(Bloomberg) -- Let’s start with the bad news: This was a big year for the closure of storied London restaurants. First and foremost was the legendary French dining establishment Le Gavroche, the Sloane Square property the Roux family ran for 57 years before shutting its doors in January. Beyond that, MasterChef star Monica Galetti’s Mere and the high-profile Galvin at Windows, on the top floor of the London Hilton on Park Lane, have been mourned. One of the UK’s biggest chefs, Jason Atherton, closed three places in 2024, including his uber-popular Pollen Street Social.
But there are silver linings: Atherton also opened five restaurants this year. In Pollen Street’s place is Mary’s, a brasserie with an eight-seat burger bar in the back, where the tasting menu counter used to be, producing exemplary smash burgers. Atherton himself sees the closing and new beginnings as part of a trend in restaurants having shorter shelf lives. Places that last for decades are not a viable model, he says, and he embraces the opportunity to hit the refresh button. “It’s a chance to bring a fresh energy, for diners and for yourself.”
Atherton doesn’t have any openings planned in 2025, but there is indeed an energy bursting through town. The Hilton on Park Lane is introducing a sultry new steakhouse, and two of the world’s heaviest-hitting restaurant groups—Richard Caring’s Caprice Holdings and Major Food Group—are opening Le Caprice and Carbone, respectively, in the upcoming Chancery Rosewood hotel. Gordon Ramsay is also coming in hot, with five new establishments.
Get ready, London, it’s going to be a big year.
Don’t Tell Dad, Queen’s Park
A former stable on Lonsdale Road in West London, now a cozy, Moroccan-tiled space anchored by a copper bar with swivel stools, is the setting for this compellingly named restaurant and bakery from Daniel Land. He’s tapped chef Luke Frankie, a veteran of Noble Rot and Drapers Arms, to do the savory food, and baker Keren Sternberg for the loaves and pastries that will be served starting at breakfast, including brown butter hazelnut croissants and artichoke and Lincolnshire Poacher cheese pain Suisse. Frankie’s menu offers snacks such as crumb-topped oxtail crumpets, fritto misto with honey, and a comforting duck and pork cassoulet to share.Opening: Jan. 17
Mr Porter Steakhouse, Mayfair
In the old Trader Vic space at the London Hilton on Park Lane, this new steakhouse is an offshoot of a buzzy mini chain that started in Amsterdam. The swanky, subterranean, 150-seat dining room, replete with warm copper accents and mirrors, is accessible via a spiral staircase and has an open kitchen with a view of chefs cooking. The restaurant’s primary focus is meat on the fire, from ribeyes to Tomahawks to chateaubriand, and the 200-gram “ Lady Mignon” steak that goes for £49 ($61). Also on the menu: avocado carpaccio with caviar, and popcorn crème brulée for dessert. Along with a wine library, there’s an oval-shaped bar that will serve singular concoctions such as the rum-based Love Potion, topped with cotton candy. Opening: January
Bar Valette, Shoreditch
Chef Isaac McHale, who first made his name as part of the dynamic Young Turks chef-gastropub movement in Shoreditch in 2011, and then solidified it at the two-Michelin-star Clove Club, is opening a place that will mix Spanish pintxos with southern French influences and some more solidly British dishes. The 40-seat, plaster-walled space, created by McHale and Azka Saiyed Design, will have paper tablecloths and an affable vibe. On offer: barbajuans (greens-stuffed fritters), venison meatballs and the chef’s famous fried chicken in pine, along with bigger plates such as grilled whole lobster. The wine list will lean in to Spain and France and have a wide selection of sherries and large-format bottles of cider.Opening: January
Gordon Ramsay at 22 Bishopsgate, City
One of the world’s most high-profile chefs has picked a suitably lofty setting for his latest project. The famously fiery Ramsay will open five separate concepts at 22 Bishopsgate, the second tallest building in the UK. On the 60th floor, his pan-Asian Lucky Cat will become London’s highest restaurant, serving dumplings and bao and a long list of sushi. Alongside it will be Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High, which will echo the experience at his eponymous three-Michelin-star Chelsea flagship. One story up, on 61, will be the Lucky Cat Terrace, earning the title of highest rooftop bar in Europe; his casual concept, Bread Street Kitchen and Bar, will serve fish and chips and afternoon tea. As part of the deal, there will also be a Gordon Ramsay x Hexclad Academy, where classes will include pasta-making and drink-mixing. It remains to be seen if the chefs operate in tell-it-like-it-is Ramsay mode.Opening: February
Noisy Oyster, Shoreditch
From Madina Kazhimova and Anna Dolgushina, the women who brought the flame-focused Firebird to Portland Street, comes this new 40-seat seafood-plus-cocktails spot in the Norton Folgate space nearby the Shoreditch station. The menu will emphasize the namesake ingredient and feature other sustainably sourced shellfish, as well as crudos and simply prepared whole fish. Martinis, in multiple sizes and guises, will stand out on the drinks list and in the space itself; the monochromatic design will include lots of concrete and stainless steel elements, that, the founders say, pay homage to the icy quaff.Opening: Spring
Luna, Tower Bridge
On the tourist-clogged, cobblestoned Shad Thames street that makes some people flash back to Bridget Jones’s Diary, the little restaurant Legare is a calm Italian oasis serving notable pastas and glasses and bottles of wine. In the spring, owners Jay Patel and chef Matt Breadmore will be extending that vibe to Luna, a new wine bar across the road, in an old brick warehouse on the Thames. The place will continue London’s ongoing obsession with biodynamic bottles that emphasize France and other Old World regions; the straightforward menu will include wine-friendly selections like oysters, crudo and carpaccio. Opening: Spring
Carbone and Le Caprice, Mayfair
The upcoming Chancery Rosewood Hotel in Grosvenor Square, the site of the old US embassy, will be home to two world-wide-famous restaurants from a pair of high-powered operators. One is Richard Caring’s revival of the iconic London dining room Le Caprice, that in another lifetime and location was the hangout for Princess Diana and Mick Jagger with a menu of straightforward classics like steak tartare. The second is the first UK outpost of Major Food Group’s Italian American juggernaut Carbone. The menu will catalogue the greatest hits including Caprese salad, the house meatballs, cherry pepper ribs, veal parm and, of course, the spicy rigatoni vodka.Opening: Late Summer
Simpson’s in the Strand, Covent Garden
Jeremy King, the storied restaurateur who put the Wolseley on the map and who had a big 2024 with the introduction of Arlington and the Park, is behind the relaunch of one of the city’s most historic dining rooms. Simpson’s in the Strand dates back to 1828 with a roster of guests that includes Winston Churchill and Audrey Hepburn; in 2020, it closed as a result of the pandemic and the meat-carving silver trolleys were auctioned off. King has hinted that the two-story spot in the Savoy Hotel will be traditionally minded with a version of the famed roast rib of beef, and have a chess design motif, a nod to the restaurant’s early incarnation. Opening: In 2025
Seven North, City
The soon-to-come Sircle London hotel in Devonshire Square near the Liverpool Street Station will be the location of star Israeli chef Eyal Shani’s latest London venture. Shani, whose other hit restaurants include the global pita-focused chain Miznon and the riotous HaSalon in New York and Las Vegas, is duplicating his Seven North concept from Vienna here. The focus is on shared Mediterranean and Middle Eastern-accented plates and platters in an especially lively setting, and the chef is slated to offer a wide variety of mezze, the spicy tomato sauce poached egg dish shakshuka, grilled lamb and plenty of hot-out-of-the-oven pita breads. Opening: In 2025
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