Anzu: Japanese brasserie
The restaurateurs behind the excellent Tonkotsu restaurants, Emma Reynolds and Kensuke Yamada will open a Japanese brasserie near Piccadilly Circus. The menu focusses on teishoku — a daily set lunch with a choice of a few main courses, plus steamed rice, pickles and miso soup. Katsu Teishoku will be a feature of the menu — it's a set (pictured above) that will be on offer at lunch and pre-theatre with rice, miso, pickles and choice of dish (katsu, wagyu steak or black cod teriyaki).
Expect king crab gyoza (hello!) some new ramen too. For merriment purposes, there will be a range of Japanese whiskies and beers alongside wines and cocktails. Thomas Blythe, a famous maître‘d on the London food scene, will run front of house. It's going to be a biggie.
Anzu, St James's Market, SW1Y 4SB. Open: October, date tbc
Pear Tree: Boating Lake Cafe for Battersea
Just a new café, you say? Well the folk behind this one have some pedigree. Annabel Partridge and Will Burrett, both former sous chefs, worked at Petersham Nurseries and Spring restaurant respectively and so we can expect the cooking to be pretty good. It's a lovely location, overlooking the boating lake on the east side of Battersea Park, a perfect spot to enjoy a stack of buttermilk pancakes with roasted figs for brunch. There will also be regular evening pop ups, and a bar serving wines, beers and snacks like crab brioche rolls and fried chicken with Sriracha and herbs.
Pear Tree Cafe, by the boating lake on the east side of Battersea Park, SW11 4NJ. Open: 3 October
Little Smoke: more BBQ from Smokehouse
Smokehouse will open a new, meat-focused restaurant in the City, specialising in native breed cooking — that means plenty of carefully sourced meat, slow smoked, roasted or grilled. You might be offered beef, lamb or pork, depending on the meat that has been butchered in-house, so as you can probably guess, that will change daily. Think every cut of meat imaginable, served with sides and sauces, like their famous Gochujang mayo (spiced with Korean fermented chilli paste).
Little Smoke, City Point, 1 Ropemaker Street, EC2Y 9AW. Open: 3-7 October for soft launch (50% off food)
Margot: new Italian in Covent Garden
The famous former Maitre d' from the Mandarin Oriental's Bar Boulud will open a 100 cover Italian restaurant in Covent Garden with Nicolas Jaouën, general manager of Mayfair's La Petite Maison. Executive chef Maurizio Morelli will serve a menu focusing on traditional regional Italian dishes, such as tagliolini with crab meat and purple aubergine and risotto alla Milanese with saffron and roast bone marrow. They'll also be letting you choose the size of your dishes.
Margot, 45 Great Queen Street, WC2B 5AA. Open: 10 October
L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele
Yes, you did see this in last month's openings but as anyone who has ever tried to open a restaurant will know, there will inevitably be some delays. The UK branch of this famous Naples-based pizzeria is now set to open this October.
L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, 125 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0UH. Opening date: October, tbc
Sakagura: swanky Japanese in Mayfair
This opening comes from the people behind the Japan Centre (they're also behind Shoryu ramen), the Gekkeikan sake brand, Japanese plum wine brand Choya, and Michelin-starred restaurant The Araki. It will focus mostly on traditional Japanese food, or 'washoku', which is essentially a bowl of soup and three side dishes, for example, a soup, a bowl of rice, a serving of pickles and a main dish element like fish, vegetables or tofu. There will also be handmade noodles, yakitori (grilled skewers) and sushi. So, a lot, then. Oh, and don't forget the sake bar.
Sakagura, 8 Heddon Street, W1B 4BU. Open: October, tbc
Bar Douro: Portuguese in Flat Iron Square
The new south London development Flat Iron Square will be home to this Portuguese restaurant from Max Graham and head chef Tiago Santos, who together have been running pop-ups around London. We've been following them on Instagram and love the look of their dishes, which include octopus with sweet potato and fava, chicken wings with piri piri mayonnaise and lots of grilling on a BBQ.
Bar Douro, Arch 35B, Union Street, Flat Iron Square, SE1 1TD. Open: October, tbc
