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The Biggest Restaurant Openings in London This Spring

Six of the best, including a huge Soho seafood palace and a hotly anticipated Mexican restaurant

A red prawn duo on salt in a pan, for Claro Portuguese restaurant in Soho
Prawns at the forthcoming Claro restaurant in Soho, by chef Leandro Carreira
Claro [Official Photo]

Here are the biggest restaurant openings for spring 2020 in London: a follow-up restaurant and wine bar from Meghan and Harry’s chosen cake-maker Claire Ptak, in Hackney, a bigger version of London’s coolest bakery — in Finsbury Park, a very exciting Mexican fine dining debut, a revival of an institution, a Soho debut for one of the city’s most creative chefs, and a vast new seafood restaurant from London’s cleverest brasserie barons.

The interior at Jolene bakery, restaurant and wine bar in Newington Green
Jolene in Newington Green
Samuel Ashton

Big Jo

Address: 318 — 326 Hornsey Road, N7
Key people: Jeremie Cometto and David Gingell
What to expect: A huge new production bakery for the design-focused and ingredient-obsessed owners of Primeur, Westerns Laundry, and Jolene in north London. They say it will have the capacity to serve ten new satellites, which will open over the next two years. A 60-cover restaurant will sit at heart of the day-to-day operation.
Projected opening: May 2020

Claire Ptak, creator of Violet Cakes and chosen cake maker of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for the royal wedding
Claire Ptak, creator of Violet Cakes
Hannah McKay/Pool Photo AP

Violet Corner

Address: 121-123 Mare Street, London Fields E8
Key people: Violet’s Claire Ptak
What to expect: Cakes and pastries piled high on the counter, quiches, toasties and salads for lunch, and aperitivo hour from 5 p.m. onwards. Inspired by Paris and brought to London Fields by one of the city’s favourite baker-pâtissières.
Projected opening: May

London’s biggest and best new restaurant openings of 2020 include Kol by Santiago Lastra, which serves Mexican dishes like this cured lamb leg tostada with fermented gooseberries and guajillo chilli Laura L.P./HdG Photography

Kol

Address: 9 Seymour Street, W1
Key people: Santiago Lastra of Noma Mexico and Mugaritz
What to expect: All signs point to a thrilling new central American fine dining operation with “Mexican soul, British ingredients”: Expect high-end tacos and tostadas, chilpachole crab broth with pistachio guacamole tostadas; and turbot cooked in corn husks — all from an open kitchen in the centre of the dining room. The wine programme will be plural with a list which incorporates selections from Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Oaxaca.


Projected opening: May 2020

Bread, wine, slip sole, and gazpacho with smoked eel at Noble Rot, one of London’s best restaurants and wine bars in Bloomsbury
Bread, wine, slip sole, and gazpacho with smoked eel at Noble Rot
Ola Smit

Noble Rot Soho

Address: 2 Greek Street, Soho W1
Key people: Dan Keeling and Mark Andrew and head chef Paul Weaver of Noble Rot
What to expect: The only apparent difference at the forthcoming Noble Rot on the former site of the Gay Hussar is that there will be no bar and customers will have to both eat and drink, which shouldn’t be a problem so long as the blueprint from the deceptively simple and wildly successful Bloomsbury original is replicated.
Projected opening: May/June

A red prawn duo on salt in a pan, for Claro Portuguese restaurant in Soho Claro [Official Photo]

Claro

Address: 22 Bateman Street, Soho, W1
Key people: Leandro Carreira of The Sea, The Sea and Alex Hunter of Bonnie Gull Fitzrovia
What to expect: Peerless seafood cooking and modern riffs on Portuguese classics in Soho from one of London’s best and most creative young chefs. Expect dishes like pork with almonds and chilli, mackerel with seaweed butter, grilled shellfish, raw seafood, the Prego steak sandwich, and outstanding ice creams.
Projected opening: April

Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, Corbin and King, owners of the Wolseley, Delaunay, Brasserie Zedel, and more
Brasserie barons: Chris Corbin and Jeremy King
Corbin and King

Manzi’s

Address: 1 – 8 Bateman’s Buildings, W1, incorporating 55 Greek Street, W1
Key people: Chris Corbin and Jeremy King
What to expect: Distinguished from Corbin and King’s most famous restaurants, The Wolseley, Brasserie Zedel, and The Delaunay, Manzi’s will be a fully pescatarian restaurant, occupying a large two-floor space on the edge of Soho Square. About it, King said last week: “[It is] blessed with windows on both sides of the dining room for great light and this very brightness and airiness was very influential in determining it to be a pescatarian restaurant.”
Projected opening: May

Westerns Laundry

34 Drayton Park, , England N5 1PB 020 7700 3700 Visit Website

The Delaunay

55 Aldwych, , England WC2B 4BB 020 7499 8558 Visit Website

Spring

Lancaster Place, , England WC2R 1LA 020 3011 0115 Visit Website

The Sea, The Sea

174 Pavilion Road, , England SW1X 0AW 020 7824 8090 Visit Website

Kiln

53 Foy Lane, , NSW 2000 (02) 8099 8799 Visit Website

Violet

47 Wilton Way, , England E8 3ED 020 7275 8360 Visit Website

Primeur

116 Petherton Road, , England N5 2RT 020 7226 5271 Visit Website

Noble Rot

51 Lamb’s Conduit St, London, Greater London WC1N 3NB +44 20 7242 8963 Visit Website

The Wolseley

160 Piccadilly, , England W1J 9EB 020 7499 6996 Visit Website

Jolene

54 Great Jones Street, Manhattan, NY 10012 Visit Website