Latest openings: the new restaurants and bars launching alfresco
The lifting of restrictions on outdoor dining means some restaurants and pubs are opening their doors for the very first time this month. We round-up some of the openings to watch out for.
123 Vegan
Location London
Alexis Gauthier, the chef behind fine dining restaurant Gauthier Soho, is opening a new vegan restaurant at Fenwick department store on Bond Street (pictured). 123 Vegan will serve a more casual menu including a £14 cheeseburger with a Beyond Meat patty and £12.50 salads and plant-based bowls. The 36-seat terrace opens today ahead of the 70-cover indoor dining room launching on 17 May.
The Bailiwick Freehouse
Location Egham, Surrey
Former Oxford Blue chef-owner Steven Ellis and his wife Ami were originally due to open their new pub in January. The pub is opening its outside terrace today from 11am to 6pm, offering a light bar menu alongside its full drinks list. A takeaway service will be available for guests who miss out on seats.
Moss and Moor
Location Ilkley, West Yorkshire
Zak Jones, former owner of Clerkenwell Dining Room in London, is overseeing the restaurant opening at this huge garden centre development in Ilkley. The 200-cover indoor restaurant remains closed for now, but it is opening its terrace for breakfast, brunch and lunch for walk-ins only from 12 April.
Luna Springs
Location Birmingham
London bar group Adventure Bar has relaunched Birmingham's Digbeth Arena in Birmingham as an outdoor food, drink and entertainment space. Named Luna Springs, it has capacity for 2,500 people but will initially open today for 400 diners for brunches, cocktails and live music ahead of a wider summer opening.
Red Duck
Location London
Red Duck launched as a takeaway service in December and has already won high praise from Evening Standard critic Jimi Famurewa for its take on classic British-Cantonese dishes. From Chi San, who has worked on several Alan Yau projects, it will open for alfresco dining on 15 April.
Shelter Hall
Location Brighton
Brighton's seafront food hall Shelter Hall launched last year but is reopening its outdoor space on 26 April with a new line-up featuring a restaurant from 2018 MasterChef winner Kenny Tutt. Other Sussex-based traders will include Lost Boys Chicken, Hanoi Kitchen, Crabshack, Sugardough bakery and VIP pizza.
Street Pizza and Street Burger
Location London
Gordon Ramsay is opening two London restaurants for outdoor service from 12 April. Street Burger is launching on the former Byron site at 24-28 Charing Cross Road, with all burgers priced at £15 served with fries and unlimited soft drinks. Street Pizza is open at the Battersea Power Station development and offers £15 ‘bottomless' pizza.
Greenaway's Pie & Mash
Location London
Chef Mark Greenaway opens his London pie and mash shop for takeaway and delivery today (12 April). The Scottish chef has taken the former Wrap It Up site at 45 Villiers Street near Embankment for the project, which will use traditional Scotch pie pastry shells for the base with fillings such as chicken, mushroom and tarragon; and beef short rib and pearl onion. The pies will be available from the shop, on Deliveroo and to cook at home from frozen.
The Farrier
Location London
Camden Market owner LabTech has restored a former horse hospital and stables building and is relaunching it as a restaurant and pub. The Farrier is opening for outdoor drinking and dining from 15 April with a hidden courtyard, outdoor heating and fire pit. Chef Ash Finch is heading up the kitchen.
Cinder
Location London
Chef Jake Finn is opening his debut restaurant Cinder in Belsize Park from 15 April with a small number of outdoor tables. Finn, who has worked as a chef de partie at the Ritz London and sous chef at Coya, originally meant to launch the restaurant as Lila last May but opted to create a home delivery service instead. He will serve dishes cooked over a josper grill drawing influence from countries such as Peru, Japan, Italy, France and Greece.
Orange Buffalo
Location London
Chicken wing restaurant Orange Buffalo is opening its fourth London location today, in Soho. The site features a hole-in-the-wall kitchen for takeaway and 24-cover outdoor heated terrace. Orange Buffalo started out as a street food truck at Shoreditch's Truman Brewery in 2012 and serves wings and fried chicken sandwiches with a choice of six sauces at varying heat levels.
