Chokhi Dhani, Battersea
The name is little known in the capital, but Indian restaurant Chokhi Dhani has been serving customers in Rajasthan for three decades. Opening in Battersea on April 12, this first London outpost will serve a modern interpretation of traditional Rajasthani cuisine, alongside a selection of dishes from throughout the subcontinent. Notable artworks are set to be part of the dining experience, too - you won’t be able to miss the life-sized bronze elephant sculpture.
The Savoy’s American Bar, The Strand
Placed top of the list at the recent World’s 50 Best Bars awards, The Savoy hotel’s American Bar launches its latest cocktail menu on April 5. Titled ‘Every Moment Tells a Story’, the new list is inspired by 20 black-and-white Terry O’Neil photographs that have decorated the American Bar’s walls since the 1980s.
Featuring the famed shot of Faye Dunaway deliberating over breakfast by the pool with the papers the morning after winning her 1976 Oscar, and Marlene Dietrich walking on stage in London to a rapturous response, the snapshots suggest something more significant than what has been depicted, so the team is hoping their drinks will resonate in similar ways. Among the cocktails on offer are a Mick Jagger-inspired Pinstripe (£20), featuring vodka, apricot liqueur, champagne syrup and lavender, and You and I (£30), which fuses rum, cucumber, peach leaf liqueur, pomegranate molasses and gold, and is dedicated to Barbara Streisand.
Brown’s Hotel, Mayfair
Change is also afoot at Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair. The property’s Donovan Bar has now emerged from a complete renovation by Rocco Forte Hotels’ Olga Polizzi and interior designer Inge Moore. Significantly expanded, the den features racing-green banquettes and an impressive glass bar top. New cocktail options are available, too. Created by Salvatore Calabrese, 16 original cocktails are inspired by 1960s photographer Sir Terence Donovan, whose work is shown throughout the bar. They include the likes of Naughty Corner, a mix of rum, white cacao liquor, passion fruit, cocoa butter and saffron.
And just across the corridor, the hotel’s restaurant has been completely redeveloped. Without a permanent outpost in London since his days at The Lanesborough, Heinz Beck heads proceedings at Beck at Brown’s. Now in its soft-opening period and launching officially on April 16, the casual Italian restaurant will feature unpretentious dishes such as risotto with parmesan and artichokes, and striploin with truffle mash and rosemary.
Sketch, Mayfair
One of the country’s most beautiful dining and drinking spaces, Mayfair’s Sketch celebrates its 15th anniversary this year - a milestone few thought it would reach when the innovative venue opened its doors in 2003 and was promptly panned by pretty much every influential critic in the country.
The tone shifted when the late AA Gill saw its potential and wrote the first positive review of Sketch. In the intervening years the venue has gone from strength to strength - one of London’s best afternoon teas is served in the pink-hued Gallery; an elegant brunch is offered in the sophisticated, intimate Glade room and The Parlour functions as a pretty patisserie during the day and popular cocktail bar at night.
With much to reflect on, Sketch proprietor Mourad Mazouz and the team have now launched a special 15th-anniversary Prestige Menu at Sketch’s two-Michelin-starred Lecture Room & Library restaurant. A jewellery box in ruby and gold, the high-ceilinged room is another standout setting in which to enjoy a special dining experience. Created by Pierre Gagnaire, the anniversary menu features homemade tagliolini with Russian Oscietra caviar; grilled 25-year-old Pied de Cehval oyster wrapped in Colonnata ham and served with rich black winter truffle; and milk-fed lamb from the Pyrenees.
Available until June 22, the Prestige Menu costs £325 per person and is served alongside the a la carte menu and the regular seven-course tasting menu, which costs £120, or £95 for the vegetarian option.
Lahpet, Bethnal Green
Following its well-received year-long Hackney pop-up, Burmese restaurant Lahpet launches its first permanent site on Bethnal Green Road on April 6. Utilising unusual imported Burmese ingredients alongside locally supplied fish, meat and veg, head chef Zaw Mahesh serves hake masala (£14), fish chowder (£11) and other Burmese specialities rarely on offer in the capital.
Imad’s Choose Love Kitchen, Shoreditch
Run by refugee Imad Alarnab and charity HelpRefugees, Imad’s Choose Love Kitchen is a new Shoreditch pop-up that aims to introduce Londoners to Syrian cuisine, raise understanding of the country’s culture and generate vital funds for Hope Hospital, a children’s facilty in the Aleppo region that is set to receive all profits from this project.
A three-course dinner costs £40 per person and the restaurant will serve two sittings of 20 people per night; the £5 corkage fee for BYOB goes directly to the hospital. Now open, the restaurant is provisionally scheduled to close on May 31, although that date can be extended for at least a month should the endeavour prove popular.
Mei Ume, Tower Hill
To celebrate hanami, Japan’s cherry blossom festival, Four Season Ten Trinity Square’s Asian restaurant Mei Ume will serve a special menu from April 16 to May 5. Setting the tone for the occasion will be Mei Ume’s interiors, which will be decorated with a temporary display of cherry blossom and hanging lanterns as a complement to the restaurant’s hand-painted murals and silk embroidered panels. As for the a la carte menu, it will feature rock shrimp tempura, pan-fried wagyu beef gyoza, sushi and grilled miso seabass.
London Shell Co., Paddington Basin
To mark the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote, Paddington Central-based restaurant London Shell Co. will host chef Elizabeth Haigh and an all-female team for a series of three special dinners this month. Served on the 11th, 18th and 25th, Haigh’s five-course menu will reflect her interest in butchery and cooking with fire so expect plenty of barbecued meat and 24-hour smoked vegetables. Wines are chosen by female winemakers. The dinner allows for sightseeing too: London Shell Co. is housed on a converted barge and will cruise the canal as diners tuck in to dinner. The menu costs £45, or £100 with matching wines.
Mare StreetMarket, Hackney
Currently in soft-opening phase, Hackney’s Mare Street Market launches fully next week. Described as a modern marketplace, the premises will host “a consortium of east London’s most accomplished artisans and talented producers”. Expect caffeine from Flying Horse Coffee; pizzas from Breadstation; and ice cream from Hackney Gelato. With lots of stalls in situ, there’ll be plenty to snack on, as well as the opportunity to enjoy more substantial meals at the Dining Room restaurant.
Freak Scene, Soho
Inspired by Singapore’s hawker centres, former Clerkenwell pop-up Freak Scene moves to a permanent Soho outpost this month. The Southeast Asian-inspired menu features miso-grilled black cod tacos and tea-smoked beef, alongside yeast-based cocktails that apparently offer “a rich umami hit”. There’s no website as yet, but you can get a feel for the place on Instagram.
Two Tribes KX, King’s Cross
The latest new arrival at King’s Cross, Two Tribes KX is a brewhouse, taproom and events space. Boozing is an obvious focus, and the expected range of small-batch beers are on offer alongside rare spirits and snacks. Various parties and gigs are scheduled too, and the venue opens on April 14.
Magic Roundabout, Old Street
Noisy, directly above a Tube station and completely surrounded by a congested roundabout, Old Street’s Magic Roundabout won’t appeal to everyone, but for those who have always been keen to visit, this is your last chance: the party venue, with bars, food stalls and DJs, launches its summer season on April 18th - and when it’s over the venue will close forever. This year’s theme is ‘Urban Jungle’, which means the whole venue will be decked out with glowing neon lights, some kind of take on a waterfall and “beautiful, Avatar-style jungle flora and fauna”.
Opinionated About Dining, Royal Hospital Chelsea
And finally, a one-off event that could well interest London’s most committed (and financially flush) epicureans, international restaurant-ranking website Opinionated About Dining hosts its annual Top 100+ European Restaurants announcement dinner at Royal Hospital Chelsea on April 23. Of most importance for the many industry insiders who attend is the big reveal of the continent’s best restaurants, as chosen by OAD founder Steve Plotnicki and his judges. For others it’s the multi-course menu that will be served, featuring “the highest-quality product that can be sourced in Britain” (eel, langoustines, 30-day-aged prime beef), cooked by some of Europe’s best chefs and culminating in what OAD promises will be a British roast to beat all others. Tickets cost £400 per person. To see if Plotnicki’s tastes match your own, read his guide to the best restaurants in the north of England; he believes Britain’s “coolest restaurant” is in Stockport.