The foodie news this season includes some exciting restaurant openings, a glamorous breakfast location, an inspirational cocktail and the easiest gourmet picnics in town.
In Vogue
It's all about Vogue this year, as the fashion magazine celebrates its centenary. At Westfield London, a Vogue café will be open from June 27 until September 25. As well as serving a traditional afternoon tea, there will be a Vogue 100 champagne cocktail and a Vogue 100 punch.
Tune up for The Engineer
A longstanding gastro-pub favourite in Primrose Hill has had a spruce-up. The Engineer now has a new bar - The Brunel, while The Engine Room has had a smart and stylish refurb, giving it less of a gastropub and more of a trendy bar feel. Downstairs has also had a lick of paint but regulars will feel at home in the wood-panelled bar with its flowery wallpaper. The garden will always be a favourite for summery al fresco meals or drinks with nibbles.
Ostuni does the double
Lucky north Londoners. The Masseria group has opened a branch of Ostuni on Hampstead Lane, Highgate. It will be the second branch for the Puglian eatery, whose first outlet has done a roaring trade with Queen's Park locals since 2013. The décor is rustic and the menu will feature regional pastas and dishes from the wood-fired grill, as well as Puglian and fine Italian wines and intriguing cocktails, such as the Green Puglian and Espresso Martini Pugliese.
ostunirestaurant.co.uk
Unmissable Mist
Cocktail fans will want to get to The Landmark London to try its Marylebone Mist (pictured, opposite page), although the ingredients must remain secret until the launch on July 9. Its arrival will be marked by a masterclass led by Sipsmith Gin's expert mixologist. (The event is on Shabbat but do sample the cocktail on another day.)
Reservations: 020 7631 8000
restaurants.reservation@
thelandmark.co.uk
breakfast at The Ivy
Move over Wolseley, there's a new posh breakfast joint in town. Covent Garden's Ivy now serves a weekday breakfast with a menu includeing all the brekkie favourites plus lighter options such as Super Seed Bowls - raw, superfood-packed bowls of chia, flax and oats, along with plenty of fresh fruit - as well as the more indulgent waffles or French toast. Available from 8am to 10.30am, Monday to Friday.
Delisserie's NW8 debut
The St John's Wood branch of The Rotisserie has been reborn as The Delisserie and now offers a wider, more relaxed menu, featuring shakshuka, the now ubiquitous Sabra speciality, which will be available all day and with various add-ins.
delisserie.com
Carluccio's sleepover
At the end of May, the newest branch of Carluccio's opened at the Marriott Regent's Park. Offering Italian all-day dining, with a deli and food shop attached, it is the first branch of this Italian chain inside a hotel. The restaurant will be serving a breakfast buffet, extended bar menu and regularly changing set weekday lunch menu (£10.99 for two courses). Lucky hotel guests will be able to choose from Carluccio's fare on the room-service menu, and the deli/shop will sell Carluccio's picnics (£45 per adult/£10 per child), all ready to shlep to Regent's Park, the Heath or even home.
020 7449 4490
carluccios.com
O ver to you
Opening this month at Borough Market is O ver (not a typo, but Neapolitan for "is it true?"), offering pizza, pasta, salads and Neapolitan street food and traditional desserts. There will also be ciccheti (Italian tapas) at lunchtime and a bar with London views. The USP is pure sea water in many of their dishes. O ver claims that this not only improves the taste and texture of food but has many health benefits, having 40 times less sodium chloride than table salt and plenty of trace minerals. Tommaso Mastromatteo, the pizza chef at O Ver, is a real pro, being one of only 15 teachers in the world belonging to the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana - the organisation that promotes and protects true Neapolitan pizza.
Chriskitch goes East
A second branch of the popular Muswell Hill café run by Christian Honor, the charismatic and super-talented chef, has popped up in London's trendy Hoxton.
Chriskitch Hoxton has a brunch menu featuring his usual range of interesting breads (Guinness and blue cheese or chilli cheese cornbread, for instance) plus breakfast options in his characteristic style: the veggie breakfast includes halloumi and hummus; porridge is accompanied by banana, toasted caramelised nuts, banana, honey, chia seeds and goji berries.
The dinner options are similarly tantalising - crispy smoked potato skin, truffle and thyme powder, garlic and lemon aioli is one starter option; another is raw tuna charcoal with pickled apple, basil, fresh green pepper and bay leaf.
Also adding some drama to dining are caramelised banana with vanilla parsley sweet cream and salted balsamic fudge, as well as smoked milk ice cream with violet crumble, poached pear shiso (shiso is an Asian herb) and salted caramel sauce.
