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Spring might not have sprung quite yet, but a bunch of brand new restaurants and bars are peeking through the London restaurant soil like gorgeous little crocuses.
There’s a massive new food hall in Paddington, as well as a southern Ukrainian spot in Shoreditch, a mezcal mecca in the basement of a Dalston restaurant, and the chance for west Londoners who refuse to cross Kensington Gardens to eat some of Highbury’s finest pasta.
Get stuck into the best new restaurant and bar openings this March.
1. The NYC-themed pub restaurant
One Club Row, Shoreditch
One of February’s most talked-about openings has sprung an extra limb. From late March, upstairs at the newly-launched The Knave of Clubs pub, you’ll find One Club Row – a plush dining room with chef Patrick Powell in charge of a menu of bistro classics. Powell, who last year left Allegra and The Midland Dining Room, has found a new home in this Grade II listed Shoreditch building, and though he’s also doing pub snacks downstairs, One Club Row will be where he really flexes his kitchen muscle. Expect pickled jalapeno gougères, whole lobster tagliatelle and bone-in ribeye with chipotle hollandaise. Oh and oysters, martinis and an in-house pianist lending the whole room a glam, late-night Manhattan energy.
1 Club Row, E1 6JX
2. The underground tequila bar
Cinco, Dalston
We already love the rowdy, unstoppable Corrochio’s, and now there’s another reason to visit one of north London’s best Mexican restaurants – a new cocktail bar downstairs. Opening on March 5, Cinco will specialise in agave spirits, so this is one for the tequila and mezcal lovers. As well as cocktails, there’ll be tasting flights of Mexican spirits and bite-sized versions of Corrochio’s most popular dishes. If the space looks familiar, it used to be late-night Hackney party bar, Ruby’s.
76 Stoke Newington Rd, N16 7XB
3. The sleek day-to-night wine bar and restaurant
Câv, Bethnal Green
Câv has got some serious hospo power people pulling the strings. Chris Tanner, co-founder of Denmark Street whiskey spot Dram Bar, and Edwin Frost, co-founder of Shoreditch wine bar Oranj and Kentish Town’s Half Cut Market, are opening this listening bar (yes! another one!) in the seductive arches of east London’s Paradise Row on March 1. As well as £7 martinis, there’ll also be a semi-permanent pop-up kitchen in the shape of Tasca from head chef Josh Dallaway, with Portuguese and Spanish-style plates such as jambon beurre gildas, tuna with fried eggs and crispy potatoes, and bikini sandwiches.
255 Paradise Row, E2 9LE
4. The posh pasta pop-up
Trullo at Harvey Nichols, Knightsbridge
Perhaps inspired by last year’s St John x Fortnum and Mason collab, Highbury’s stellar Italian restaurant Trullo will be arriving at Harvey Nicks for a three month residency from March 3. The menu will be made up of Trullo classics, such as beef shin ragu and pici cacio e pepe, alongside some fittingly fancy luxe items, like tagliarini with Beluga caviar and grilled dover sole with Palourde clams and Datterini tomatoes.
Fifth Floor, 109-125 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7RJ
5. The mega indoor food market
Market Halls, Paddington
With sprawling sites already in Victoria, Canary Wharf and Oxford Street, Market Halls will open its most ambitious food hall yet on March 4. Venturing to the far flung reaches of Paddington, the site will launch with eight highly decent traders. From The Ashes will be giving their usual BBQ proceedings a high-end twist with From The Ashes Parrilla, while Bao Night Market, Breddos, Gopal’s Corner by Roti King, Black Bear Burger, 20ft Fried Chicken, Farm Girl, and Souvlaki by Opso will also serve their superior street food.
1 Paddington Square, W2 1DL
6. The Ukrainian spot
Tatar Bunar, Shoreditch
Taking its name from restaurateur Alex Cooper’s hometown of Tatarbunary in southern Ukraine, and its recipes from Cooper’s grandmother, expect classic comfort dishes from chicken Kyiv to borscht at this new Shoreditch restaurant. Craft and ceramics from Ukrainian artists will take pride of place here, with plates and pots made by Svetlana Sholomitska. Tatar Bunar will open on March 10.
152 Curtain Road, EC2A 3AT
7. The dinner-driven bar
Templar, Stratford
With slick interiors inspired by 1950s modernism, this brand new sharing-plates spot comes from the same team as nearby Darkhorse. In the kitchen is Richard Sinclair (Lardo, Pied à Terre), who’ll be cooking up crispy focaccia, pig’s head croquette, fennel and Muscat grape salad, sea bass crudo, and truffle and ricotta ravioli. Wine is of the low intervention kind, with plenty of glasses to get stuck into after a visit to nearby Sadlers Wells East. Templar opens on March 1.
5 Redman Place, E20 1JQ
Why are so many London restaurants introducing a ‘minimum spend’?
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