Lenny’s finds permanent London site in partnership with MJMK Restaurants

New Haven-style pizza restaurant Lenny’s has confirmed it will open its first permanent site in Covent Garden in London through a partnership with MJMK Restaurants, which owns KOL, AngloThai and Casa do Frango.

The restaurant first started as a pop-up in the Bedford Tavern in Finsbury Park in 2024, where it introduced London to apizza, a style developed by Italian immigrants in New Haven in the early 1900s.

Apizzas have a crispy, chewy, charred crust, irregular slices, blistered edges and an oblong shape. They are traditionally topped with tomato and grated pecorino, with mozzarella an optional extra.

The menu at Lenny’s features “The Lenny”, a tomato apizza, while a hybrid offering splits a 14-inch apizza, with one half one half topped with tomato, garlic and pecorino, the other mozzarella.

Max Lewis, founder of Lenny’s, said: “Lenny’s started as a love letter to New Haven apizza and its culture. I couldn’t believe no one had brought this incredible style of pizza, and the stories behind it, to London. The support I’ve had from both London and New Haven has been overwhelming – it’s been amazing to see this idea grow into something much bigger. Opening Lenny’s first permanent home in Covent Garden is totally surreal and partnering with MJMK Restaurants is a dream come true.” 

Jake Kasumov, co-founder of MJMK Restaurants, added: “The very first idea Marco and I ever had was to open an East Coast pizzeria in London – we’ve always believed it’s the best pizza in the world. It never quite came together, so when I first tried Max’s pizza at his Lenny’s residency in a North London pub 18 months ago, it felt like fate. This was exactly the pizza we’d spent years looking for and never found. Getting to know Max sealed it – he’s an absolute legend, and we can’t wait for everyone to try it when we open in Covent Garden.”