Kismet
Former BiBi and the Harwood Arms chef Keiran Mustafa is partnering with restaurateur Dom Hamdy to launch a new Turkish concept above the Globe Tavern in Borough Market. Inspired by the meyhanes of Istanbul and northern Cyprus, Kismet will open in the upstairs dining room previously occupied by Cambodian concept Barang. The menu will centre on meze and mangal-grilled kebabs, available either à la carte or as a £48 set menu. Meze dishes, starting from £7, will include zeytinyağlı taze fasulye (braised green beans in olive oil) and bulgur köftesi (fried, stuffed bulgur wheat dumplings), while larger plates will feature kuzu şiş (lamb leg with tail fat) and şeftali kebabı (a Cypriot minced lamb and beef kebab wrapped in caul fat). Raki, Türkiye’s anise-spiced national spirit, will be at the heart of the drinks list, with regulars encouraged to buy a bottle and keep it on Kismet’s shelves.
Upstairs at The Globe Tavern, 8 Bedale Street, London, SE1 9AL / kismet.london/
Hon’s BBQ
Hon’s BBQ opens its first permanent restaurant in East London following a successful crowdfunding campaign. Billed as both a restaurant and late-night music venue, Hon’s BBQ takes over the former home of zero-waste pioneer Silo, above Crate Brewery in Hackney Wick. Formerly known as Uncle Hon’s BBQ, the brand has been shortened to Hon’s BBQ ahead of the move into its permanent home. The 80-cover, canal-side restaurant will combine Texan-style barbecue with Chinese and wider Asian influences. Operating on ‘true Texas barbecue principles’, meat will be smoked low and slow for up to 12 hours and sold by the gram until it sells out.
The White Building, Unit 7 Queen’s Yard, London E9 5EN / unclehonsbbq.com/
Rocola
The group behind London’s two-strong Crudo brand will open a new restaurant, bar and rotating kitchen on Hackney’s Mare Street next week. Built around an open kitchen and bar, Rocola, which takes its name from the Spanish word for jukebox, will have a permanent food and drinks offering inspired by the Crudo team’s Latin American roots, alongside Southern European influences. Alongside the core menu, there will be a rotating calendar of guest chefs, kitchen residencies, wine tastings, music-led nights and collaborations. The team says it aims to bring together ‘the warmth of a neighbourhood restaurant with the energy of a space that keeps moving.’
143 Mare Street, London E8 3FW / www.instagram.com/rocola.studio/
Café Barbette
Café Barbette, a new wine bar from the team behind Maray, is coming to Chester’s Exchange Square opposite Chester Market. The venue takes inspiration from the corner cafés of Paris, bringing a European-style all-day offering to an outdoor terrace setting. At the heart of the space will be a wine discovery wall, where guests can explore and pour their own wines. Around 30 wines will be available by the glass, with the list focused mainly on French producers alongside a selection of low-intervention and more ‘unusual bottles’. The food menu will feature seasonal sharing plates designed to pair with the drinks, combining Parisian classics such as jambon persillé with mostarda and ratte potatoes with more contemporary dishes, including fried chicken wings with green chilli and popcorn mussels with marinière mayonnaise.
Exchange Square, Northgate, Chester CH1 2EF / cafebarbette.co.uk/
Langosteria
The long-awaited launch of Milanese seafood restaurant Langosteria at The OWO is finally set to take place later this month. Founded in Milan’s Design District in 2007, the London opening will mark the group’s first UK location and third international outpost, joining its venues in Paris and St. Moritz. Langosteria is described as a ‘fine dining restaurant with Italian roots’, with the London restaurant, which was first mooted in 2023, described as representing a significant step in the brand’s international development. Dishes on its menus include octopus, chorizo and purple potatoes; spaghetti, clams and sea urchins; charcoal-grilled Dover sole; and Galizian turbot ‘alla milanese’; as well as a large selection of oysters and raw fish.
57 Whitehall, London SW1A 2BX / theowo.london/langosteria
Miokuru
Yet another Japanese-inspired handroll restaurant is coming to Soho. Opening on Warwick Street, Miokuru will be a 20-cover counter restaurant serving hand rolls, seafood and ‘Tokyo energy’. Named after the Japanese phrase meaning ‘to send someone off on a journey’, the restaurant will focus on seafood, with dishes including pressed scallops, seared Chalkstream trout sashimi and seasonal house pickles. Made-to-order handrolls will feature fillings such as Cornish white crab with wild garlic mayo and dry-aged beef tartare with wasabi mustard. The drinks list will include premium London-brewed sake and a selection of Japanese-inspired serves, including one-off, rotating batches of keg sake.
7, 8 Warwick St, London W1B 5LU / miokuru.co.uk/
Johnny Boy’s
This SoCal-inspired neighbourhood restaurant is coming to Stoke Newington. Founded by LA native Julian Denis, who is also behind Facing Heaven Chinese restaurant and the dive bar Easy 8 in London Fields, Johnny Boy’s is described as a tribute to the family-run neighbourhood spots of his childhood. Described as ‘not an overly fetishised American diner, but the kind of everyday places that were lynchpins of immigrant communities’, the restaurant will take over an old Thai café on Northwold Road and serve an eclectic menu inspired by the cultural mix of Southern California. It will initially open for dinner Wednesday to Sunday, with breakfast and lunch service on weekends with dishes set to include crab Tostada with crab mayo, pea salsa, and carrot escabeche; pastrami dip with mustard pickles and consommé; and patty melt with caramelised onions, Russian dressing, and Swiss and American cheese on rye bread.
3 Northwold Rd, London N16 7HL / www.eatatjohnnyboys.com/
St Endoc Hotel
Paul and Emma Ainsworth will relaunch the St Enodoc hotel in Rock this month, introducing two new restaurant concepts. The Estuary Grill will focus on Cornish produce from land and sea. The menu will include dry-aged meat from Philip Warren Butchers and locally caught fish and seafood sourced from Flying Fish. A blackboard will list daily market price specials such as prime ribs, sirloins, pork chops and whole fish, cooked over fire on an Asado grill by Somerset-based Fire Made. In addition to grilled options, the menu will feature dishes inspired by Paul’s Seychellois heritage and the flavours of the Indian Ocean. The Flour Garden will provide a more informal, family-friendly option. Open seasonally from March to October and operating on a walk-in basis, the outdoor restaurant will serve hand-stretched Neapolitan-style pizzas and salads, available to eat on site or take away. Following the pair’s purchase of the property early last year, the relaunched hotel will form part of the Ainsworth Collection.
St Enodoc Hotel, Rock Road, Rock, Cornwall, PL27 6LA / enodoc-hotel.co.uk/
Restaurant Örme
Restaurant Örme in Urmston, Manchester, has relaunched, shifting from its previous tasting menu format to a more relaxed social dining concept focused on sharing plates. Founded in 2023 by Jack Fields, Tom Wilson and Rachel Roberts, the restaurant will now offer snacks, small plates and desserts inspired by modern British cooking, alongside a feasting menu of seasonal chef’s selections from the daily menu as an alternative to the former tasting format. The relaunch also includes refreshed interiors, a new drinks programme and extended opening hours. As part of the transition, Tom Wilson left the business at the end of June, with Fields and Roberts continuing to run the restaurant.
218 Church Road, Urmston, Manchester, M41 9DX / www.restaurantorme.com/
Brasserie Olivia
France-based restaurant group La Nouvelle Garde is making its London debut this month with the opening of Brasserie Olivia in Chelsea. Founders Charles Perez and Victor Dubillot are bringing the Parisian brasserie to Sloane Square, taking over the former Côte site for the group’s first international restaurant. The menu will focus on ‘resolutely homemade’ French cooking using local produce. Dishes on its menus in France include classics such as bavette of beef; blanquette de veau; country terrine; truffled saucisson; tarte tatin; and profiteroles. Designed by B3 Designers, the space will feature a 1970s-inspired speakeasy-style bar, oak panelling and antique touches.
1 Sloane Square, London SW1W 8EE / lanouvellegarde.com/en/brasserie-olivia/
MOR
Tom Sellers, the chef behind two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Story, is heading back to Cornwall this summer with the opening of MOR at the Carbis Bay Estate. Taking over the former home of Adam Handling’s Ugly Butterfly, the restaurant is named after the Cornish word for ‘sea’ and will be ‘dedicated to the rhythm and seasons of Cornwall’. The opening marks Sellers’ return to Carbis Bay, near St Ives, following the success of his 2019 pop-up Story by the Sea. The menu will centre on a raw bar and charcoal grill, showcasing hand-dived scallops, day-boat fish, ex-dairy beef and vegetables grown in the estate’s kitchen garden.
Carbis Bay Estate, Carbis Bay, St Ives, Cornwall, TR26 2NP / www.carbisbayhotel.co.uk/dine-with-us/mor-restaurant-by-tom-sellers
Regency House
Chef Chris McClurg is teaming up with his partner Alice Stewart to take over Belfast’s Regency House hotel. The pair, who have been consulting on the property since 2025, formally took over the entire site last month with plans to create what they describe as a restaurant of ‘national significance’ in McClurg’s home city. The restaurant, which will also trade as Regency House, is set to bring Chris’ produce-led cooking to the heart of Belfast’s Queen’s Quarter with dishes guided by Irish produce. The 40-cover space will feature a courtyard dining area and a private dining cellar, while the interiors will blend the building’s original architecture with contemporary design and an open kitchen.
11 & 12 Upper Crescent, Belfast, BT7 1NT / regencyhouse.co.uk/dining/