Jo Aspin rounds up the hottest new restaurants opening in London in September.
1. Pop Sapori
Pop Sapori (Italian for flavour) has arrived at The Megaro Hotel in King's Cross. Get your hands on homemade fresh pasta served up with juicy Italian carafes of wine and weekends pave the way for Aperol Spritz-laced brunch. Acid yellow artworks from designer Henry Chebaane now adorn the restaurant walls while in-house radio station KXFM provides an acid-house musical backdrop.
Follow: @themegaroofficial
2. Louie
Originally set to open in March, we can't wait to visit Covent Garden's Louie set in a historic 19th Century townhouse (formerly the site of Joel Robuchon's Atelier). The kitchen will embrace a heady mix of New Orleans revisited Creole dishes and New York dining heritage, fused with classical French fare. Expect signatures such as 'deconstructed' oysters Rockefeller, New Orleans style BBQ lobster, Po Boys, and banana foster rum baba. Music will feature heavily too with live jazz in the upstairs bar and lounge inspired by Duke Ellington in New Orleans' French Quarter.
Follow: @louielondon_restaurant
3. Avalon
Put this pop-up restaurant in your diary. From the owners of The Melusine restaurant at St Katherine's Docks, Avalon on-the-water experience is running Thursdays – Saturdays in September only. Choose from a medley of sustainably-led fish and seafood on the daily changing menu and drink The Avalon (Mermaid gin, Londinio vermouth, olive brine and fresh lemon thyme) cocktails. Avalon takes its name from the mythical island that female water spirit Melusine was taken to by her mother from the sacred river Thames.
Open Thursdays – Saturdays, September 2020
Follow: @stkatsdocks
4. Club Mexicana
We're always all ears for Mexican food news so it's great to hear that vegan street food faves Club Mexicana are to open a permanent site in Soho. Fans can expect cult hits including Baja Tofish Taco re-imagined with a panko crust, and the BBQ Short 'Rib' Tacos smothered with hickory-smoked BBQ sauce, topped with pickled cucumber, slaw and garlic mayo. Plus natural wines, Mexican beers, and cocktails on tap from Tottenham drinks company Black Lines.
Follow: @clubmexicana
5. Rondo
The new restaurant Rondo arrives at Hoxton Hotel, Holborn this month. It's been created in collaboration with William Lander, (Quality Chop House, Portland, and Clipstone), with chef Chris Gillard (previously at St John for 15 years) manning the kitchen. 'Unsung heroes' will be a focus on the menu with dishes including grey mullet, simply cooked on the charcoal grill with tomato, fennel, and aioli and Tamworth pork chop with bobby beans and chutney. Over on the bar snack menu crisp aubergine tempura with harissa dipping sauce, and bone marrow toasties will be served up as ideal companions to a 'gutsy and rustic' wine list of over 40 carefully chosen varieties.
Follow: @rondoldn
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Chatting Food Contributor Jo Aspin
Half American / half (born and bred) Londoner, Jo Aspin is a food writer and established freelance food, drink and lifestyle PR. She’ll be reporting on all the latest restaurant openings and news from the capital. When she’s not eating her way around London, she’s planning her next trip abroad.
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