine dining. The brand will open its new restaurant on Soho’s Wardour Street, consisting of two levels, where the ground floor will feature an à la carte menu and the basement will offer the tasting menu concept that promises to ‘afford pizza the same care and creativity as a fine dining experience’ with detailed course explanations and curated wine flights.
140 Wardour Street, London W1F 8ZT // https://napoliontheroad.com/
Hot Saint Pizza
Former Dough Hands chef Tom Budakan will bring his new pizza concept Hot Saint Pizza to Islington pub The Old Queen’s Head next week. Launching on 16 February, it will serve New York-style pizzas made from a base that uses high-protein Canadian flour with a small amount of rye, with options such as Spicy Hawaiian; Meatball Ricotta; and Vodka Pesto. Also on offer will be a range of pizza sandwiches and a banana miso soft serve to round things off.
44 Essex Road, London N1 8LN // https://theoldqueenshead.com/food-drink/
MATER1A
Described as ‘the restaurant he’s always wanted’, Victor Garvey’s new project is an intimate 16-cover restaurant on Notting Hill’s Westbourne Grove. Here, top-quality ingredients are pushed to the forefront with dishes that include Japanese soufflé omelette served with black truffle; and smoked Cornish sardine with Shine Muscat grape and Marcona almond. Garvey is keeping things fun with a DJ playing anything from west coast hip hop to rock.
115 Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill, London W2 4UP // https://www.mater1a.uk/
Bambi
The London Fields-based restaurant and record bar has entered a new era, having reopened after an extension and refurb. The new space, created by knocking through into an empty site, has doubled the size of the venue, which can now accommodate 70 covers, including 16 on a new wood-panelled mezzanine that looks down on the main space below. As part of the redesign, the kitchen has been expanded under the direction of Bambi’s head chef Jamie Thorneycroft, who will be adding a new charcoal grill, as well as a dry ager, allowing him to put dry-aged fish and meat on the menu in the coming months.
1 Westgate Street, London E8 3RL // https://www.bambi-bar.com/
Hoppers Shoreditch
Taking over the former Lyle’s site in Shoreditch’s Tea Building, the fourth location for Hoppers sees it dig deeper into the flavours of southern India as well as serve the classic Sri Lankan dishes for which it is known. You won’t find the signature lamb kothu roti that it served at all of the group’s other restaurants, but instead there are new options such as a Madurai-inspired crab curry omelette served with flaky thread parotta, podi-coated soft shell crab and crab gravy; a Bangalore-style dosa filled with pulled lamb shoulder masala and pickled onion; and Dindigul-style beef short rib biryani with a tarka fried egg, onion raita and lime pickle.
Tea Building, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6JJ // https://www.hopperslondon.com/shoreditch/
Wild Izakaya
From the team behind Goodman, Pinna and Beast, Japanese restaurant Wild Izakaya has opened in the City of London on Old Jewry Street, opposite sister restaurant Goodman. Led by chef Satoru Hashimoto, formerly head chef at Koyn and with over a decade heading up kitchens for Nobu, the restaurant describes itself as ‘bringing Japan to London’. The menu will feature traditional Japanese cooking such as sushi and sashimi prepared in an open kitchen, allowing guests to view from the counter seats.
33 Old Jewry, London EC2V 8EY // https://www.wildizakaya.co.uk/