New restaurant openings to watch for in 2018

The year ahead is set to be another bumper one for expansion in the hospitality sector. Katie Pathiaki highlights the key restaurant openings for 2018.

 

Restaurant openings

 

Sabor
Location Heddon Street, London
Owners Nieves Barragán Mohacho and José Etura
Head chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho
Opening January 2018

 

Nieves Barragan Mohacho and José Etura of Barrafina are set to open their first venture together. Sabor will incorporate a restaurant, bar and upstairs asador (grill) all designed by Michaelis Boyd. Dishes will include diver-caught scallop and five jotas ham consommé, wild rabbit empanadilla, and Jerusalem artichoke and jamón tortilla with sage alioli. An in-house fishmonger will prepare and serve fresh seafood.

 

Sorella
(Formerly the Manor)
Location 148 Clapham Manor Street, London SW4
Owner Robin Gill
Head chef Dean Parker
Opening January 2018

 

Robin Gill, owner of a number of renowned establishments in Clapham, is relaunching one of his ventures, British bistro the Manor. Sorella, will, in Gill's own words, "hone in on all that we love about the Italian attitude to cooking and eating." Dishes such as truffle arancini and cuttlefish linguini suggest hearty Italian cooking and were inspired by Gill's time working on Italy's Amalfi coast. With a share in a farm in Sussex that uses the restaurant's food waste to create compost that is used to grow the vegetables, Sorella will be following Gill's other restaurant, the Dairy, in its waste-reduction ethos.

 

Kudu
Location 119 Queens Road, Peckham, London SE15
Owners Patrick Williams and Amy Corbin
Head chef Patrick Williams
General manager Amy Corbin
Covers 46
Opening 12 January 2018

 

This new South African-influenced restaurant in Peckham, London, is born from an impressive partnership. Former Paradise Garage sous chef Patrick Williams will head up the kitchen, while partner Amy Corbin, the daughter of Chris Corbin of Corbin & King, will run front of house. The menu will focus on seasonal, locally-sourced, home-grown and foraged ingredients. Despite its name, there is no antelope on the menu. Dishes include pig's head tortellini, hay bone broth and crispy onions, and pumpkin tart, salted caramel, charcoal and almond ice-cream.

 

Hero of Maida
(Formerly the Truscott Arms)
Location 55 Shirland Road, London W9 2JD
Owner James McCulloch (Harcourt Inns Group)
Chef-director Henry Harris
Opening February 2018

 

 

20 Stories
Location 1 Spinningfields, Manchester
Owner D&D London
Head chef Aiden Byrne
Covers 300
Opening February 2018

 

Aiden Byrne is overseeing D&D London’s new venture, 20 Stories, in Manchester’s 1 Spinningfields building. The colossal 300-cover restaurant is located on the 19th-floor rooftop and is the city’s most anticipated opening of 2018. The rooftop garden will host a lounge bar under a canopy of trees and feature barbecues and fireplaces. The menu will be modern British, with a focus on suppliers from within 50 miles of the city. Alongside the restaurant, a more
casual brasserie will serve dishes mainly from the grill, while the bar will offer modern cocktails and craft beers.

 

Cornerstone
Location Unit 4, 61 Wallis Road, Hackney Wick, London E9
Owner and head chef Tom Brown
Covers 46
Opening Early 2018 (estimated March)

 

After leaving his role as head chef at the Michelin-starred Outlaw’s at the Capital in London’s Knightsbridge in September 2017, Tom Brown is embarking on his first solo venture. Cornerstone (named after the 2009 Arctic Monkeys song) is set to open in March 2018. The restaurant will be less formal than the Capital, offering stripped-back dishes and a daily changing menu to include dishes such as pickled Porthilly oysters, celery and horseradish; chicken liver croquettes with
devilled mayonnaise; octopus cooked in cider with an apple and lentil dressing; and chocolate mousse with peanuts, lime and stout.

 

Hicce
Location Central London
Owners Pip Lacey and Gordy McIntyre
Head chef Pip Lacey
General manager Gordy McIntyre
Covers 40
Opening March/April 2018

 

Angela Hartnett protégée and 2017 Great British Menu winner Pip Lacey is going solo after six years at the Michelin-starred Murano, where she worked her way up to head chef. She’s teamed up with friend and business partner Gordy McIntyre, who has a background in front of house and pubs. Hicce (pronounced ee-che), which means ‘current, of the moment’ in Latin, will serve modern dishes. Fish, meat and vegetables will be cooked over a wood fire and traditional techniques such as marinating, curing and pickling will be used.

 

Roux at Skindles
Location Skindles, Taplow, Buckinghamshire
Owners Michel and Alain Roux
Covers 70
Opening October 2018

 

Michel and Alain Roux have taken over the Skindles hotel in Taplow, which has been derelict since 1995, and plan to open a restaurant within a new residential development being built by Berkeley Homes. Roux at Skindles will include an open kitchen serving 50 covers on the ground floor, with a terrace outside accommodating a further 20. A bar on the first floor will be serving a range
of wine and cocktails from an open list, alongside sharing plates. Alain Roux, who visited the Skindles hotel regularly in his youth, said the project was too
good an opportunity to turn down: “We are local, we love the area. To have the possibility to do this new venture on our doorstep is great.”

 

More restaurants to keep an eye out for

 

• Ollie Dabbous and Oskar Kinberg are to open a new restaurant in partnership with Hedonism Wines. Hedonism has submitted a licensing application to Westminster City Council for a 250-cover restaurant at 85 Piccadilly in London’s Mayfair.
• Simon Rogan is opening a permanent version of his pop-up Roganic in London, using produce from his farm in the Lake District and taking influences from his two-Michelin-starred L’Enclume, Cumbria.
• Scully, the first solo venture of Ramael Scully, previously head chef of Nopi, will be located in London’s new St James’ Market development. The menu will be based on sustainably-sourced British ingredients, with flavours incorporating Scully’s Chinese, Irish, Indian and Balinese heritage.
• Gary Usher has revealed plans to open a fifth neighbourhood bistro-style restaurant in the north-west of England. The site (location to be revealed soon) will accommodate 60 covers and is expected to open in the summer.
• Siblings Kirk and Keeley Haworth are to open a site in London for their plant-based concept Plates. Haworth was trained by his father, Nigel Haworth (previously chef-patron of Northcote in Langho, Lancashire). Kirk follows a plant-based diet to improve the symptoms he experiences from Lyme disease.
• Michelin-starred chef Tom Sellers is planning to open a third restaurant, 13,
in London. It will be aimed towards the youth of the capital London, “not just in food; in art, in culture, in music,” he said.
• Tomos Parry, formerly the chef at Kitty Fisher’s in London, is to launch his first solo restaurant, called Brat, on London’s Redchurch Street in spring 2018. The menu will favour seasonal British produce cooked on an open wood-fired grill.
• Following a successful crowdfunding campaign that raised more than £600,000, the Good Egg is to launch its second site in Soho’s Kingly Court. The deli serves dishes inspired by the cuisine in Montreal in Canada, the street food scene in Israel and old Jewish recipes.
• Tom Mullion, Tim Steel and Oliver Milburn, the trio behind London restaurant Kitty Fisher’s, are to open Cora Pearl, their second London site, in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, in spring.

 

The Caterer: Openings

 

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We know it can be difficult to stay in the know about all relevant hospitality opportunities out there â€" be they chain or independents, sited within destination venues, fine dining or casual. We have created Openings to identify all of these, and more.