New openings in August 2026: Imperial Bloomsbury, Mr Fogg’s Covent Garden and Meininger comes to Edinburgh

The Imperial Bloomsbury, London

 

The Imperial Bloomsbury is due to reopen this summer under general manager Remus Obertelli following an extensive refit. The 357-bedroom hotel will feature Arcus, believed to be the neighbourhood’s first rooftop bar and restaurant, alongside an outpost of Bib Gourmand-winning restaurant Bancone. Bedrooms will feature amenities from luxury fragrance house Miller Harris.

 

Opening date 14 August

Room rate £199

Address 61, 66 Russell Square, London WC1B 5BB

 

The Queen at Chester Hotel – Handwritten Collection, Chester

 

French hotel giant Accor has launched the Queen at Chester, its first Handwritten Collection property in the UK. The 218-bedroom hotel features the King’s Grill, the V&A Restaurant, the V&A Lounge Bar and the V&A Terrace. Handwritten Collection is present in 20 countries, with more than 50 hotels in development.

 

Opening date 4 August

Room rate £119

Address 52 City Road, Chester CH1 3AH

 

Ember at the Chandlers Arms, Oxfordshire

 

Co-founders Matty Cartwright and Harry Flockhart have joined forces to open Ember at the Chandlers Arms in the north Cotswolds. The village pub will serve fire-and-smoke dishes using local, seasonal produce, with a particular focus on French cooking technique.  

 

Opening date 26 August

Typical dishes Smoked apple cobbler pork belly; smoked beef cheek massaman

Address Sibford Road, Epwell, Oxfordshire OX15 6LH

 

Mr Fogg’s Market Tavern, London

 

Mr Fogg’s Market Tavern has launched within London Covent Garden’s 4,500 sq ft Market Building, marking Inception Group’s fourth site within Shaftesbury Capital. The site accommodates 130 seats indoors and 60 on its terrace, as well as a Guinness Saloon bar.

 

Opening date 20 July

Typical drinks Curious Cargo (Buffalo Trace Bourbon whiskey, Lazzaroni Amaretto, blueberry and blackcurrant, matcha green tea, egg white, chocolate bitters and lemon); Old Fashioned Adventurer (Dewar’s 12 Year Old Scotch whisky, Bacardi Caribbean Spiced rum, Casoni figs and cherries liqueur, chocolate and orange bitters)

Address Lower Ground, the Piazza, 27 the Market, London WC2E 8RD

 

Kismet

 

Restaurateur Dom Hamdy and chef Keiran Mustafa, previously of BiBi and the Harwood Arms in London, have together opened Kismet above the Globe Tavern in London’s Borough Market. The year-long residency is a contemporary take on the traditional meyhanes of Istanbul and Northern Cyprus, accompanied by a selection of Turkish wines and spirits.

 

Opening date 16 July

Typical dishes Zeytinyağlı taze fasulye (braised green beans in olive oil); atom (buffalo milk yogurt with chilli butter); baklava

Address Upstairs at The Globe Tavern, 8 Bedale Street, London, SE1 9AL

 

Meininger Hotel Edinburgh Haymarket

 

Meininger has opened its 38th hotel in Europe and its first Scottish property, in Edinburgh’s West End. The latest hotel takes over the long-vacant Osborne House, which has been transformed into a hotel with 157 bedrooms and 549 beds, offering multi-bed rooms, family rooms and dormitories. The budget hotel brand is known for its shared kitchens and play areas and is looking to expand across the UK and Ireland.  

 

Opening date 5 August

Room rate From £18

Address 1 Osborne Terrace, Edinburgh EH12 5HG

 

Cordelia’s, Mayfair, London

 

 

Live-fire steakhouse Cordelia’s will open later this month in London’s Mayfair. The 80-cover restaurant specialises in open-fire cooking with a menu curated by head chef Jordi Sebastianelli, previously of Le Petit Beefbar in London’s Chelsea.

 

Opening date 26 August

Typical dishes 45-day dry-aged British rib-eye; Galician côte de boeuf

Address 6 Clarges Street, London W1J 8AE

 

It’s Bagels, Hampstead, London

 

New York-style bagel shop and café It’s Bagels is to open its fourth site in London’s Hampstead. The new site arrives three years after founder Dan Martensen opened his first It’s Bagels in London’s Primrose Hill.

 

Opening date August

Typical dishes The Works (cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers, onion, lemon and tomato); BEC (bacon, egg and cheese)

Address 60 Hampstead High Street, London NW3 1QH

 

Waterhouse, Bethnal Green, London

 

Gabriel Waterhouse and Patricia Wakaimba are to launch the Waterhouse restaurant on London’s Columbia Road, just two months after the pair closed the Water House Project, which traded for five years. The 24-cover restaurant is on the site of a former potter’s studio and workshop and will welcome an additional wine bar in September.

 

Opening date 6 August

Typical dishes Lindisfarne oysters; caramelised cream parfait with pear and pine

Address 7A Ezra Street, London E2 7RH

 

Whippies, Covent Garden, London

 

Harry Webb, founder of Big Kid Ice Cream, is to open a soft serve bar inspired by Mr Whippy in London’s Covent Garden. The signature vanilla whippy is made of organic milk, brown butter and Madagascan vanilla and forms the basis of a range of sundaes. Fruit sorbetto slushies, ice-cream floats and cocktail ice pops will also be available.

 

Opening date 8 August

Typical dishes Solero Knickerbocker (peaches, mango and passion fruit with vanilla whippy, topped with cream, charred pineapple and glacé cherry); Hot Fudge Cookies N’ Cream Supreme (hot fudge sauce, crushed Oreos, whipped cream, toasted hazelnuts and a cookies and cream flake)

Address Top Floor, Seven Dials Market, Earlham Street, London WC2H 9LX

 

Yo-Chi, Notting Hill, London

 

Australian frozen yogurt brand Yo-Chi is to make its UK debut in London’s Notting Hill in summer. The 2,000 sq ft site will span two floors and accommodate more than 120 guests. Nine Yo-Chi yogurt flavours can be paired to more than 30 toppings, ranging from fresh fruit to Choc Chunk Cookie Cake.

 

Opening date 20 August

Typical flavours Classic vanilla; salted butterscotch; cookies and cream

Address 81-85 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3JS

 

Doctor Dough Pizza, Chiswick, London

 

New York-style pizzeria Doctor Dough Pizza is to open its first permanent restaurant in London’s Chiswick. The brand, founded by Sonay Ali in Lyric Square Market, Hammersmith, has become known for its signature fermented dough recipe that grew out of Ali’s experience living with Crohn’s disease.

 

Opening date 6 August

Typical dishes New York pepperoni pizza; plain tomato pie 

Address 19 Devonshire Road, Chiswick, London W4 2EU

 

Vagabond, Canary Wharf, London

Experiential wine bar Vagabond has opened its fifth new venue in under a year, this time in London’s Canary Wharf. It marks the wine brand’s return to the global finance district under Majestic’s ownership. The 4,000 sq ft site offers more than 120 wines on tap, to pour and explore by the glass.

 

Opening date 3 August

Typical drinks Sicilian red; Austrian white; English sparkling

Address Unit 3, 25 Cabot Square, Canary Wharf Estate, London E14 4AQ

More new openings

 

>> New restaurants, hotels and bars opening in July 2026

>> New restaurants, hotels and bars opening in June 2026

>> New restaurants, hotels and bars opening in May 2026

>> New restaurants, hotels and bars opening in April 2026

>> New restaurants, hotels and bars opening in March 2026

>> New restaurants, hotels and bars opening in February 2026

>> New restaurants, hotels and bars opening in January 2026

>> New restaurants, hotels and bars opening in December 2025

>> New restaurants, hotels and bars opening in November 2025