Welcome to our weekly round-up of all that’s happening in London’s food and drink scene.
Inside this week: expansions, Michelin stars and war on McDonalds
Marcus Wareing goes casual
Two-Michelin-starred chef and ex-Ramsay-protégé Marcus Wareing has announced plans to open a new restaurant in Covent Garden this summer. Tredwell’s will be overseen by Wareing’s group operations director Chantelle Nicholson, and feature an internationally-influenced menu created using the best of British produce; it will be much more casual than Wareing’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant at The Berkeley hotel, or indeed his St. Pancras restaurant The Gilbert Scott. Tredwell’s is named after the butler in Agatha Christie’s book The Seven Dials Mystery. In other news from the chef, his restaurant in the Berkeley is to re-open on Monday after a refurb with a new shorter name of MARCUS.
Wine not: Hedone chef in Soho
Another Michelin-starred chef with expansion plans is Mikael Jonsson of Chiswick’s Hedone restaurant. He’s partnered up with Antidote wine bar in Soho to oversee new menus in the both the upstairs dining room and the downstairs bar area. Hedone is known for its clever, modern take on simple ingredients, but it is almost always booked-up and sits firmly on the pricey side, so the bar area here will be particularly handy for those wanting a bite of the action without quite such commitment to the cause. Antidote specialises in organic, natural and biodynamic wines; for those wanting the full experience, a flight of specially matched wines are available to accompany the dining room’s four-course £40 set menu.
Patty & Bun vs. McDonald’s
Popular burger joint Patty & Bun are currently wooing customers in Marylebone, but they will take on a new challenge when they open their second site next month. Set on Liverpool Street, they will be right opposite the UK’s busiest McDonald’s restaurant. They will offer takeaway as well as sit-in options, and will introduce alcohol shortly after opening — something which McDonald’s won’t serve. Bring it on!
New restaurant to constantly change theme
Mode is due to open next month just off Portobello Road, on the site that used to be the London outpost of Supperclub. What will it be like? Well, it depends when you go. It will change every six months, creating new menus, cocktails, decoration and art installations to fit with the chosen theme. It comes from a group of local entrepreneurs, including the man behind Rum Kitchen, and will open with an industrial revolution theme. We remain to be convinced whether it will be great fun or just a gimmick.
It really is Bo more
Alvin Leung’s experimental Mayfair Chinese restaurant Bo London is no more. After reporting two weeks ago that it had shut, and then last week that actually it may re-open and was shut only due to a water leak, the truth has finally come out: the company that ran the restaurant has gone into administration. No more of this dish, then.
New openings
This week saw the opening of Barnyard, the new, casual restaurant from the Dabbous team, and Marylebone favourite Tommi’s Burger Joint opened its second branch in Chelsea. 5cc has also opened a new subterranean cocktail lair and whisky bar in the City, and today sees the soft-launch of barbecue restaurant, Q Grill in Camden, where there will be 50% off all food until it launches officially this time next week. We’re also keeping our eye on Richard Caring for developments of new openings. According to the Standard, the restaurateur behind The Ivy, Scott’s and more has apparently sold a large chunk of Camden Market, which he owned, for a cool £400 million and is looking to invest in new venues.
Talk to us
We still want your help to keep these weekly food and 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…
