Bonheur by Matt Abé
Matt Abé’s debut solo venture in the former Le Gavroche site in Mayfair won two Michelin stars just a few months after its launch and has impressed with its precise, classic cooking that blends old school sensibilities with modern techniques.
Legado
Nieves Barragán Mohacho has once again captured the zeitgeist with her second London restaurant. Meaning ‘legacy’, the energetic and notably large restaurant moves beyond the familiar, using a broader range of ingredients and placing emphasis on more contemporary, lesser-known dishes. Earlier this year, it was awarded a Michelin star, further cementing Barragán Mohacho’s status as one of the capital’s most bankable chefs.
Motorino
This slick Fitzrovia restaurant is a great combination of beautiful design, expertly made cocktails and chef Luke Ahearne’s flair in the kitchen. Serving a London-Italian menu, it’s a modern restaurant has something for everyone.
Trillium
Glyn Purnell’s latest restaurant pairs a flexible menu of small and large plates with an ever-evolving wine list, serving high-end, ambitious cooking in a relatively informal and welcoming environment.
Shwen Shwen
Maria Bradford’s Sevenoaks restaurant has won much acclaim for blending Sierra Leonean tradition with contemporary influences to great effect. Shwen Shwen has brought unfamiliar flavours to Kent’s dining tables with personality and flair.
Daise by Tony Parkin
Chef Tony Parkin and his wife Laura’s bijou restaurant on the Wirral is a celebration of micro seasons, with the former Cliff House Hotel chef flexing his culinary muscles with a regularly-changing tasting menu format.
Maré by Rafael Cagali
Brighton and Hove’s restaurant scene has pulled off a major coup with the arrival of Rafael Cagali, the two-Michelin-starred chef behind London’s acclaimed Da Terra. Earning a star within just six months – and breaking a half-century dry spell for the seaside city – the Church Road restaurant sits somewhere between the chef’s flagship and the more casual Elis, also located in Bethnal Green Town Hall. Overseen day-to-day by talented young chef Ewan Waller, the kitchen draws on both its seaside location and Cagali’s Brazilian-Italian heritage.
Lilibet’s
Ross Shonhan’s super ambitious Mayfair seafood restaurant has been the talk of the town thanks to its lavish an opulent sense of style, that pays homage to the late Queen Elizabeth II, and a menu of big-hitting and unique dishes. Bold but also brilliant.
Vraic
Nathan Davies’ move from Wales to the Channel Islands has proven successful, with his Guernsey restaurant bagging a Michelin star in its first year. Vraic’s multi-course menu celebrates Guernsey produce, served in a beautiful coastline setting.
Aces Foodcraft
Eight years in the making, Alex Craciun and Aleksandra Jazevica’s debut restaurant delivers on its promise of inventive cooking shaped by Japanese technique. Named after their son, Aces Foodcraft offers a small, tapas-style menu at lunch, before transforming into a more conventional high-end restaurant in the evening, with both à la carte and tasting menu options. Aces Foodcraft is one of the most original openings in London in recent years, offering inventive, ingredient-led dishes unlike anything else in the capital.
74 Charlotte Street by Ben Murphy
74 Charlotte Street by Ben Murphy marks its titular chef’s return to the capital following his departure from Launceston Place in 2024, where he built a strong reputation for refined, classical cooking. The much larger site has required a rethink of how the menu is delivered, but Murphy continues to impress. The cooking at the Fitzrovia restaurant is as exciting as it is polished , while the space itself is equally accomplished following a complete redesign that has opened up the layout.
ALTA
Launched by Rob Roy Cameron and now under the direction of former Humo chef Robbie Jameson, ALTA offers a modern yet accessible take on northern Spanish cuisine. Its design draws heavily on the landscapes, materials and rustic-modern aesthetic of northern Spain, particularly the Alta Navarra region. The wine list focuses on low-intervention and ethically produced wines from small-scale European vineyards, alongside a rotating selection of wines, sherries and cocktails on tap.