London Food And Drink News: 21 August 2014

Ben O' Norum
By Ben O' Norum Last edited 115 months ago
London Food And Drink News: 21 August 2014

Just puddings at Basement State

Welcome to our weekly round-up of all that’s happening in London’s food and drink scene.

Inside this week: puddings, pop-ups and pizza ovens.

Just desserts

Soho will gain a pudding and cocktail bar next month, making it easier to skip straight to the sweet stuff. Basement State will take the premises previously occupied by The Player on Broadwick Street, and serve a changing selection of desserts along with cocktails that are specially designed to match them. It’s being brought to us by Cathleen McGarry who is yet to make a name for herself in London but is well-known in the industry for starting up Paris cocktail bar Sherry Butt — reputedly one of the city’s coolest spots. When it launches on 4 September it will serve puds until midnight and cocktails until 1.30am each evening. This is the second dessert-only opening for Soho of late, following long-term pop-up The Pudding Bar on Greek Street.

It’s all Greek

Theodore Kyriakou, the man who started restaurant chain The Real Greek, will open another eatery next month. The Greek Larder will launch in King’s Cross, selling high quality produce direct from Greece alongside a menu of meze such as deep fried courgette flowers stuffed with feta, and cured beef with a ‘cheese’ made from thyme-flavoured yoghurt. It will be open from breakfast through to dinner and will overlook Regent’s Canal.

What goes around…

A new venue called Carousel has launched in Marylebone, brought about by the team behind the regular Mile High pop-ups. Rather than commit to a mere restaurant, they have created a three-floor space that will play host to different chefs, food events and pop-ups. In their words: “It’s like a Tate Modern or a National Theatre for food”. The first chef to take up residency is Javier Rodriguez, an exciting Argentine talent who has worked in Copenhagen’s Noma and Bethnal Green’s Viajante, among other gastronomic hotspots. He’ll be cooking there until 31 August with tickets available for a rather bargainous £35 a pop.

Added extras

London’s restaurants are all about the additions this week. Russell Norman’s West End gastropub The Ape & Bird (which we reviewed here) has had a pizza oven installed as part of a light refurb, prompting a dedicated pizza section to be added to its menu. Toppings include lamb meatballs with anchovy, and pork shoulder with pickled peppers. Pan-Asian Chinatown restaurant Spice Market has announced that it will open a new sushi bar next week. It will serve dishes including crispy shredded crab and BBQ eel as well as an array of sushi and sashimi, plus a dedicated selection of sakes and cocktails. And, potentially most impressive of all: an infinity pool has opened at Gong, the bar on level 52 of The Shard. The pool is for the use of Shangri-La hotel guests only during the day, but opens up to be part of the bar come evening. It’s strictly to be sat around rather than swam in, though. It would be terrible if you tripped, wouldn’t it...

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 hello@londonist.com. ‘Til next week…

Last Updated 21 August 2014