With Spanish restaurant group Ibérica officially opening it latest branch in Victoria this week, we’re declaring this former dominion of nobody but Wicked and National Express fanatics as officially hot. Find out why here, as we reveal all things currently hot to trot in the world of restaurants and bars – as well as a couple of things that are definitely past it.
WHAT’S HOT
Victoria
Ibérica (already in possession of sites in Cabot Square, Canary Wharf, Farringdon, Marylebone and Manchester) has chosen the Zig Zag Building for its latest branch, as has M Restaurants, which will open M Grill and M Raw in the same building in November. And yes, while much of the area may currently be a builder’s playground, those builders are planting some delicious restaurant and bar seeds beyond the barriers: when new leisure temple Nova (above) opens in 2016, Jason Atherton (Pollen Street Social), D&D London (Angler, Coq d’Argent, Quaglino’s et al), Will Ricker (La Bodega Negra) and Adam White (Riding House Café) will all be unveiling new and (with any luck) appetising ventures. Victoria isn’t hot – it’s scorching.
Sex
National Orgasm Day (read on for more, decreasingly credulous national days) at the end of July resulted in a sex-fuelled pop-up for London: The Aphrodisishack served up itchy trigger finger foods such as oysters and chocolate alongside sex toys. Yep. We couldn’t make this stuff up. Next, restaurant tycoon Richard Caring (of Caprice Holdings – The Ivy and Le Caprice) is going to have a go at bringing Sexy (Fish) back in September: he’s lavished around £12 million on the interior of Sexy Fish (above), an all-day brasserie which will be strutting (or maybe just flapping) into Berkeley Square, Mayfair. Sign us up Dick.
Wine bars
Yep, they’re hip again, thanks to watering holes such as Jason Atherton’s newcomer Social Wine & Tapas in Marylebone, followed by a new Champagne + Fromage bringing small-grower fizz to the thirsty people of Greenwich. Hampstead heathens will soon be in possession of a new place of wine worship when The Truscott Cellar (from gastropubbers The Truscott Arms) opens next month, which is also when Il Cudega which will begin serving up Italian wines from beneath Hackney’s Westgate Street railway arches.
The scrumptious Seventies
This September comes Coin Laundry, a new British restaurant and bar which is set to transport its Exmouth Market premises back to the 1970s, with a suitably brown, orange and plastic-fantastic interior (at least that’s what we’re hoping for) and a Kiev counter selling, you guessed it, chicken Kiev. This is truly the best news ever and we will not hear otherwise.
Bottomless boozy brunches
We can’t get away from them and it seems like London cannot get enough. We’re not complaining; Flesh & Buns and Forge & Co are currently among our favourites…hic!
WHAT’S NOT
National food days
Sushi Day, Doughnut Day, Watermelon Day, Chocolate-covered Strawberries Day, Apple Stalks Appreciation Month (we may have fabricated that last one)…Enough already. It’s just Monday for heaven’s sake.
OTT cocktails
Sure, we all like a bit of flair, but at 5.30pm on a Friday, feathers and freeze-dried bacon dust are really not necessary. Just bring us a drink.
Eggs
What came first, the eggs or the…
...chicken?
We’re not sure but suffice to say they’ve both been around for a fair few years, in a global capacity. So why the flapping fuss? In the last year we’ve seen the arrival of Bad Egg, The Good Egg (those two should really have it out), Wings Eggs, Egg Break, Ma' Plucker and Square Meal’s guide to the best roast chicken dinners in London. Oh, that was us. Clearly, we all love chicken and eggs, but this trend is going to consume itself if it carries on like this.
This article was modified 18 August 2015