7 New Restaurants To Book This Month
Sune
Broadway Market
At the end of last year, renowned sommelier Honey Spencer and her partner Charlie Sims opened Sune, a neighbourhood restaurant at the foot of Broadway Market. On the canal, the stripped-back space is designed to transform throughout the day, from a sun-filled spot for weekday lunch and weekend brunch to an intimate, candlelit dinner destination. The kitchen is headed up by chef Michael Robins, who previously spent two years as head chef at Pidgin. The menu champions the very best British produce, ingredients and wild foods, beginning with daily made bread with changing accompaniments, such as grilled pagnotta with whipped lardo and rosemary. The ‘Cold, Raw & Cured’ section features Galician sea urchin and preserved tomato, fruits de mer platters and local charcuterie. We’ve got our eye on mains such as egg, chips and anchovy; smoked eel Caesar salad; homemade linguine vongole with fried garlic and bottarga; and za’atar spiced lamb ribs with honey, harissa and salted yoghurt. To drink, Honey has drawn on her extensive network of producer friends and suppliers to create a list that champions bold winemakers. In the warmer months, diners will be able to sit outside, perch at a window counter for dining, or take a seat by the double doors at the back of the restaurant which open out onto the canal.
Visit Sune.Restaurant
Sola
Soho
Michelin-starred Californian restaurant Sola has started 2024 with a fresh look. Now spanning two floors, incorporating a new basement, Victor Garvey's spot in Soho has more than doubled in size. Entering from Dean Street, guests can now kick off with canapés and drinks in the lounge-bar area downstairs. On the ground floor, the redesigned main dining room has been decorated in tones of blush, with an open kitchen so diners can get in on the action. As well as a lounge, downstairs now as an 18-seat private dining room, a 'restaurant within a restaurant' separated from the lounge area by oak sliding doors. Completing the new experience, Sola’s menu has also had a bit of a refresh, now leaning more heavily into North American influences: the signature flambé langoustine, ginger and dashi small plate, and chocolate and caviar dessert are joined by new dishes such as devilled eggs, chicken and waffles, and crab cakes.
Visit SolaSoho.com
Donia
Soho
Donia is the latest opening from the team behind Mamasons ice-cream shop. A modern Filipino restaurant on the top floor of Kingly Court, Donia reimagines street food classics like prawn and pork dumplings, and crispy roast pork with liver and peppercorn sauce. The team takes its inspiration from the flavours of co-founder Florence Mae Maglanoc’s childhood, recreating them through a modern lens: think white crab meat cooked in brown butter lime sauce and a dash of chilli oil; ceviche-style kinilaw, prepared by curing thinly sliced sea bream in citrus and vinegar; and salted duck egg with a fennel and tomato salad, seasoned with cured yolk. Larger plates focus on grilled fish, meat and vegetables, such as chicken inasal, a traditional dish marinated in a secret house sauce before being grilled over coals and served with a European twist – butter emulsion. Desserts include ube choux, and a corn tart of short pastry filled with a savoury-sweet custard and topped with milk ice-cream. Cocktails also use Filipino ingredients: an ube espresso martini draws on the sweetness of the vegetable’s flavour, while the melon sour is a fun twist on the gin-based classic.
Visit DoniaRestaurant.com
Café Kitty
Soho
The Kitty Fisher’s Group’s third restaurant is part of new Soho entertainment venue Underbelly Boulevard, from the team behind the phenomenally successful Cabaret production at The Kit Kat Club. Café Kitty is a relaxed restaurant-cum-theatre-space beneath the venue, which began life as the sister venue to the Raymond Revuebar in the late 1950s. The food is vibrant and fun, and has been designed to accommodate everything from a quick bite for lunch, a speedy supper before or after a show, or a relaxed dinner over a couple of Bad Kitty cocktails (a heady mix of gin, sloe gin, elderflower, lemon and cava). Signature dishes include small plates such as cheeseburger tartare, salt-aged sirloin to share, a classic club sandwich, a boozy knickerbocker glory and a bowl of fries designed to rival Kitty Fisher’s crispy potatoes and Cora Pearl’s much-loved chips.
Visit CafeKitty.co.uk
Jamie Oliver Catherine St
Covent Garden
Jamie Oliver has now opened the doors to his new restaurant, Jamie Oliver Catherine St – and it’s something of a greatest hits affair when it comes to both the team and dishes on the menu. Next door to the Theatre Royal in the West End, the kitchen is headed up by Chris Shaill, who previously worked alongside Jamie for eight years at Barbecoa. The GM is Caesar Cruz, who’s worked with Jamie for over 16 years. The menu reflects Jamie’s food journey up to this point, from his mum and dad’s pub to his early days at The River Café through to capturing the spirit of his first endeavour, Fifteen. Things begin with moreish snacks, including devilled eggs with sustainable Exmoor caviar; Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire cheese croquettes; Loch Duart salmon cured in beetroot and vodka with horseradish soured cream; and Jamie’s seafood cocktail, with native lobster and crab, Morecambe Bay brown shrimp and cold-water prawns. On our visit, we enjoyed a sharing roast Sutton Hoo chicken with stroganoff sauce, shoestring fries and baked wild mushroom rice; and a venison ragu with hand-cut pappardelle and Berkswell cheese. Desserts include Jamie’s classic ‘Snickersphere’ – a dome of Hill St chocolate filled with peanut butter semifreddo, salted caramel and peanut praline, teamed up with buttermilk ice-cream and butterscotch sauce – and his famous River Café invention, the chocolate nemesis cake, which is still served at Ruth Rogers’s institution today.
The Dover
Mayfair
The Dover is a new restaurant and bar on Dover Street, serving Italian dishes with a New York attitude and martinis into the early hours. The first solo venture by Martin Kuczmarski, formerly group COO at Soho House, the restaurant is hidden behind a deep burgundy, heavy velvet curtain – and has already become rather hard to get a table at, despite its quiet launch in December. The intimate dining room is dotted with florals in red and pink hues and features tables dressed with double tablecloths and traditional candlesticks. Head chef Valentino Pepe, who trained with Alan Yau and Gennaro Vitto, has designed a menu of long-time favourites such as prawn cocktail, beef tartare, chopped salad, spaghetti and meatballs, beef arrosto and lobster ravioli – just the kind of comfort food we’re craving at this time of year. An evening at The Dover is accompanied by a soundtrack of vinyl, with dedicated record selections setting the tone for each sitting, taking diners on a journey through classic soul, funk and disco.
Visit TheDoverRestaurant.com
Kinkally
Fitzrovia
New Charlotte Street restaurant Kinkally is inspired by founder Diana Militski’s travels in Georgia. Its name is a riff on the country’s distinctive looking ‘khinkali’ dumplings, which are served here and filled with the likes of langoustine, tarragon and matsoni or wagyu beef with jonjoli and umeshu sauce. Alongside the signature dumplings, you’ll find small plates inspired by Georgia’s ancient food culture, including aubergine with satsebeli and vanilla sauce, beef tartare with taleggio and kakheti oil, and sundried beetroots with ricotta and tkemali sauce. As well as a striking menu, the restaurant itself is impressively designed. Drawing inspiration from the Caucasus mountains, interiors feature wood and stone, while the plates and tableware have been exactingly selected to complement each dish. Downstairs, Bar Kinky is an innovative subterranean cocktail den led by Andrew Prut. The cocktail menu tells the story behind each drink. These include a twist on an old fashioned, featuring honey, chocolate and ceps; a gimlet made with gin, sesame and tonka; and an unusual signature called The Artist, made with East London gin, goat’s cheese, cherry and thyme.
Visit Kinkally.co.uk
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