New London restaurant openings: November

Temper

Having stood at the forefront of the UK barbecue cooking scene for a number of years, Neil Rankin launches his eagerly awaited restaurant Temper this month on Broadwick Street in Soho.

Temper has been created in partnership with Sam Lee, managing director, who brings a wealth of experience in both the restaurant and wine industry. The aim at Temper is to offer delicious and expertly cooked cuts of meat, tempered for optimal taste, and offset with a range of inventive side dishes.

The wine at Temper will also take centre-stage, with an exciting New and Old World list created to complement the menu. Taking inspiration from Neil’s travels and experience, the main dining room at temper will feature animals selected from small hand-picked UK producers, in a variety of specialist breeds including Beer Fed Dexter, Longhorn and Highland Beef, Saddleback, Middle White, Old Spot and Berkshire Pork, with lamb, goat and mutton also featuring heavily on the menu.

The cows will be separated by breed and served in different ways including leg shawarma, grilling joints, smoked whole rib and other barbecue cuts as well as ground and raw beef. The beef fat will be used for homemade tortillas and butter, and the bones will be harvested for broth – ensuring that the whole process is almost 100% waste free.

Pork, lamb and goat will be cooked whole then chopped and seasoned with flavoured oils, vinegars, spices and herbs. Almost all of the meat will be offered in 100g + cuts, available with a range of plates designed around seasonal vegetables – allowing the diner to fully customise their menu.

Read a review of Temper’s wine offering on Wine List Confidential here.

The Kitty Hawk

The Kitty Hawk – London’s first ‘department store of dining’ opens on Monday 21 November.

The venue is billed as an ‘all-day haven for hungry Londoners, with departments (bar and kitchen, restaurant, café and patisserie) set over two floors and each offering a different experience to suit a variety of occasions. Designed by Russell Sage (Dishoom, Grain Store), the striking interior is said to take inspiration from the City of London’s vibrant heritage and New York city glamour.

The Kitty Hawk is the first project from the Wright & Bell group.

Jayne Baker, The Kitty Hawk‘s MD, commented: “Wright & Bell is influenced by the great inventors of our past, Sir Alexander Graham Bell and the Wright Brothers, who dared to dream, and taught the world to fly. We are the creators and architects of ‘The Department Stores of Dining’, bringing together a dynamic mix of drinking, dining, working and retail experiences.

“Following The Kitty Hawk, we plan to develop six venues across the City of London and West End, to bring a new elegance to the London Market.”

Veneta

Simon Mullins and Ben Tish of the Salt Yard Group have opened Veneta in the flashy new St James’s Market in central London. Inspired by Venice (obvs), the restaurant will showcase the very best of Venice’s vibrant culinary scene, with a menu that pays homage to the region’s mix of cultures and dishes. The drinks list will feature carefully sourced vermouths and aperitifs of the region, while the glamorous interior design will be befitting of La Serenissima.

Chef director Ben Tish and head chef Jamie Thickett have created menus featuring dishes such as kid goat ragu with fresh pappardelle; charcoal-grilled monkfish with anchovy sauce and salsify; and chicken braised in almond milk with medjool dates and saffron.

A classic Venetian raw bar will take pride of place behind the beautiful bar, offering an ever-changing selection of British and Venetian seafood. Fans of the team behind the restaurants, Salt Yard, Dehesa, Opera Tavern, and Ember Yard, can expect to see the finest cheeses served from a beautiful bespoke cheese trolley and salumi both sourced from the Veneto region. There will also be a changing menu of handmade pasta dishes including the Venetian classic bigoli and there will always be a delicious fresh seasonal risotto, cooked to order.

Veneta will also be the first Salt Yard restaurant to offer guests an all-day dining experience serving both indulgent and healthy options for breakfast, including fresh fried fritelle with jam, chocolate and saffron custard, burrata with roast plums, hazelnuts and tarragon; smoked Scottish salmon, black truffle butter, scrambled eggs and polenta brioche; and baked eggs with spinach, tomato ragu, speck and basil.

Co-founder Simon Mullins has curated an extensive list of wines that focuses exclusively on Northern Italian regions, as well as an exclusive range of Italian vermouths and bitters, rarely seen in the UK.

Holy Birds

Spearheaded by bar and restaurant mavericks and true birds of a feather (ugh, how could you…), Gerry and Jon Calabrese (Wringer & Mangle, The Hoxton Pony, Hoxton Gin), The Holy Birds combines a 1960s London music and art scene schtick and poultry. Lots of poultry. In fact, it is billed as the city’s first restaurant to specialise in poultry of all sorts (following the likes of Le Coq in Islington (rotisserie chicken) and Strut & Cluck (Turkey) in Shoreditch).

The Holy Birds is set on Petticoat Lane Market and extends over two floors, with a restaurant, bar, cocktail lounge and private dining rooms and inspired by 60s Danish design. Upstairs the restaurant will offer a menu of locally-sourced, free-range birds; downstairs The Mule Bar will offer late-night refreshment, a state-of-the-art sound system and live performers. The Calabrese Brothers will also be collaborating with their father, Salvatore Calabrese, on the cocktail menu.

The Holy Birds will be offering 50% off food this week ahead of its official opening on Wednesday 30 November. Those interested in sampling the menu can book in this week, Tuesday to Friday, for lunch (12pm-3pm) or dinner (6pm-9:45pm) at danniel@theholybirds.com.

Lunch menu highlights include a wealth of delicious starters from goose and apricot terrine to shirred hen egg, while the mains offer a refreshing take on the green leaf with two-way roasted Guinea fowl salad, rotisserie chicken salad, and roast snipe complete with mushroom, bacon and grape.

Corazon

More tacos courtesy of Corazón, a taqueria launching this month on Poland Street in London’s Soho. Corazón will offer Mexican comfort food in a casual space inspired by Mexico City’s Condesa neighbourhood.

Corazón is the project of Laura Sheffield, a Texan who has spent over 10 years managing venues such as Corbin & King’s Fischer’s and The Riding House Café. Her love of Mexican food began while growing up in Texas and developed over years spent frequenting New York’s Mexican restaurants and travelling through Mexico.

Corazón’s menu from chef Paul Daniel was developed off the back of trips through Mexico’s culinary regions and along the coast of California. The menu will be focused on a selection of 10 signature tacos, along with some more adventurous daily specials.

Homemade tortillas will be freshly prepared from the in-house tortilla machine. Taco fillings will include: housemade green chorizo, confit onions, coriander, salsa verde; citrus and soy-marinated steak, confit onions, roast garlic and jalapeno crema; and confit duck in root beer, pickled onion, coriander, salsa verde. Corazón will also offer a selection of ceviches, tostadas, and salads.

A concise drinks list will feature quality margaritas, agave and rum-based cocktails, as well as imported Mexican and American beers. Cocktails will include a Cazuela – a sharing cocktail with Tequila, mezcal, fresh fruits and green tea. Corazón will also serve housemade Tepache; a lightly alcoholic, fermented pineapple juice, in seasonal flavours such as orange and tamarind, and apple amd chipotle.

The interior, designed by Katy Manolescue of Article Design, takes inspiration from the faded art deco thing seen in Los Angeles and Mexico City. The 55-seater restaurant will feature a concrete-topped, terrazzo bar and reclaimed terracotta tile floors, with a small open kitchen.

Perilla

After several highly successful pop-up ventures, chef Ben Marks (formerly of Noma and Claridges) and Matt Emerson have set up at a permanent site in Newington Green, north-east London.

Billed as the ‘anti-fine dining fine dining restaurant’ (absolutely no idea what that means but we love a good paradox with our dinner), Perilla aims to offer Michelin-star quality dining without the pomp and circumstance – and with an emphasis on affordability.

Offering an à la carte menu and a five-course set menu, the menu includes glazed BBQ lamb ribs, fried duck egg with chopped mussels and parsley,  and crispy chicken wings stuffed with mushrooms.

The Old World-focused wine list is short but sweet, while a bar area seating up to 14 people makes Perilla a good option for a casual drink of an evening too.

Quilombero

Restaurant duo Missy Flynn and Gabriel Pryce, of Rita’s on Mare Street in Hackney, are opening the canteen-style Genovese-Argentine venue Quilombero at the Republic workspace campus at East India Dock. The pair will fit out the canteen to function as a café, coffee and juice bar by day, and restaurant by night with outdoor grill and wood-fired oven.

The term ‘quilombero’ roughly translates as ‘messy’, ‘trouble maker’ or ‘rowdy’ and is from the slang Lunfardo, which was created as a result of the Genovese migration from Italy to Argentina in the 1800s. Many Italians settled, predominantly in Buenos Aires, influencing not only the local language but also the food.

The team are looking to have fun with the six-month project. Grilled meats and fish will play a central role, there will also be fresh homemade pastas and an aperitivo hour for the nearby offices. Chef Gabriel Pryce will be roasting whole fish from Billingsgate and joints of meat from Swaledale on the outdoor grill. Game will feature strongly this autumn with rabbit cooked in the wood-fired oven, as well as grouse and partridge.

By day there will be homemade breads, fresh focaccia and pastries for breakfast. Juice and coffee will be king, for takeaway servicing the adjacent offices. Lunch and dinner will be a simple offering with three starters, three mains, three puddings – including dishes like Burrata with salsa nero (made with roasted aubergine on the outside grill, squid ink and black salt) and hand-rolled trofie pasta with fresh pesto.