Luke Ahearne – a dynamo of a chef, has finally been granted a room of his own after spots at The Clove Club, Luca, and Corrigan’s Mayfair, where he was head chef at just 29. Here, he's given full reign of the open kitchen to whip up ‘southern Mediterranean’ sharing plates. In reality this means lots of fish and lots of fire, and everything comes slicked with so much olive oil that the dishes are glossier than a Steely Dan outro. Ignore the pan con tomate with anchovies at your peril, and go hard on the raw fish starters. It's not cheap, but food this spectacular rarely is.
Every week, a frankly silly amount of brilliant new restaurants, cafés and street food joints arrive in London. Which makes whittling down a shortlist of the best newbies a serious challenge. But here it is. The 20 very best new restaurants in the capital, ranked.
Go forth and eat, featuring everything from hyped new Mayfair spot The Dover to French bistro bangers at Josephine in Fulham, fire and fish at Lita in Marylebone, Med sharing dishes at Morchella in Clerkenwell and Akara, a Michelin star restaurant offshoot in Borough. We also show some love for the sublime small plates at Hackney's Sune, modern Malaysian cuisine at Mambow in Clapton, tasty sausage at Bistro Freddie in Spitalfields, Italian-ish snacks at Forza Wine on the South Bank and Filipino sharing feasts at Donia in Soho.
Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.
RECOMMENDED: The 50 best restaurants in London.