You wait ages for a classy veg-forward restaurant to open then two launch in the same month. July sees the opening of Plates, the much-anticipated debut from chef (and Great British Menu winner) Kirk Haworth and his sister Keeley, as well as the first permanent site for plant-based brand Holy Carrot. Fingers crossed these two peas in a pod turn out to be hot potatoes rather than, unlike much of the UK vegan food scene, ending up in a pickle.
Elsewhere in London look out for new projects from some of the capital’s better chains-in-waiting: a Harry’s in Victoria (52 Grosvenor Gardens, SW1W 0AU), a Kolamba in Spitalfields (12 Blossom Street, E1 6PL) and Laphet in London Bridge (39-45 Bermondsey Street, SE1 3XF). Otherwise, we spill the beans on the best independent-minded restaurants opening in London this July.
Plates
Great British Menu Champion of Champions Kirk Haworth is opening this plant-based restaurant with his sister Keeley, the pair’s first permanent site after a sold-out residency in Dalston. The chef adopted a plant-based diet in 2016 to mitigate Lyme disease, while Keeley has a background in nutrition and sustainability. Here Kirk will be serving a seven-course tasting menu while Keeley has overseen the design of the 25-cover space where materials have been repurposed and recycled where possible. Expect kimchi-topped carrots, mung bean ravioli, and strawberries in tomato consommé — plus a very lengthy wait for a table: Plates is booked solid for the next few months, though a summer terrace will offer an easier way in if it’s not raining.
Opens: July 3
320 Old Street, EC1V 9DR, plates-london.com
Engel and Jang
The first project from Des Gunewardena’s new D3 Collective group sees the former D&D London CEO open two distinct concepts on the mezzanine level of the Royal Exchange, one of the grandest locations in the City. Engel is a cocktail bar, performance space and terrace inspired by 1920s Berlin, with cocktails and cabaret to summon up the rather iffy spectre of the Weimar Republic, and a Mitteleuropean menu of gourmet hot dogs and German beer served all day on the terrace. Jang, by contrast, is a thoroughly up-to-date affair of Japanese and Korean cuisines — slow-cooked Ibérico pork in doenjang broth, platters of sushi and sashimi — though also served up with Twenties stylings. D3’s next project will open at Canary Wharf later in the year.
Opens: July 8
The Mezzanine, First Floor, Royal Exchange, EC3V 3LQ, engelbar.co.uk, jangrestaurant.co.uk
Highroad Social
There’s a crack team behind this new British brasserie in Greenwich. Owner David O’Brien is the former development director of Caprice Holdings, head chef Fionnan Flood comes from the Chelsea Pig and bar manager Clark Crown is ex-Palomar. On the menu are raw plates of Hereford beef on toast or British Isles seafood (Scottish scallops, Carlingford oysters, Cornish crab) ahead of sharing plates such as spatchcock chicken and Dover sole. English-accented drinks include a martini made with 58 and Co olive-oil vodka and beers brewed by Coalition in south London, as well as global wines; just the ticket when the DJ starts spinning funk and soul.
Opens: July 7
178 Greenwich High Road, SE10 8NN, highroadsocial.com
Holy Carrot
The plant-focused brand and supper club is teaming up with chef Daniel Watkins (co-founder of Acme Fire Cult) for a first permanent site, in Notting Hill. Watkins’s “root to peel” menu is focused on fire and ferments, with sustainability and seasonality being other alliterative watchwords. Classics from the supper clubs such as “sexy tofu” and crispy oyster mushrooms will be joined by new small plates like smoked beetroot with hazelnut crema and sweet and sour dill. The 50-cover dining room includes a cocktail bar, where drinks have been developed by Dalston’s A Bar With Shapes for a Name, while wines, as one might expect, are natural.
Opens: July 16
156 Portobello Road, W11 2EB, holycarrot.co.uk
Dhakaah
Named after Bangladesh’s capital city, Dhakaah brings Bangladeshi cuisine and culture to Camden Market. Veggie options are excellent — pani puri-like fuchka filled with spiced potato, chickpea and spiced tamarind water; the shortcrust pastry of shingara filled with soft potato and spiced vegetables — or else there are beef kathi rolls and a roast of free-range chicken leg caramelised with onion, mixed nuts and masala spices. There are lassis, too, otherwise the drinks are rather less wholesome: a G&T flavoured with Bangladeshi lemon, or a dirty martini based on jolpai, a giant Asian version of an olive.
Opens: July 24
2nd Floor, Hawley Wharf Market, Camden Lock, NW1 8AA, dhakaah.com
Also opening
Dez Amore
Hot on the heels of Joséphine, the Chelsea stretch of Fulham Road gets another filip with this street stall-turned-bricks and mortar venture opposite the Picturehouse cinema serving pan-fried pizza, cacio e pepe pasta and Tuscan burgers.
Opens: July 1
273 Fulham Road, SW10 9PZ, dezamore.co.uk
Albert’s Schloss
A very big deal in Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool, can this Northern party palace opening in the Trocadero cut the mustard with Londoners? Time will tell whether dancing on tables to live music lubricated by gallons of Pilsner Urquell is a recipe for success in the capital.
Opens: July 4
20-24 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 7EU, albertsschloss.com
Kaso
A seventh-floor rooftop restaurant at the 100 Shoreditch hotel, serving up eastern Mediterranean-inspired small plates such as lamb cutlets with fig and pistachio salsa against a backdrop of the City skyline and to a live DJ soundtrack.
Opens: July 5
100 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6JQ, onehundredshoreditch.com
Piraña
Not, alas, an all-you-can-eat freshwater buffet to sink your teeth into, this Piraña instead is an entertainment-led restaurant serving the Peruvian-Japanese fusion of Nikkei cuisine. Owner Strongarm Hospitality has previous form on Mykonos; you have been warned.
Opens: July 11
7-9 St James’s Street, SW1A 1EE, strongarmhospitality.com
Sandwich Sandwich
This family-owned Bristol import won Uber Eats’s Restaurant of the Year award in 2023; now they’re bringing their doorstop sarnies (including a bestselling rare roast beef with horseradish mayo) to the City, with an eat-in restaurant for 28 or, more likely, takeaway for office workers and St Paul’s tourists.
Opens: Late July
1 Gresham Street, EC2V 7BX, sandwichsandwich.co.uk
