London’s Most Anticipated Restaurant Openings of Autumn 2021

Late Spring 2021 was the first time in a year that London restaurants could contemplate openings new or old, and the inclusion of many of those on this list, five months later, shows just how complicated opening a restaurant remains in what — touch wood — is beginning to feel like the late stages of England’s Covid-19 pandemic.

So remembering that an opening date is necessarily a moving target, here are the openings — and one reopening — that look set to capture the city’s imagination in the next few months.

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Koya Ko

Address: 12 Broadway Market Mews, Hackney E8 4TS
Key people: Koya co-founders Shuko Oda and John Devitt.
What to expect: A noodle bar geared towards takeaway and outdoor dining, with a standing counter.
Opened: 13 September 2021

Ramo Ramen

Address: 28 Brewer Street, Soho W1F 0SR
Key people: Omar Shah and Florence Mae Maglanoc of Maginhawa Group.
What to expect: Vegan pizza and other dishes from the founders of Santa Maria, taking over its original restaurant.
Opened: 14 September 2021

Nusr-Et Steakhouse

Address: The Park Tower Knightsbridge, 101 Knightsbridge, Knightsbridge SW1X 7RN
Key people: Nusret Gökçe aka Salt Bae.
What to expect: Theatrically-served food, Instagrammable experiences and expensive cuts of meat. Look, it’s going to be ridiculous, but it’s also going to be full.
Opened: 22 September 2021

Planque

Address: 323 Acton Mews, Haggerston E8 4DN
Key people: Chef Seb Myers (formerly Snackbar and P. Franco), club manager Sarah Papadimitriou (formerly Laughing Heart and Mãos) and Jonathan Alphandery, wine collector and Planque owner.
What to expect: “A wine drinker’s clubhouse,” with a focus on natural and low-intervention styles with a 40-cover modern French-leaning restaurant.
Opened: 29 September 2021

Brutto

Address: 35 — 37 Greenhill Rents, Cowcross Street, Farringdon EC1M 6BN
Key people: Russell Norman, formerly of Polpo.
What to expect: A loosely Tuscan restaurant from the small plates pioneer, intending to function as a canteen by day and a dolled up restaurant by night.
Opened: 30 September 2021

Formerly Known as Black Axe Mangal

Address: 156 Canonbury Road, Islington N1 2UP
Key people: Lee and Kate Tiernan.
What to expect: Some new things, some old things, and the usual exacting chaos of this singular London restaurant, now in a set menu format.
Projected opening: 6 October 2021

Balady

Address: 39-41 Leather Lane, Holborn EC1N 7TJ
Key people: The Sabbo brothers, behind Balady and Balady Alaesh in Temple Fortune.
What to expect: Some of the outright best falafel, sabich, and chips in the city.
Projected opening: October 2021

Rita’s

Address: 49 Lexington Street, Soho W1F 9AP
Key people: Missy Flynn and Gabe Pryce.
What to expect: The next iteration of Rita’s, the much-loved, irreverent, and peripatetic restaurant and wine bar from Flynn and Pryce.
Projected opening: 19 October 2021

Toklas

Address: 1 Surrey Street, Temple WC2R 2ND
Key people: Frieze co-founders Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover.
What to expect: An “expansive garden terrace,” with a menu centred around delicate grill cookery as well as natural wine, bakery, and a coffee bar.
Projected opening: 19 October 2021

Roketsu

Address: 12 New Quebec Street, Marylebone W1H 7RP
Key people: Daisuke Hayashi, of two decades’ training at one of the world’s foremost kaiseki restaurants, Kikunoi Honten in Kyoto.
What to expect: Kaiseki mastery from one of its most expert practitioners.
Projected opening: November 2021