Openings this week: Blandford Comptoir, Zia Lucia, the White Horse and more
A look at the latest restaurants, hotels, pubs and bars to open their doors
Blandford Comptoir
28°-50° restaurant group co-founder Xavier Rousset has opened Blandford Comptoir. The Marylebone restaurant is an informal showcasing of Mediterranean cuisine with Italian influences; a selection of meat, seafood, raw and vegetable dishes designed to be enjoyed in any order. The restaurant is centred around the bar, with a wine list featuring quirky grapes from south west France and Campania among others. There will be monthly tastings, where guests will be invited to choose their favourite four wines, which will be added to the restaurant's wine list for one month. Plentiful pendant lights, spotlights, mirrors and a backlit bar ensure the small space is light, open and inviting, while the mustard-coloured cushioned bar chairs, banquettes and textured navy walls keep it warm and welcoming.
Opened 26 May 2016
Founder/director Xavier Rousset
Restaurant manager Alice Bernigaud
Head sommelier Devon Pryor
Head chef Ben Mellor
Covers 40
Wine list 250 wines; 50 champagnes
Typical dishes Carpaccio of Fassone beef and 36-month-old Parmesan; Sicilian red prawns; duck breast with tortellini of leg and figs; and Fassone rib eye with confit new season garlic and red wine jus
Websiteblandford-comptoir.co.uk
Zia Lucia
Zia Lucia in Islington, London, offers pizzas made with slow-fermented dough cooked in a wood-fired oven. As well as more traditional wholemeal and gluten-free options, it will also serve more unusual doughs, including charcoal vegetable black-base pizzas and white pizzas.
General manager Alessio Locci
Founders Claudio Vescovo and Gianluca D'Angelo
Covers Inside: 46; outside: 10
Websitewww.zialucia.com
Bea's
Bea's in Marylebone, London, has opened following refurbishment. As well as a refreshed afternoon tea menu, the café will offer light savoury dishes and a display of special occasion cakes. There are further Bea's sites in Bloomsbury, Farringdon, St Paul's and Maida Vale.
Executive chef Jane Smyth
Covers 32
General manager Alberto Bernardini
Websitewww.beas.london
Green Rooms
The newly opened Green Rooms hotel in Wood Green, London, offers sensibly priced accommodation for artists to stay and work.
Starting room rate £18
Bedrooms 22 double rooms; two studio apartments; and two dormitory rooms
Owner London Borough of Haringey
Features Gallery space for guests and a rent-free rotational residency restaurant
Founders Nick Hartwright and Kurt Bredenbeck
Websitewww.greenrooms.london
Santa Monica at Skylounge
Covers 120
Typical dishes Salmon maki rolls; fish tacos with mango salsa; roasted cauliflower tostadas with avocado and black bean; and octopus skewers with piquilla aÁ¯oli
Websitewww.santamonicaskylounge.com
The White Horse
The White Horse in Easton, Suffolk, has reopened after a refurbishment and the appointment of Dominic Clarke as head chef.
Head chef Dominic Clarke
General manager Stuart Hansord
Covers 66
Typical dish Sticky pig's cheek with barbecue cabbage, cider onions and sage quaver
Operator Chestnut Group
Websitewww.thewhitehorseeaston.com
East London Liquor Company
The East London Liquor Company has opened a restaurant, expanding its Bow Wharf distillery, bar and shop. The restaurant will focus on Italian food, with a pizza oven and sharing plates. It will also serve selections of amaro, fernet, vermouth, wine, cocktails and beer to complement the food and showcase the company's award-winning range of spirits.
Head chef William Dennard
Design Michael Sodeau
