Welcome to our weekly round-up of all that’s happening in London’s food and drink scene.
Inside this week: 5:2, hot dogs, RIP fine dining
Docking in Dalston
Well-known chef Stevie Parle, who is behind Dock Kitchen in Ladbroke Grove (and presenter of Channel 4’s Spice Trip) has revealed plans for a new restaurant in Dalston this March. The venue will open on Kingsland Road and has the backing of the Rushmore Group who run bars Milk & Honey and The Player in Soho, Danger of Death on Brick Lane and Giant Robot in Clerkenwell. Ruth Spivey, who runs pop-up wine bar Street Vin as well as the recent Wine Car Boot events will be in charge of wine.
5:2 menu
Sam’s Brasserie in Chiswick has launched what is probably London’s first 5:2 diet-based menu at a high-profile restaurant. Available until the end of February (it may be extended if popular), it features the likes of feta & watermelon salad and steamed mussels in tomato broth, and has calories listed for each dish. The most calorific of any main on the sample menu is a butternut squash and ricotta frittata with 298 calories.
Goodbye to fine dining?
The days of good old fashioned fine dining on London’s restaurant scene could be numbered. Top chefs Marcus Wareing (ex-Ramsay chef now at Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley) and Mark Sargeant (another ex-Ramsay chef, now at Plum + Spilt Milk in Kings Cross) have both announced this week that they will be moving away from formal service styles and adopting a more casual approach. Wareing described the service he’s after as ‘American-style’, which we think means smiley and chatty. Here’s what Jay Rayner thinks. Your view?
Make your own menu
Just opened this week is the first London restaurant from acclaimed Swiss chef Michael Riemenschneider: Canvas in Marylebone. What makes the restaurant a little special is that it is also the first in the country with a build-your-own tasting menu format. Opt for anything between three and 15 courses, then just choose the dishes you want from a list of signature plates and seasonal specials. The dishes will arrive in the order that the kitchen sees fit. It’s a bit of a gimmick and we could argue that choosing items on a tasting menu actually defeats the whole point of it being a tasting menu, but it’ll be an interesting one to try out all the same.
More openings
Also new this week, Dirty Bones has opened up in Kensington serving gourmet hot dogs and on-the-bone items such as fried chicken and rib-eye steak. While it will take the form of a hot dog stand by day, it will turn into a proper restaurant with seats and booze of an evening. And today sees the launch of Lanes of London on Park Lane. The eclectic offering here is based on London’s international street-food scene, with influences coming from different streets across the city: think Brick Lane curries, Vietnamese on Kingsland Road, Lebanese on Edgware Road etc.
Friday also sees the opening of two venues that merge live music with good food. Oslo in Hackney will serve modern interpretations of classic East End dishes, with a particular focus on smoking and pickling as is popular in Nordic countries – hence its Scandinavian name. And over at the O2, Brooklyn Bowl combines ten-pin bowling with live bands and a menu of American diner-style dishes such as fried chicken served with buttermilk pancakes.
Talk To Us
We still want your help to keep these weekly food & drink news round-ups as relevant, up-to-date, and interesting as possible. Got any top tips, local gems or foodie news? Tried one of the new restaurants we mentioned? Leave a comment below or hit us up at [email protected]. ‘Til next week…
