Record 44 new restaurants set to open across London in September

London’s indomitable restaurant scene is defying Brexit worries, the terrorist threat and economic slowdown
Food, drink, sustainability: Doug McMaster (left) and Ryan Chetiyawardana have launched Cub in Hoxton
© Xavier D. Buendia / XDB Photo

London’s indomitable restaurant scene is defying Brexit worries, the terrorist threat and economic slowdown with a bumper line-up of openings through the coming autumn.

Forty-four launches have been scheduled for September alone, compared with just 23 for the same month last year, making it one of the busiest starts to the “opening” season on record.

The overall tally for the autumn is on course to smash last year’s total of 100, with 62 already announced little more than a week into September

Catherine Hanly, editor of the Hot Dinners gastronomic website, which compiled the figures, said she was surprised by the remarkable vigour of the capital’s culinary scene after a quiet summer overshadowed by sombre headlines.

She said: “There was one week in August where there were no openings in London at all, which is unusual. It’s almost as if everyone’s come back from holidays and said, ‘Right, let’s get on with it’.” She added that the London list has a range and variety that eclipses New York’s. “If you compare it to last year it’s a much more interesting list,” Ms Hanly said. “There are far more smaller, independent places ... we’ve also seen a growth in neighbourhood restaurants outside the centre because rents in places like Mayfair are incredibly expensive.”

She said highlights include Sabor in the West End’s Heddon Street, where former Barrafina chef Nieves Barragan, a Spaniard, opens her first solo venture. In London Bridge, Leandro Carreira, the Portuguese former head chef at Hackney’s Viajante, will open Londrino, while the Japanese Koya Bar will debut at the Bloomberg building in the City.

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Other “big name” arrivals include a first central London offshoot for Richmond’s Petersham Nurseries, headed by Lara Boglione. It is opening two restaurants, a lifestyle home and garden shop and a delicatessen with a wine cellar on King Street Covent Garden later this month.

This week saw the launch of Santo Remedio Cantina & Comedor, a Mexican tacos bar and restaurant, in Bermondsey, and Hoxton’s Cub, from cocktail king Mr Lyan, where ingredients include Japanese knotweed. Next week sees the launch of Saucy Pasta in Fitzrovia from Irish chef Grainne O’Keefe and British partner George Wells. The run of openings will continue into the next year, with highlights including Leonid Shutov’s Bob Bob Cité in the City’s Cheesegrater tower.

Another trend is the launch of huge food courts, with openings scheduled at the Japanese Centre in Panton Street and King Street in Hammersmith, as well as a street food hub, the Peckham Levels, in a former car park.

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