Carmel, the new diamond from Josh Katz and Mattia Bianchi, opened in Fitzrovia in the early months of 2024, and has been welcoming guests with a friendly embrace ever since. The restaurant is open from lunch through to dinner, and extends to brunch on the weekends. Josh, along with Carmel's executive chef Jeremy Borrow, have created a menu that consists of small plates and sharing dishes that explore the flavours, produce and spices that can be found across the Eastern Mediterranean. Carmel is a sophisticated and sleek restaurant that has detailing of blackened steel throughout, with rich timber and an impressive open kitchen. If you want to enjoy private dining, take a peep at the Green Room, a beautiful space that is filled with lush greenery and its very own bar.
Fresh pasta is one of the highlights on the menu, yet the dishes move away from some of the expected Italian classics. Dishes include seafood pappardelle with mussels, squid and hake, and sweet potato gnocchi with burnt aubergine and squid. A favourite from the Queens Park restaurant, the flatbread, has also made its way onto the Fitzrovia menu, and includes toppings of anchovy and chilli butter, cod's roe with potato, rosemary, spring onion and bottarga, and prosciutto with guindilla.
If you enjoy your wines then this restaurant will likely hit a sweet spot. Wine is a central part of the restaurant, with co-founder and wine buyer Mattia working with some of the best low-intervention producers from across the world. If cocktails are more your thing, you'll love to taste the epic flavour pairings that are inspired by the region, including a Negroni with dried lime, sage and rose, and a Tom Collins that is made with beetroot, acai, Vermouth and apple infused gin.