There are already dozens of new London restaurant openings lined up for 2016 on our Coming Soon page. Here are some of the capital’s most anticipated openings…
Viajante, Metropolitan Wharf E1
Nuno Mendes hopes to reopen his legendary east London restaurant, famed for its “gastronomic story-telling”, in a new riverside location in Wapping. The chef initially sought investment through crowd-funding but failed to reach his target of £1.75m. He is now looking at alternatives. Viajante was originally housed at Bethnal Green Town Hall hotel but closed in 2014 as Mendes moved to the Chiltern Firehouse.
![Eneko _new[2][1]](http://www.hardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Eneko-_new21.jpg)
A new partnership between One Aldwych and Azurmendi restaurant in Bilbao will see renowned chef Eneko Atxa open an informal Basque dining spot and bar at the Covent Garden hotel next year. Due to launch in summer 2016, Eneko at One Aldwych will deliver traditional Basque cuisine, inspired by Azurmendi (currently ranked 19 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants).
The Covent Garden restaurant, on the former site of Axis, is thanks to a collaboration between Atxa and Kostas Sfaltos, One Aldwych’s General Manager. As well as his starry Bilbao flagship, Atxa runs Bistró Prêt À Porter (itself also acknowledged by the Tire Men).
A flagship for the Galvin brothers’ new pub company (Galvin Pub de Luxe), on the former site of their wine bar Café Ã Vin, just next door to the excellent La Chapelle in Spitalfields Market. Due to open January 2016.
Greg and Marie Marchand, the husband and wife team behind Parisian restaurant brand Frenchie, are to open a London outpost in Covent Garden next year. The duo already run Frenchie, Frenchie Wine Bar, Frenchie to Go and a wine shop in the French capital but will traverse the Channel with their new venture, coming to Henrietta Street in February 2016.
Long-time right hand woman of Michel Roux Jr and MasterChef: The Professionals judge, Monica Galetti, reveals plans for her first solo restaurant. To open autumn 2016. The name reflects Galetti’s Samoan heritage (Mere is Samoan for Mary – her mother’s name).
It will occupy the ground floor and basement of the site, which, strangely enough on Charlotte Street, was not previously a restaurant. The ground floor bar will seat 25, with a 70-cover dining room downstairs.
Som Saa closed at Climpson’s Arch in October as it seeks permanent premises (financed through crowd-funding). Founded by chefs Andy Oliver and Mark Dobbie – who met at London’s prestigious Nahm under the tutelage of the somewhat legendary David Thompson – and managed by Tom George, the restaurant was a resounding success when it took up residency in the railway arches by London Fields. They have already raised £550,000, stumping up £200,000 of their own cash.
Jason Atherton’s planned foray into izakaya-style dining (incorporating also teppanyaki, and a robata grill) will need to work well to fill this big Clerkenwell site (formerly Turnmills nightclub, RIP).
The one draw-back of Ealing’s world-famous pizzeria has always been that it’s “nigh-on impossible to get a table”, well, now they’re adding a second branch in Chelsea. Address details still TBC.
Kebabs delivered by two former Le Gavroche chefs Manuel Canales Garces and Angus Bell – sounds like a winning combination. Opening in Soho restaurant hub, Kingly Court, the venture was founded by Stephen Tozer and Ed Brunet.
From the team behind Hackney’s lauded Pidgin (James Ramsden, Sam Herlihy and Elizabeth Allen) a new central London venture opening in 2016. All that’s known so far is that it will evoke the spirit of a dim sum parlour and food will be served from customised trollies. Even wine and cocktails will be served from trollies.
