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When the U.K. government first ordered restaurants to close for dining in on 20 March, uncertainty prompted many to shut down entirely. Some forged on through takeaway and delivery, or adapting to grocery provision, and have been documented extensively.
Opening for dining in service can now happen from Saturday 4 July. The government has published extensive guidance on how restaurants can reopen with Covid-secure safety measures in place. Before reopening begins, below is a tracked aggregate of the strategic, adaptive re-openings across the city, from grocery services to total reinventions of the identity that brought diners in before the pandemic.
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CENTRAL and CITYWIDE
- Nieves Barragan Mohacho’s Michelin-starred Spanish restaurant and bar Sabor has launched Sabor En Casa, offering two food boxes for delivery, which include items such as croquettas, and tortilla, prawns, octopus, and other tapas dishes to finish at home. Launches Monday 29 June.
- Essential London restaurant Roti King has reopened between Euston and King’s Cross, naturally keeping the formula of high-moisture roti canai, dals, and meat curries that have made it a London institution. Open Wednesday — Saturday, 12 p.m. — 3p.m. and 5 p.m. — 8:30 p.m.
- Fellow city essential Bao is adding at-home kits for its eponymous Taiwanese speciality, extending delivery nationwide in July to complement its London delivery brand, Rice Error. Boxes of six bao will come with either braised pork or panko daikon and various toppings and sauces.
- Kitchen Table, chef James Knappett and sommelier Sandia Chang’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant annexe to Bubbledogs in Fitzrovia, has reopened as a deli, offering fish and meat from its own stellar suppliers, as well as sourdough, pastries, canelés, caviar, cheese, and truffles. Wednesday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- Irani-cafe-inspired crowd-pleasing chain Dishoom is introducing one of its most popular dishes to the at-home situation: a bacon naan, with dough, smoked bacon, tomato and chilli jam, coriander, and cream cheese.
- Italian stalwart Lina Stores has reopened its delis in Soho and King’s Cross for click-and-collect and takeaway pasta, cured meat, cheese, and provisions like tinned tomatoes and anchovies as of 17 June.
- Luca, the British-Italian restaurant from the team behind Shoreditch’s Michelin-starred Clove Club, has launched a new dinner-for-two at-home “feasting” service. An £80 menu this week includes house-made rigatoni with pork sausage ragu, sea bass en papillote, and tiramisu. It can be ordered for collection or delivery via this portal.
- Philly cheesesteak specialists Passyunk Avenue in Fitzrovia has launched a range of at-home cookery boxes, which include ingredients for the restaurant’s famous steak and cheese sandwich, as well as all that’s required for buffalo wings, and hoagies. Full details here.
- Revered restaurant group Corbin and King is offering a dish from each of its low-key luxury restaurants to be delivered in central London, including fish pie from the yet to be opened Manzi’s, in Soho. Orders are open from 11 June, 9 a.m. — 6 p.m., Monday to Friday.
- Din Tai Fung has added click-and-collect from its Covent Garden restaurant as of 11 June, with all of its dumplings available.
- Vauxhall community hub Italo has reopened as of 10 June, with coffee and groceries as well as a new click-and-collect service.
- The Quality Chop House is reintroducing its at-home delivery from, alongside Nick Bramham’s Quality Wines at Home. The menu is pretty much a straight replication of the restaurant, with chops, chicken liver parfait, and confit potatoes abounding. Delivery is via Supper, Wednesday — Saturday.
- Michelin-starred Fulham pub The Harwood Arms has partnered with esteemed beef supplier Lake District Farmers to offer a finish-at-home version of its lauded roast: A 500g cut of sirloin, beef sauce, to-be-roasted potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, carrots, and greens. Order from the LDF website.
- Quality Wines has launched Quality Wines at Home: a weekly changing four-course menu for two, which can be supplemented with snacks, like DIY gildas, and countless choices of wine. Meals can be ordered for collection or delivery, with full details listed here.
- Riding House Cafe has reopened as a deli, butcher, grocer, and meal kit provider in Fitzrovia.
- Le Relais de Venise, best known for its steak, frites, and “secret” sauce, is delivering steak frites sandwiches.
- Honest Burger has reopened 15 of its London restaurants for delivery.
- Ottolenghi will reopen its Islington and Notting Hill delis on 23 and 20 May respectively, with a nationwide online shop reopening on 22 May.
- Honey and Co. has reopened its sister site Honey and Spice in Fitzrovia for meal pick-ups on Wednesday and Friday; brunch on Saturdays. Details of the offering can be found here.
- Kolamba, the Soho Sri Lankan restaurant is delivering curries, dals, and hoppers across London, via the Slerp platform.
- Clipstone in Fitzrovia has joined sibling Quality Wines in reopening, offering cook-at-home dishes like beef, potato, and truffle pithivier; tagliatelle with datterini tomatoes and wild garlic; and a range of sauces, jams, and snack. Restaurant open for collection Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Delivery is offered Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Details here.
- Homeslice’s 12 inch pizzas can once again be ordered for collection or delivery (through Deliveroo and Uber Eats) from its Shoreditch and Marylebone restaurants. (Its full, 20 inch pizzas available via Supper.)
- JKS Restaurants has relaunched a number of its popular restaurant brands for delivery, including the Michelin-starred Indian restaurants, Gymkhana and Trishna. Brigadiers, Hoppers, and Berenjak are also offering Indian grills, Sri Lankan snacks, and Persian kababs, respectively, for takeaway across the city. Full details can be found here.
- Folie, the French Riviera-inspired brasserie on Soho’s Golden Square, is delivering a croque monsieur, salade Nicoise, and confit lamb shoulder via Supper.
- Honest Burgers is adding Honest Chicken to its coop, starting in King’s Cross.
- Popular pasta counter Bancone is introducing finish-at-home food from 5 June, with first deliveries on 12 June. Expect bucatini cacio e pepe; burrata with kale, beetroot, and chive oil; and a deli offering including cheeses and cured meats.
- Mayfair is doing delivery and it’s as luxe-expensive as might be expected. The Connaught’s Jean-Georges has a line in truffle pizzas, while NYC titan and Davies and Brook head chef Daniel Humm’s fried chicken is flying out of Claridge’s at £35 a box. With sides and dessert, mind.
- The Irani-cafe-inspired crowd-pleasing chain, Dishoom has introduced home delivery from three of its restaurants in London: King’s Cross, Shoreditch, and Kensington.
NORTH
- Esters, one of London’s essential coffee shops and brunch restaurants has reopened, selling Roman-style pizza, A-grade salads, bread, cakes, pastries, and pantry items. Check out the new click-and-collect webstore here.
- Sons and Daughters, the sandwich-slinging latest from the team behind Pidgin, has reopened in King’s Cross, serving sandwiches, coffee, and soft serve from 11 a.m, Wednesday — Sunday.
- One of London’s best Italian restaurants, Trullo in Highbury and Islington, has opened a deli next door, with pasta, olive oil, wine, cheese, and negroni ice pops, too.
- Mandy Yin’s Malaysian restaurant Nasi Economy Rice will reopen as a deli on Holloway Road from Wednesday 3 June.
- Popular Highbury cafe Fink’s Salt and Sweet has reopened as of 10 June, offering a range of deli goods, wine, and bakes familiar to fans of the local institution.
- Wander’s Alexis Noble is introducing at home banquet kits to complement her off-license adaptation in Stoke Newington. The first menu, for two people, includes spaghetti with palourde clams, fermented peppers, and coriander; and a strawberry and Sichuan peppercorn pavlova.
- Prawn on the Lawn, the seafood restaurant on Highbury corner, has launched a fishmongers, which will soon sell “meal deals” — with fresh pastas, crab, and wine for two among the offering. Collection only: Tuesday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- Jolene — the coolest bakery in London — has returned with breads, sweet and savoury pastries, for collection, plus an evening set meal delivery service. Full details here.
- Top Cuvée has added park delivery to its operation, delivering wine, beer, bottled cocktails and snacks to Clissold Park and London Fields.
- Westerns Laundry will open its patio for outdoor dining by way of “impromptu barbecues” with limited capacity.
EAST
- Michelin-starred Basque-inspired grill restaurant Brat will reopen for three months at Climpson’s Arch, on the edge of London Fields in Hackney. Chef Tomos Parry will be in residence there from Saturday 11 July until the end of September.
- City big-hitter Brigadiers is turning itself into the Daru Shop, styled as an Indian off-license with hatch service. Vending machines stacked with cocktails and craft beer sit alongside masala pork scratchings, kathi rolls, and something called a “naanza,” available by the slice. Wednesday — Friday, 1 p.m. — 7p.m.
- Dusty Knuckle, one of east London’s best bakeries, is using an old milk float to deliver bread and pastries to select addresses across the north and east of the city.
- Butcher, deli, and restaurant, Hill and Szrok on Broadway Market is now offering fine-looking sandwiches to takeaway. An eye-catching creation comprising Dusty Knuckle focaccia, slow-roast pork belly, organic salad leaves, and apple mustard butter recently featured.
- Bake Street, the cafe-restaurant in Stoke Newington known for its smash burger and makhani chicken bun, has reopened. Initially it will reopen just for coffee, tea, cakes and bakes, while the kitchen remains closed. Meal kits and ingredients are set to return in the coming weeks.
- Padella, the cult fresh pasta restaurant has returned with DIY meal kits, designed to be finished at home in five minutes. It will start with two options: tagliarini with tomato and the signature 48-hour beef shin pappardelle.
- Ethiopian vegan restaurant Andu Cafe in Dalston is open for takeaway — cash only.
- Bright has expanded its wine collection service, with Ortiz anchovies, cheeses from Mons, and salumi from the Ham and Cheese Company, as well as store cupboard provisions. And is now doing chicken and chips, under the banner of ‘bar and grill’ on the forecourt outside its restaurant for a 2 p.m. — 6 p.m. Saturday service.
- Michelin-starred Shoreditch restaurant Leroy has introduced Royale, a rotisserie chicken delivery and collection service. Full details here.
- Little Duck the Picklery has introduced a click-and-collect service in Dalston, offering pickles, pies, braises, and breakfasts.
- Wildly extra 2019 smash-hit Gloria is offering its pizzas, cocktails, and home pasta kits for click-and-collect in Shoreditch and sending them out for delivery to east London. (Sister site Circolo Popolare is doing the same thing in Fitzrovia.)
- Crispin is offering food boxes and groceries in Spitalfields, as well as weekly-changing cook-at-home menus.
SOUTH
- Bermondsey’s resolutely French favourite Casse Croûte has reopened for takeaway, with a menu available to pre-order online. This week’s includes salade Niçoise, beef stew with porc lardons, mushrooms, baby onions and mashed potatoes, and a fluffy chocolate mousse. Collection runs from 11 a.m. — 7 p.m.
- Trivet in Bermondsey, the restaurant which ex-Fat Duck duo Johnny Lake and Isa Bal opened last year, has reopened for for coffee, tea, and baked goods, such as caneles, butter tarts (a Canadian tradition), and brioche. Pick-up from Trivet only, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday to Saturday. Separately, sommelier Bal has placed much of the restaurant’s cellar offering in an online wine shop for delivery across the U.K.
- Elliot’s, the much-loved Borough Market bistro, is introducing pizza collaborations with figures from across the restaurant world, including Bao, Mei Mei, and Jidori. They will be available for takeaway and delivery, alongside natural wines and baked goods, including the low-key excellent Basque cheesecake.
- Victoria bistro Lorne is doing Lorne at Home from 11 June, with madeleines; confit duck leg; and Parmesan gnocchi available for pickup. There are two set menus for the indecisive, with orders placed the day before available to collect from 5 p.m. — 9 p.m., Wednesday to Saturday. Delivery via Slerp.
- Chef Faye Gomes of Guyanese Kaieteur Kitchen — one of London’s best street food businesses — has returned to her stall in Elephant and Castle, preparing dishes and meals, such as sous, fried fish, roti and chicken curry, coconut lamb stew, mince pies, and pineapple tarts Tuesday — Friday, for collection.
- Elizabeth Haigh’s Mei Mei has reopened in Borough Market, serving hot food and various baked goods from Thursday — Sunday. It’s also offering deli goods both there and online, including kaya, rendang spice mix, and a nasi lemak kit.
- 805, the iconic Nigerian restaurant on Old Kent Road, has reopened for delivery.
- The owners of Michelin-starred restaurant, Lyle’s and Borough Market bakery Flor, have launched a new pizza delivery brand called ASAP. Chef James Lowe is joined by creative director and renowned New York City baker Pam Yung: the duo will deliver pizza from the south London site from 10 June.
- 40 Maltby Street, one of London’s truly essential restaurant-wine bars, is now open with a limited menu for takeaway: terrines, hams, salads, quiches, and tarts re-arrived last week. Chef Steve Williams is also continuing to offer a range of pantry items, cakes, biscuits, and pastry to be cooked at home. Tuesday — Thursday, 2 p.m. – 5.p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
- St. John will reopen its bakery in Bermondsey this Friday (5 June), again selling its famous doughnuts, sourdough loaves, and pastries for collection on Druid Street.
- Flor, the outstanding bakery from the team behind Michelin-starred Lyle’s, has reopened with bread, pastries, pizza, and soft serve ice cream — available for collection at the Borough Market site, or via delivery. Open 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Friday; 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Saturday. Asap Pizza is delivering pizzas to select addresses now.
- Chef Angela Hartnett has launched a fresh pasta delivery (via Slerp) and collection service from Cafe Murano in Bermondsey: Offering includes lasagne, plus Italian pantry supplies, like anchovies, tinned tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar, as well as wine and cheese.
- Camberwell Ethiopian stalwart Zeret Kitchen is offering pick-up Wednesday — Saturday.
- MeatLiquor dive bar diner food and burgers can now be ordered for collection or delivery from its East Dulwich and Battersea restaurants. Details here.
- Bar Douro is reopening its London Bridge site for delivery of Portuguese dishes and wine.
WEST
- Venetian bacaro-inspired Polpo has reopened its Chelsea site in Duke of York Square, serving fritto misto, gelato, spritz, prosecco and cold beer for takeaway, 12 noon – 8 p.m.
- Bibendum, chef Claude Bosi’s two-Michelin-starred fine dining restaurant in Kensignton, will not reopen it main dining room until at least September. Before then, its downstairs, more casual oyster bar will continue to offer a delivery menu until that space will reopen to the public on 8 July.
- Steak houses Goodman and Zelman Meats have teamed up with burger and lobster specialists, Burger & Lobster, to create Prime Feast: boxes loaded with burgers, steak, ribs, and crabs — from the Lake District, Nebraska, and Norway — provided with cooking instructions, sauces, and condiments. Box rices range from £40 – £275.
- Abbotshill Wine has reopened as a produce, bread, and baked goods collection service in Ealing, in collaboration with Burnt Norton. Collections Thursday and Friday, 8 a.m. — 2 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. — 12 p.m.
- Roti Kitchen has reintroduced delivery from Leeland Road in Ealing.
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