Given the situation we’ve all been in for the past two years, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the outlook for 2022’s new bar & restaurant openings would be just a little murky. But despite everything, somehow the next few months are absolutely packed with a huge roster of ribbon-cuttings from some truly extraordinary chefs and mixologists.
We can look forward to a pair of brand new rooftop bars; a sophomore branch from one of the city’s best (incidentally, veggie) spots; a hotel with six bars & restaurants, another hotel with eleven bars & restaurants, a spot from the chef responsible for the 6th best restaurant in the world, and the highly anticipated London debut from one of Mexico’s hottest chefs – to name but a few.
Take a look for yourself…
Last updated: 12th May 2022
Want to go somewhere that’s actually open, like, now? Check out our pick of London’s Best Recently Opened Restaurants.
The Lucky Club | Camden
Camden’s about to get Lucky – Mayfair’s cocktail bar is striking out with a second branch on top of Camden Market’s historic old buildings. They’ll be serving margaritas, fusion tacos and tostadas under a new glass canopy that’s heated in winter, and retractable in summer…
Opening: 13th May
Soft launch? The Nudge Member Preview night has now taken place.
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Cavita | Marylebone
Adriana Cavita was born & raised in Mexico City, and has spent the last decade & a half honing her craft at some of the best restaurants on earth, including El Bulli (three Michelin Stars), Pujol (currently 12th on the World’s 50 Best list), and Aska (two Michelin Stars). This will be her first solo outing, and it’s going to capture both her incredible cooking skill, and her rich culinary heritage…
Opening: 20th May
Soft launch? Nudge Member exclusive soft launch with 50% off on the 24th & 25th of May
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Berenjak | Borough
Soho’s Iranian hole-in-the-wall-inspired joint is expanding this Spring. Berenjak’ll be taking over the old Flor site by Borough Market, branching out to a wider range of Persian home cooking dishes alongside the original’s popular mazeh small plates and charcoal-grilled kababs…
Opening: May 25th
Soft launch? None yet announced
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The Little Scarlet Door | Soho
As with all the other little door venues (in Clapham, Notting Hill, and Fulham) there’ll be no signage or clues as to the Little Scarlet Door’s presence on Soho’s Greek Street. It’ll look just like a flat. One with a little scarlet door. And on the inside, it’ll be a full-on house party every night complete with a kitchen dressed like a bar, and a living room filled with sofas…
Opening: End of May
Soft launch? Yes, watch this space…
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The Black Sheep | Wimbledon
The Gladwin brothers are finally introducing The Black Sheep to their family of restaurants (which already includes Nutbourne, Sussex and The Shed). Taking over the old White Onion space in Wimbledon Village, it’ll be a cosy neighbourhood spot dedicated to showcasing seasonal ingredients alongside wine from their own English vineyard…
Opening: End of May
Soft launch? Nudge Member Previews 25th – 27th May, with 50% off your food bill. Find out more here.
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NQ64 | Soho
Soho’s activity bar scene is about to level up – because a brand new, neon-soaked arcade bar is going to be opening its doors at the end of May, with DJs spinning hip-hop, themed cocktails, and over 30 token-operated vintage arcade games to play…
Opening: End of May
Soft launch? None yet announced
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Firebird | Soho
Coming to Poland Street early this summer, Firebird is the first UK restaurant for the St. Petersburg-based culinary duo Madina Kazhimova & Anna Dolgushina. And you’ll be not entirely surprised to hear that it’s all going to focus on dishes that have been ‘touched by flames’ in some form or another…
Opening: 7th June
Soft launch? Nudge Member previews 3rd – 6th June, with 50% off food
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Riding House Bloomsbury | Bloomsbury
Now that it’s celebrating its 10th year of being open, if there’s one you can say about The Riding House Café is that it’s stable. And now, it’s making moves. Specifically, it’s going to spawn a sister venue over in Bloomsbury…
Opening: 8th June
Soft launch? Likely, watch this space
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The Baring | Islington
Ollie Dabbous’ eponymous restaurant was – between 2012 and 2016 – the hardest place to get a table in London.
Critics lavished him with praise. Jay Rayner called him “the hottest new thing in the world of British food.” He won a Michelin star within eight months of opening. So when one of his protégés strikes out on their own, people tend to take notice. Which is why you’ll want to know about Islington’s upcoming gastropub, The Baring…
Opening: June 2022
Soft launch? None yet announced
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Friends of Ours | Wandsworth
Wandsworth’s Ram Quarter, the new development on the site of the country’s oldest brewery, is singlehandedly giving the whole area a reboot. And joining South London’s first boutique bowling alley and the excellent London Stock this Spring is the second outpost of this Hoxton Antipodean brunch spot…
Opening: Spring 2022
Soft launch? None yet announced
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Roxanne | Shoreditch
Who is Roxanne? Well, there’s about 100 hip hop tracks from the 80s that’ll answer that one, all stemming from one of the biggest rivalries in the genre. And now she’s being honoured with her own ‘hip-hop speakeasy’ from the Dirty Bones team, hiding out somewhere in Shoreditch this Spring…
Opening: Spring 2022
Soft launch? None yet announced
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Bubala | Soho
Put all your April plans on hold. Spitalfields’ hit Middle Eastern restaurant – which just so happens to be entirely veggie – is doubling up with a branch in Soho this Spring, serving all the hits (glossy aubergine, silken hummus and gloriously crisp confit potato) alongside a couple of new numbers scorched on a brand new robata grill…
Opening: Spring 2022
Soft launch? None yet announced
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Honey & Co | Bloomsbury
Honey & Co is a sweet little cafe-style Middle Eastern spot in Fitzrovia…
…that’s about to become a sweet little cafe-style Middle Eastern spot in Bloomsbury. Because after a few creative differences with their landlord, they’re upping sticks, and moving their entire operation to bigger & better digs…
Opening: Spring 2022
Soft launch? None yet announced
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Dumpling Shack & Sichuan Fry | London Fields
Dumpling Shack is about to become a Dumpling Bricks and Mortar Restaurant – but they’re keeping the name, and their cult shengjianbao (pan-fried bao dumplings filled with soupy pork & gelatin). That’ll all be down in the basement, while upstairs will be a permanent version of their Sichuan Fry outfit, specialising in indulgent fried chicken sandwiches with Sichuan flavours.
Opening: June
Soft launch? None yet announced
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Caia | Notting Hill
Caia, landing on Golborne Road this Spring, comes to us from chef Rishabh Vir (who has taken stints at both The Fat Duck and Kiln, in Soho) and his business partner, Tim Lang (who had a hand in both Street Feast & Dinerama). Together, they’re opening a modern, grill-focussed eatery with a wine room tucked away at the back, and vinyl-spinning guest DJs…
Opening: Spring
Soft launch? None announced
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Straker’s | Notting Hill
Thomas Straker has worked in the kitchens at Dinner By Heston, The Dorchester and – most famously – his own house. Which is where he makes his crazy popular TikTok vids, of course. And now he’s about to get his very own restaurant in Notting Hill… READ MORE
Opening: June
Soft launch? None announced.
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Maria G’s | Kensington
Robin Gill, the man behind The Dairy (and Darby’s…and Bermondsey Larder, and Sorella, and Rye By The Water), is bringing a taste of his lauded cooking to West London this summer. He’ll be serving up a seasonal menu running the length of Italy’s regions, alongside ferments he’ll be making in-house…
Opening: June
Soft launch? None yet announced
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Lina Stores | Marylebone
Lina Stores operated as a deli for 75 years before opening a restaurant – and now it’s seriously making up for lost time. Joining its branches in Soho, King’s Cross and the City, Lina Stores Marylebone will serve their famous fresh pasta (hand-made daily in the original deli) alongside mains to share and amazing cocktails…
Opening: June
Soft launch? None yet announced, but watch this space
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Lino | Queen’s Park
Barbican’s sustainability-focussed restaurant is getting reused and recycled after having to close last year. It’ll be getting a new lease of life in a striking building on the increasingly trendy restaurant nucleus that is Lonsdale Road in Queen’s Park…
Opening: September
Soft launch? None yet announced
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Akub | Notting Hill
Celebrated Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan is coming to London to open his second restaurant. It’s going to be called Akub (named after Fadi’s favourite vegetable, a delicious and tiny, wild artichoke) and you’ll find it in a surprisingly quiet side street off Notting Hill Gate…
Opening: Sometime this year
Soft launch? None yet announced
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Socca | Mayfair
Chef Claude Bosi has won two Michelin Stars at every restaurant he’s ever run. And now he’s opening another one. It’s going to be called Socca, and it’ll be landing in Mayfair this summer. Expect a Southern French, Mediterranean-style bistro with plenty of good wine…
Opening: Summer 2022
Soft launch? Probably not.
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Stem & Glory | Broadgate Circle
Stem & Glory is a vegan restaurant that first laid down roots in Cambridge. People loved it. It won a lot of awards. And when they decided to branch out and crowdfund a London location, it took them a whole six hours to hit their funding goal. And now they’ve decided to do it again…
Opening: July 2022
Soft launch? None yet announced
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Big Mamma | Kensington
The next project to join the Big Mamma family of big restaurants – Gloria, Circolo Popolare and Ave Mario – is… untitled. We don’t know when it’ll open, which region of Italy will inspire the food, or what insane, eyeball-busting decor they’ll stick all over the place this time. But we do know that it’ll be in an old bank on High Street Kensington, it’ll probably serve their famous cheese wheel carbonara, and it’ll probably won’t be easy to get a table…
Opening: Sometime this year
Soft launch? Watch this space.
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Björn Frantzén at Harrods | Knightsbridge
Some people are born to be chefs. Some people are Björn. This man is both. And next year, he’s taking a break from running the 6th best restaurant in the world to open his first spot in the UK…
Opening: Early 2022
Soft launch? Unlikely…
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Raffles London at the OWO | Westminster
So, here’s one to file under ‘quite ambitious’. The Old War Office (so-called because it’s the old war office) over on Whitehall is being refurbed & reimagined as a hotel with eleven bars and restaurants inside it. Yes, eleven. Whatever happens, the odds are at least one of them will be good…
Opening: Late 2022
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Saltie Girl Seafood Bar | Mayfair
They say a picture says a thousand words. And in this case, about 999 of those words are just noises. This beurre-blanc drizzled lobster roll is from one of the most famous seafood joints in Boston, and this year it’s making the long trip across the pond…
Opening: Later this year
Soft launch? None yet announced
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Casa do Frango | Mayfair
There’s a lot you can get in Mayfair. Oysters? Check. Steak? You got it. Michelin-starred fare? It’s there by the bucketload. But it’s been sorely lacking in low-key, convivial, well-priced Portuguese chicken spots… until now.
Opening: Sometime in 2022
Soft launch? None yet announced, but fairly likely…
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Long Chim | TBC
Long Chim has been a long time coming. It’s David Thompson’s first London restaurant since opening Nahm back in 2001, which not only won a Michelin star within six months, but was the first Thai restaurant in Europe to be awarded one full-stop. And having won dozens of other accolades since, and opening his legendary Long Chim restaurants in Singapore, Perth and Sydney, one is finally opening in London…
Opening: TBC
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Alkebulan | TBC
After a barnstorming debut in Dubai, chef Alexander Smalls is launching his African food hall both in London and in his local neighbourhood, Harlem. It’ll showcase around ten up-and-coming chefs of African heritage, each working with a different regional speciality or culinary tradition, and it’ll all be complemented by artwork and live music, too…
Opening: TBC
Want to read about somewhere that’s actually open, like, now? Check out our pick of London’s Best Recent Openings.