Keeping up with the seemingly endless residencies, pop-ups, reopenings, and one-off dinners happening in London's food world can feel like a full-time job, so it's a good thing it's actually ours. We've rounded up all the goings-on this month in the capital – and, er, Wales – from much-hyped collaborations and Michelin-starred series to the London Oyster Championship.
Parakeet x Café Kowloon collaboration
For those who like eating for a cause, The Parakeet is teaming up with Café Kowloon for a one-night-only collaboration, bringing Hong Kong Cantonese cooking together with the fire-led approach of the Kentish Town boozer on 23 September. All profits from the menu will be split equally between Kentish Town Foodbank and Hackney Foodbank. If you can’t make the dinner, you can still get a taste of the collaboration in the pub from 16 September to 6 October, with Café Kowloon’s dressed oyster with calamansi and Julep Lowball cocktail on the menu.
23 September; theparakeetpub.com
The Culpeper x Knepp Wilding Dinner
Rooftop at The Culpeper
Ned Burrell, director of Knepp Wilding Kitchen, takes to The Culpeper grill for an evening celebrating the flavours of the Sussex countryside through a four-course menu focused on regenerative cooking, with ingredients drawn from Knepp’s organic Market Garden, on-site butchery and seasonal culls. Scheduled for 8 September, expect dishes like dayboat fish crudo with sea buckthorn vinaigrette and pickled chilli, Knepp venison chop with blackberry and red wine sauce, and portokalopita with orange and cinnamon syrup and Greek yoghurt. For those who can’t make the dinner, a hero dish from the takeover will remain on the rooftop menu throughout September.
8 September; sevenrooms.com
The London Oyster Championships
Speed shucking at the London Oyster Championships
The London Oyster Championships return to Richard Corrigan’s Bentley’s in Mayfair on September 18, where an idiosyncratic group of judges including Stanley Tucci, Jeremy Lee MBE, Matthew Fort and ‘Oyster Girl’ Georgiana Davies will preside over budding competitors. Will Murray and Jack Croft of Fallow will be gunning for back-to-back wins, with teams from The Sea, The Sea, Bouchon Racine, A Bar with Shapes for a Name and The Grill at The Dorchester aiming to usurp their crown.
18 September; londonoysterchampionships.com
The Ninth single-ingredient series
Seafood risotto at The Ninth
September sees Michelin-starred The Ninth begin the final chapter of its single-ingredient series, a project from chef Jun Tanaka focused on showcasing products at their peak. From 15 September to 10 October, shellfish takes centre stage, with dishes including caramelised scallops, cuttlefish malloreddus and a cataplana of clams, squid, Huelva prawns and monkfish forming a £98-per-person tasting menu.
15 September to 10 October; theninthlondon.com
A. Wong to re-open
A. Wong
James Gillies
Chef Andrew Wong of two-Michelin-starred A.Wong has announced a temporary relocation while his Pimlico restaurant undergoes a full renovation and refurbishment. From August, the restaurant will take up a six-week residency at the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, bringing its acclaimed Collections of China menus – both vegetarian and regular – to the hotel’s Atrium restaurant. After the residency, A.Wong will return to a refreshed Pimlico from 26 September.
26 September; awong.co.uk
St John launches new breakfast service
Breakfast at St. John
A London fact: you can never have enough St John. So when it launches a new breakfast service, you don’t ask questions – you go and hope you can snag a bacon bun and a doughnut. At its Neal’s Yard venue, there will be anchovy buns, Eccles cakes, sourdough and, for those who like to start the day off right, glasses of St John Blanc de Blancs 1er Cru NV.
Negroni Week
Negroni's at Rosita
Every drink now needs a dedicated week, and September sees (arguably) the greatest cocktail of them all get its moment in the fading, autumnal sun – it’s Negroni Week. Running from 21 to 27 September, a host of restaurants around London will be offering their own twists on the classic to mark the occasion. ROKA is teaming up with Peddlers Gin and Karminia Vermouth for a special collaborative Negroni menu, featuring three drinks, including a Japanese-inspired take. Meanwhile, Adam Byatt’s new spot Rosita is taking on five different interpretations, including a Cherry Sour Negroni, an Amalfi Shaken Negroni, and a White Negroni.
21 to 27 September
Abergavenny Food Festival
Abergavenney Food Festival
Abergavenny Food Festival returns this month, bringing together more than 80 events, 120 stallholders and producers, plus live music and cooking demonstrations. Set in the 12th-century castle grounds of the Welsh market town, the festival has been going strong since 1999 and is a weekend worth travelling for.
19 to 20 September; abergavennyfoodfestival.com
Tomas Parry decamps to Fforest Farm
Fforest Farm
Wales seems to be where the food-conscious need to be this September, as renowned chef Tomas Parry of Brat and Mountain fame relocates his London restaurants to riverside Fforest Farm on the West Welsh coast. Parry is Welsh himself, so there’s something full-circle about the event, which runs from 18 to 20 September and sees more than 30 members of his team journey to Wales for a series of menus, talks and workshops exploring craft, heritage and collaboration inspired by the surrounding landscape.
18 to 20 September; bratrestaurant.co.uk
