The beginning of summer has hardly been balmy – so in this (seemingly eternal) pocket of dreary weather, how should Londoners spend their summer? By checking out the litany of new restaurant openings to grace the capital, of course. After all, tucking into a plate of food and a pint of the good stuff is an all-weather spot.
From the highly-anticipated opening of Whytes Restaurant from the sell-out supper club superstar Whyte Rushen and TĀ TĀ Eatery's latest opening TOU to the opening of two City of London numbers – Ibai and Cloth – there are plenty of brand-spanking new spots to plunge your fork into.
But, keeping on top of London's new openings can feel like a full-time job. So we've done the hard work for you to scout out the most exciting new and upcoming restaurant openings this June, alongside rounding up our favourite recent openings from the past few months. It is our job, after all.
New London restaurant openings this June
TOU
Upstairs at the Globe Tavern, 8 Bedale Street, SE1 9AL
Katsu sandos and chips at TOU
Caitlin Isola
Katsu sandos, more natty wine than you can shake a stick at and ice cream sundaes to top it all off – yes, heaven really has come to Borough Market. First opened four years ago by Ana Gonçalves and Zijun Meng, TOU has been gratefully resurrected upstairs at The Globe Tavern. Pop by for spicy, unctuous pork sandwiches washed down with spritely glasses of pet nat.
Cloth
44 Cloth Fair, London, EC1A 7JQ
Cappelletti of ricotta with pecorino, sarawak pepper and truffle
Okay, on one hand, London has had its fill of wine bars spinning out small plates, but on the other, this spot seems to be cut from a different, er, cloth. Friends and wine importers Joe Haynes and Ben Butterworth, together with chef Tom Hurst, who has worked at Brawn, The Marksman, Levan, Salon and Larry’s, will be taking over a Grade II listed building on Cloth Fair, a historic row of buildings in the City of London that survived the Great Fire of 1666 next to Smithfield Market. Come for industry-leading small producers and innovative Gallic cooking. Hot tip – they’re closed on weekends, so make sure to visit on a school night.
Ibai
90 Bartholomew Close, EC1 7BN
You might yawn at the opening of another steak joint in the city – but Ibai is far more than a finance bros hermitage. A hop, skip and jump from St. Pauls, Ibai, which opens on 20 June is a Basque steakhouse with Richard Foster, formerly of Chiltern Firehouse, helming the hobs. With direct access to farms via its in-house beef distribution business Txuleta – Ibai will have complete control over the supply chain from sourcing, butchery, ageing, delivery, prep, grilling and serving. Which, in practice, tastes like some really great steak. Excitingly, there’s plenty on the menu for those less fussed by cow – including king crab rice which hails from the French Basque region, slow-grilled poussin marinated in espelette pepper and the croque Ibai – filled with carabinero, boudin noir and tomme de brebis. Buckle loosening stuff.
Whytes Restaurant
Unit 3, 143 Mare Street, E8 3RH
BBQ langoustines, pickled watermelon radish, coconut milk, kaffir lime and rhubard
You may have heard of Whyte Rushen from his various sell-out supper clubs and popups – from pizza in Margate to, uh, pizza in Dalston and a weekend burger bar, the former Brat chef has been slinging what can only be described as bedazzled basic food, or tarted-up takeaways, for years, and he’s quickly garnered a cult following for it. Now settled into his first bricks-and-mortar location on Mare Street, the menu features a lot of his trademark genre-bending cooking – think oysters with pickled onion monster munch and dough balls doused in a St John-inspired bone marrow mixture – which changes thematically each month. For May, the chef is travelling to Italy, with an absolute ripper of a menu full of big, bold flavours that are sure to blow your socks off when they hit.
Yasmin
1 Warwick Street, W1B 5LR
While not new per se, to much of the general public Yasmin is brand spanking new because, up until recently, the restaurant was exclusively members only. Having thrown its doors open to every Tom, Dick, and Harry, rooftop lovers of London are now one airy, greenery-filled restaurant better off. Perched atop of 1 Warwick, the restaurant is helmed by Tom Cenci (who is also responsible for Nessa on the building’s ground floor) who has designed a Middle Eastern menu inspired by his time spent in Istanbul. Expect delicate manti dumplings, heaped slices of borek and chargrilled skewers by the bucket load.
ABC Kitchens
The Emory, Old Barrack Yard, Belgravia, SW1X 7NP
After finding great success with the brand in New York, chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten is bringing his ABC Kitchens to the newly opened, suites-only Emory Hotel in Belgravia, the latest hospitality hotspot from the Maybourne Group. Designed by Rémi Tessier and featuring artworks by Damien Hirst, the airy space is fittingly chic – as to be expected – and perfectly complements the Mexican-inspired menu. Don’t miss the controversial spring pea guacamole.
Our favourite recent openings
Camille
2-3 Stoney Street, SE1 9AA
If you want a cockle-warming dinner with a healthy dose of French flare, then Camille is your answer. It's the latest conquest of Clare Lattin and Tom Hil, the duo behind London's much-adored Ducksoup and Little Duck, and retains their trademark approach to simple, honest, provenance-led cooking. The menu serves up rustic fare by the bucket load with the likes of trotter and parsley terrine, lemon sole with snail butter and langoustine cassoulet on the menu. Plus, with a focus on nose-to-tail cooking and in-house curing, you can also expect to chow down on plenty of homemade sausages, lardons and charcuterie. Bon ap!
Morchella
84-86 Rosebery Avenue, EC1R 4QY
Both a neighbourhood hot spot and a city-wide favourite, if you ask any Londoner who knows their stuff what their favourite restaurants are there's a high chance they'll include Perilla on their list. The team behind that Newington Green fave are bringing their secret sauce to Exmouth Market with Morchella, a restaurant and wine bar with a Mediterranean-focused menu and a wine list from some of the city's best distributors. They've brought former GBM finalist Daniel Fletcher on board to man the pans.
Three Sheets Soho
14-15 Manette Street, W1D 4AP
Three Sheets has remained one of London's best bars since it opened in Dalston in 2016. It makes sense, then, that eight years on they eyed up thriving Soho for their second, slightly expanded iteration. Three Sheets Soho will buld upon what everyone loves in E8, namely great cocktails and even better energy, plus coffee and pastries in the morning, a full lunch and dinner menu and aperitifs, too. See you there.
Josephine
315 Fulham Road, SW10 9QH
The much-anticipated opening of Claude and Lucy Bosi's new Lyonnaise Bouchon in Chelsea has arrived, and we can't wait to tuck into the personal project of these two hailed Michelin-starred chefs. Inspired by Claude's late grandmother and the traditional Bouchons so often frequented by Claude and Lucy in his hometown of Lyon, expect to chow down on hearty bistro classics like brioche and morteau sausage, French onion soup, leek vinaigrette and more. Plus, the wine menu exclusively features pours from the Rhone Valley, including Josephine's own label wine, available in red, white and rosé. Don some elasticated trousers and pop a paracetamol because a night of silky reds and juicy steaks awaits.
AGORA
2-4 Bedale Street, SE1 9AL
Situated downstairs from the aforementioned OMA, AGORA, takes its cues from the energetic street markets and restaurants of Athens by way of Borough Market. It's the more casual sibling to OMA, with a two-meter charcoal rotisserie (called a souvla) that the menu will centre around – using whole animals such as native breeds of pork, lamb and chicken from Somerset and Cornwall. Open all day from noon, it's the perfect spot to pop by for a sticky date bun and coffee through the takeaway hatch, post-work cocktails or dinner where you can pile plates high with tzatziki, wood-fired flatbreads and plenty of flame-kissed meats. Yum.
