London Food And Drink News: 13 August 2015

By Londonist Last edited 103 months ago
London Food And Drink News: 13 August 2015
Chapel of crustacean: Lobster Bar

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

Inside this week: seafood, skewers and stars

Lobster loving

A bar and restaurant specialising in lobster will open on Hackney’s Richmond Road next week (19 August). The aptly named Lobster Bar is being launched by Cristine Leone and Christina Lahaniati, who also run Ivy's and Little Ivy's in the area. The menu will include grilled lobster, lobster rolls, lobster benedict and more lobster dishes, alongside oysters and other seafood, and truffle fries.

Yakitori story

Brett Redman, the chef and restaurateur behind Elliot’s in Borough Market and The Richmond in Hackney, will open a Tokyo-inspired yakitori joint in Shoreditch this autumn. Jidori — named after an ultra-premium grade of Japanese chicken — will serve a wide selection of skewers grilled over charcoal along with Japanese small plates and rice dishes. An accompanying bar will serve Japanese craft beers and whiskies along with a short list of cocktails.

Evening milk

A pint of the white stuff is unlikely to be an evening tipple of choice for many, but soon excellent Balham café Milk will be an evening destination. From 20 August the previously daytime-only venue will open into the evenings on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights serving a special Milk Lates menu. It’s been created by new head chef William Blackmore, previously of The Providores and Roka, and will feature fried whole pigeon with wild blackcurrant salt along with fried chicken skin served with hot sauce and smoked honey.

Kerridge in the capital

Tom Kerridge, TV personality and the chef behind Marlow’s two Michelin-starred gastropub The Hand & Flowers, will open a week-long pop-up restaurant in Harrods in November. Tom’s Table will offer counter dining and serve a three-course menu for £59, which is roughly the same as you might pay at The Hand & Flowers where you currently can’t get a table until April next year. Dishes will include crispy pig’s head with sweet date sauce, pancetta and chickweed, and a venison chilli with puffed rice and chocolate. Tickets for dining between 2-8 November go on sale on 1 September 1.

Street food phoenix

Shoreditch’s giant street food market Dinerama re-opens today, just 24 days after it was largely destroyed by a fire. The day and night market contains 19 street food businesses — including B.O.B’s Lobster, Breddos, Smokestak and Yum Bun — along with no fewer than six bars. It will now run every Thursday-Sunday for the next seven weeks.

New openings

As usual mid-August is proving a quiet time for London restaurant launches — though there’s still some activity. The past week has seen Duncan Beiny, better known as DJ Yoda, open Austen’s Smokehouse in Kensal Rise and a fourth London branch of tapas chain Iberica arrive in Victoria. Tomorrow marks the official opening of the capital’s second Zetter Townhouse in Marylebone — following the original in Clerkenwell — serving food from Bruno Loubet and drinks by 69 Colebrooke Row’s Tony Conigliaro. Lobster Bar, as mentioned above, will arrive in Hackney on Wednesday.

We round-up London’s biggest food and drink news stories and the latest new and upcoming restaurant openings in this handy digest every Thursday afternoon. See our previous editions.

Also see:

The Best Food And Drink In London — recommendations of where to enjoy the capital’s top food and drink, categorised by cuisine, food type and more.

Last Updated 17 August 2015