Waterhouse
Following the closure of The Water House project in June, the husband- and wife-duo behind the British tasting menu restaurant Gabriel Waterhouse and Patricia Wakaimba are launching a new restaurant and wine bar in East London. Located on Ezra Street, just off Columbia Road Flower Market, inside a Victorian warehouse, Waterhouse will draw inspiration from Waterhouse’s upbringing in Northumberland with menus focused on the produce, landscapes and culinary traditions of North East England, Scotland and the wider northern coastline. The venue will initially open with a 24-cover dining room set within a former pottery studio with a dedicated bar to follow in September. Dishes will showcase seafood sourced from northern waters alongside meat such as Lake District Herdwick hogget and wild game.
7A Ezra Street, Hoxton, London, E2 7RH
Luka
New bar and restaurant Luka will take up residence at the former Bistrot Pierre site in Preston city centre. Inspired by flavours from around the world, including Mediterranean influences and premium steaks, the venue will offer breakfast and brunch during the day, followed by an early bird menu from 4pm till 5.30pm and finally a full à la carte offering served in the evening. The restaurant, led by the owner Bariscan Avcu, will also feature live music and DJs, with plans to introduce supper club-style dining experiences from 9.30pm on Friday and Saturday evenings.
83b, Fishergate, Preston, Preston, PR1 2NJ / www.instagram.com/lukarestaurants/
Sǣl
Johnny Mills is finally opening his counter restaurant Sǣl almost exactly a year after its scheduled launch. Located at The Goodsyard in Birmingham, the restaurant will have just eight seats situated around a counter, offering an ‘immersive’ dining experience ‘deeply rooted in the seasons’. Sǣl will run a single sitting per service and serve a tasting menu that ‘evolves in step with the landscape, driven by hyper-seasonal produce and the finest local suppliers’. Announced last year and set to open in the summer of 2025, Mills says despite the delay, nothing has changed and the restaurant remains focused on low-waste cooking and a drinks list that uses waste from the kitchen preparations.
5 Station Way, The Goodsyard, Birmingham, B18 6FH / sael.uk/
Cordelia’s Mayfair
Opening on Clarges Street is new live-fire steakhouse Cordelia’s Mayfair. Head chef Jordi Sebastianelli, previously of Le Petit Beefbar in Chelsea, will lead the kitchen, offering a menu that focuses on British beef that is dry-aged in-house as well as beef from overseas, including Galician beef, Finnish Sashi, and Italian Parmesan-fed beef. At the heart of the restaurant will be a theatre kitchen as well as a marble bar. Interior features will include a deep red ceiling and alabaster pendant lighting.
6 Clarges St, London W1J 8AE / www.cordeliasmayfair.com/
Ember at The Chandlers Arms
Matty Cartwright of EMBER and Harry Flockhart of The Chandlers Arms are joining forces to bring a live-fire restaurant to the Cotswolds. Ember at The Chandlers Arms will open in the village of Epwell, taking inspiration from its co-founders’ travels across America and South America as well as the Eastern Mediterranean and East Asia. Each dish will use seasonal British produce sourced wherever possible from farms within a 10-mile radius, with the menu featuring a rotating selection of shareable small and large plates. The drinks programme will showcase craft beers from across the world alongside cask ales brewed by the founding pair exclusively for the pub.
The Chandlers Arms, Sibford Road, Epwell, Banbury OX15 6LH / www.embertaproom.com/
Amber
Edinburgh-based chef Dean Banks is expanding his restaurant portfolio with Amber, a new Mediterranean-inspired concept in St Andrews. The restaurant is taking over a former BrewDog site and draws inspiration from some of Banks’ favourite destinations across Greece, Italy, Portugal and the south of France. The menu will focus on simple Mediterranean dishes, combining locally sourced produce with ingredients imported from the Mediterranean.
159 South Street, St Andrews, KY16 9UH / https://www.amberstandrews.co.uk/
Two Twins Tacos
Californian-inspired taco brand Two Twins Tacos is opening its fourth site in Spitalfields. The menu will feature the brand’s range of tacos such as the OG soft shell with pickled cabbage, salsa roja, avocado crema, onion and coriander; crispy birria with mozzarella, onion, coriander and beef consommé; and the vampiro, a hard-shell taco with melted cheese and beef consommé with Fillings including the birria beef, anchiote lamb and pineapple jerk chicken. The new location will continue to offer £3 birria tacos on Tuesdays and a daily offer of four tacos and a margarita for £16.
Bread Street Kitchen Bath
Gordon Ramsay’s 10th Bread Street Kitchen will be its first hotel location, following a deal with Bath’s DoubleTree by Hilton. The opening marks the first time the brand has launched inside a UK hotel and will reflect Bread Street Kitchen’s lively, contemporary feel, with rich leather seating, bespoke artwork and atmospheric lighting.
DoubleTree by Hilton Bath, Walcot Street, Bath, BA1 5BJ / www.breadstreetkitchen-bath.com/
Bancone Bloomsbury
London pasta specialist Bancone, launched by William Ellner and David Ramsey in 2018, is making its hotel debut this month at The Imperial Hotel in Bloomsbury. The 140-cover restaurant marks the brand’s sixth London location and will include a bar area alongside a pasta open kitchen. The space will also include a 60-cover terrace offering al fresco dining in the warmer months. The menu will feature the brand’s signature silk handkerchiefs with walnut butter and confit egg yolk as well as a take on the dish that sees the addition of crispy guanciale.
61–66 Russell Square, London WC1B 5BB / www.bancone.co.uk/
Whippies
Big Kid Ice Cream launches a soft-serve concept this month at Seven Dials Market with a menu inspired by British ice cream van favourites. Each ice cream will start with a base of vanilla whippy made with organic milk, brown butter and Madagascar vanilla, and signature menu items will include the Flake 99, made with Big Kid Ice Cream’s own branded chocolate flake. Also on the menu will be the Solero Knickerbocker made with peaches, mango and passionfruit; and the hot fudge cookies n’ cream supreme with hot fudge sauce, crushed Oreos and whipped cream alongside a ‘Brain Freeze’ range of rotating fruit sorbet slushies, ice cream floats and cocktail ice pops and serve as a platform for limited-edition menu items and collaborations.
Top Floor, Seven Dials Market, Earlham Street, London WC2H 9LX / www.bigkidicecream.com/