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01/08/12
Five Easy Pieces
Where to Eat This Year in London
2012. Big year for London. The Olympics. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. (It’s a thing.) And more importantly, the opening of the city’s first La Esquina. Behold, London’s five most important restaurant openings of the year. Consider it a culinary Olympiad...
LATE JANUARY
Pitt Cue Co.
When a Brit teams up with a crew of Southerners to convert his BBQ food truck into a full-blown restaurant,
you’ve got the recipe for a fantastic buddy sitcom. Also: for smoked brisket, pulled pork and deep-fried
pickled shiitake. We didn’t say it wouldn’t get weird.
- 411:
- Pitt Cue Co., 1 Newburgh St, London, W1F 7RB
LATE JANUARY
10 Greek Street
The Wapping Project. Perhaps you’re familiar—the farm-fresh cuts of meat, the in-house butchery, the
home in a former hydraulic power station. Well, the guy behind it is unveiling a new place, serving up
suckling pigs on a menu that changes daily. (Hint: keep your Tuesdays open if you’re into beef ribs.)
- 411:
- 10 Greek Street, 10 Greek St, Soho, London, W1D 4DH
EARLY FEBRUARY
Mari Vanna
Dolls within dolls. Shelves lined with Dostoyevsky. Models sipping champagne. But enough about Prokhorov’s
New Year’s Eve party, let’s talk Mari Vanna. Those aforementioned touches are unique to the new outpost
of NYC’s notorious den of Russian-style indulgence. Fear not: the sturgeon black caviar still pairs well
with beet-infused vodka.
- 411:
- Mari Vanna, 116 Knightsbridge, Wellington Court, London, SW1X 7PJ, +44 (0) 203 159 5390
DATE TBD
La Esquina
So La Esquina is setting up shop on the footsteps of the Cambridge Hotel. And like its NYC cousin, the
London version’s got a semisecret downstairs—in this case, a 24-hour bar hidden below the brasserie. For
when your nights out require a 5am michelada.
- 411:
- La Esquina, 13-17 Moor St/5-11 Old Compton St, London, WC2 ODP
WINTER 2012
Balthazar
Come for the brunch of champions (duck-stuffed shepherd’s pie with Bloody Marys), stay for the art.
There’s a full-on gallery in Keith McNally’s new London location, housed in the old Theatre Museum.
Here’s hoping a Minetta Tavern outpost isn’t far behind...
- 411:
- Balthazar, 4-6 Russell St, London, WC2E 7BN
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