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London’s New Restaurants, Hotels, and Bars

Posted by Emyr Thomas

By Emyr Thomas

Whilst the weather may not be doing us any favours, London’s restaurant scene is certainly warming up as we enter summer in London. Here’s Bon Vivant’s round up of the best new restaurants, hotels and bars to open in London over the recent and coming months.

Vinoteca Comes to Soho and Revamps at Farringdon and Marylebone

Vinoteca opened its original wine shop and restaurant in Farringdon in 2005, adding a Marylebone site in 2010 and now a new Soho site on Beak Street from May 2012.

Vinoteca is inspired by the wine bars of Spain and Italy, offering modern British and European seasonal food alongside a wine shop selling nearly 300 wines, which you can also enjoy at each restaurant.

An Expanding Empire for Hix

There seems to be no stopping Mark Hix at the moment, with his latest venture opening at the Tramshed building in Shoreditch. The 150-seat restaurant focuses on steak and chicken, with the option of either a whole chicken or a 200g sirloin steak as mains, with a changing selection of starters.

As with other Hix restaurants, there’s commissioned artwork from Damien Hirst featuring a cow and a cockerel taking centre stage.

Firmdale Hotels to Re-Open Dorset Square Hotel

In 1985 Tim and Kit Kemp opened their first property, the Dorset Square Hotel and introduced the Firmdale Hotels concept to the London hotel market. It was sold in 2002 but the hotel was reacquired last year and will re-open as part of the Firmdale collection on 18 June, adding to their other luxury boutique hotels including the Covent Garden Hotel, Charlotte Street Hotel, Haymarket Hotel and Soho Hotel.

The Regency townhouse has 38 bedrooms, many of which look onto the private garden square which was originally the site of Thomas Lord’s first cricket ground. The Potting Shed bar & restaurant will open all day, serving English brasserie style cuisine using locally sourced and seasonal produce.

Sushisamba at The Heron Tower

SUSHISAMBA, which has many locations throughout the US, will open its first European restaurant in London in July, on the 38th and 39th floors of the Heron Tower in The City.

SUSHISAMBA offers a mix of Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian cuisine, and with two outdoor terraces, it will surely also have a rather impressive view. The restaurant will be open daily for brunch, lunch and dinner, offering outdoor dining, a bar and lounge, and an event space.

SUSHISAMBA London will have a late licence, opening until 1am Monday to Wednesday, 2am on Thursday and 3am on Friday and Saturday. The owners of Sushisamba will also be opening another restaurant on the 40th floor, which will be announced in a few weeks.

Caravan to Move to a Second Location in King’s Cross

Caravan Restaurant on Exmouth Market is due to open a second site in King’s Cross in July.

Caravan King’s Cross will be located in the Grade II-listed Granary Building, located between King’s Cross Station and St Pancras International. The interiors will ‘reflect the area’s Victorian industrial heritage’, with a coffee roastery and large open kitchen with outside seating for 40 people on Granary Square.

The restaurant will have 80 covers and will serve a menu of ‘food well-travelled’, from breakfast and weekend brunch through to lunch and dinner. The original restaurant on Exmouth Market features in Bon Vivant’s guide to the best brunch in London.

A Sister Restaurant for The Wolseley

Following the success of The Delaunay, Chris Corbin and Jeremy King will launch Brasserie Zedel in Soho towards the end of June. Brasserie Zedel will be ‘a large, bustling Parisian brasserie transported to the heart of London’, which will be open throughout the day, offering ‘great value with remarkably low prices’.

The restaurant has been designed by David Collins Studio in the Art Deco tradition, and will also feature a ‘Bar Américain’ and ‘The Crazy Coqs’, a live music and cabaret venue. Brasserie Zédel will serve classic brasserie fare at affordable prices with starters from £2.95, main courses from £7.50 and desserts from £3.00.

Polpo to Expand to Clerkenwell

Polpo Smithfield is due to open near Smithfield Market on 30 July, seating 70 in the main dining room with space for 20 on the terrace outside. Polpo Smithfield is the latest restaurant from Russell Norman, whose first restaurant Polpo will now be renamed Polpo Soho, with the Covent Garden sister restaurant, da Polpo, becoming Polpo Covent Garden.

Libby Greenfield will be in charge of the kitchen, who has previously worked at Zucca and Russell Norman’s other acclaimed restaurant Polpetto. The new restaurant will feature the same core menu as the original Polpo along with daily specials and a new express lunch menu. Polpo Smithfield will also have a basement Negroni bar.

While reservations can be made for lunch, dinner will operate a no booking policy.

Champagne and Hot Dogs?

Bubbledogs will open in July on Charlotte Street in Fitzrovia, with James Knappett (previously of The Ledbury, Noma and Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, among others) as head chef and Sandia Chang (who has worked at The Berkeley, Noma and Per Se) as General Manager.

Bubbledogs will serve hot dogs and grower Champagne. Yes,that’s right. There will be a menu of ten hot dogs served on traditional steamed buns, including the BLT dog, wrapped in bacon and served with truffle mayo and caramelized lettuce; the Jose dog with guacamole, sour cream, salsa and jalapenos, and a regularly changing guest chef’s special.

The restaurant will also feature a separate ‘Kitchen Table’, which will seat a maximum of 19 guests, with three or five courses at lunch priced from £25, with evening menus priced from £50.

If you would like your own personal concierge to help you with all of your restaurants suggestions and reservations, join London’s leading concierge service. For a taste of what we can offer you, subscribe to the blog, our fortnightly newsletter, follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook!

London Restaurant Guide: March Update

Posted by Bon Vivant

By Emyr Thomas

Spring is in the air in London, and with the clocks going forward at the end of the month, you can almost taste the Pimm’s of summer.

In a few short months, you’ll be fighting for every available space in the capital’s best roof terraces and beer gardens, but for now, head to Hawksmoor’s new basement bar at the original Spitalfields location. Once there, I suggest you make yourself comfortable and start working your way through the cocktail list while you read my selection of March’s best new openings.

Michelin-starred chef Bruno Barbieri, one of Italy’s most celebrated and recognised chefs following his regular appearances on Italian MasterChef, has just opened his first UK restaurant, Cotidie, on Marylebone High Street, on the former site of Café Luc which closed late last year.

Named after the Latin word for ‘everyday’, Cotidie features a menu of daily changing dishes in an informal dining room. The restaurant seats 75, with a counter bar, named BARbieri, for up to 10 guests with its own cicchetti menu. Based on the restaurants from our own MasterChef regulars, let’s hope it’s more Michel Roux than anyone else.

Indian Flavours

March looks set to be full of Indian spices with the re-launches and expansions from some of London’s most popular Indian restaurants.

Cinnamon Soho, the third restaurant from executive chef Vivek Singh opened on 21st of March, dubbed as the Cinnamon Kitchen’s ‘younger, cheekier sibling’.

Michelin-starred Quilon, which is based near Victoria, was as famed for its terrible décor as it was for its superb South Indian cuisine. Having closed at the beginning of January, the restaurant re-launched earlier this week following an extensive refurbishment. With a stylish interior to match the quality of the food, Quilon should soon be high up on your restaurant hit list.

If the subtle spicing is a bit too much for your tastes, one of London’s other Michelin-starred Indian restaurants is offering something different for the next few weeks.

Atul Kochhar from Benares on Berkeley Square is joining forces with some of the country’s leading chefs to create a series of fusion menus to be served at the Benares Bar (pictured above). Each chef will prepare a menu of small plates in his own style to complement the Indian spices and flavours of the food at Benares.

First off will be Richard Corrigan from Corrigan’s Mayfair (from just around the corner), who’ll team up with Kochhar for two weeks from 20 March. Then Irish will give way to Thai, as David Thompson from Nahm takes over from the 16 April. The last pairing will come from Northcote’s Nigel Howorth, one of Lancashire’s finest chefs, who’ll take up his residence until 3 May.

(While at Benares, may I suggest you wash it all down with one of the bar’s signature passion fruit martinis…)

The Russians are coming…

Situated in (where else?) Knightsbridge, Mari Vanna will open its doors from 15 March offering ‘babushka cooking’ – homely Russian dishes with influences from Armenia, Georgia and Uzbekistan, but with a lighter and more contemporary feel.

The décor is designed to recreate the feeling of a traditional Russian home where shelves are adorned with matryoshka dolls, trinkets and tchotchke – ideal for its location on the doorstep of One Hyde Park and the Bulgari Hotel.

Elsewhere in Knightsbridge, the Harrods food hall has welcomed serial restaurateurs Chris and Jeff Galvin’s fifth London restaurant, Galvin Demoiselle. Here Chris’s wife Sara will be in charge of the bistro-style restaurant, which will have 55 covers. The selection of lighter dishes will no doubt make the perfect pit-stop from your weekly grocery shop.

More steaks, more gin…

London’s love affair with steakhouses continues with the launch of Gillray’s Steakhouse & Bar at the end of March at County Hall, which aims to ‘celebrate the best of English’.

The name derives from James Gillray, a caricaturist of the late eighteenth century, whose work will be exhibited on the walls of the restaurant and bar. (No, I hadn’t heard of him either.)

With the likes of Hawksmoor and Goodman commanding the steak scene in London, Gillray’s will face serious competition. But with a signature dish of a 1000g ‘Bulls Head’ (a 1000g-butterfly cut, double rib steak served with the bone in), hardcore carnivores will have to face up to the challenge.

Vegetarians need not apply.

According to Gillray, the bar will feature “one of the finest selections of gin in London”, which is quite a claim that will surely need some investigation. It’s a tough job, but something I’m willing to do in the name of research. You’re welcome.

To make sure you’re kept informed of similar updates on a regular basis from London’s premier concierge service, subscribe to the blog, our fortnightly newsletter, follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook!

Bootcamp Pilates!

Posted by Bon Vivant

If the gym is not your thing, but you still want to keep in shape, perhaps Bootcamp Pilates is the answer for you.

Hailed by the Evening Standard as “one of London’s top Pilates studios”, Bootcamp Pilates has 4 state of the art Pilates reformer equipped studios across London in Notting Hill, Hoxton, Fulham and Richmond.

Bootcamp Pilates would like to offer all Bon Vivant members the chance to try a complimentary trial class. In addition, they would be delighted to offer you an exclusive 15% discount on any of their classes.

To book your first free class please register online at www.bootcamppilates.com.

Fly a Jumbo Jet

Posted by Bon Vivant

Would you like to enjoy the thrill, excitement, immersion and fascination that comes from being in control of a jumbo jet? Taking off from and landing at some of the world’s most exciting airports and feeling the immense power of the engines as you accelerate down the runway and thrust through the clouds?

If you’re looking for something just a little bit different, that will create a lasting memory, provide absolute escapism and a fun challenge all at the same time, an experience of flying a jumbo jet with a Virtual Aviation full motion flight simulator experience might be what you’re looking for.

Virtual Aviation are offering you the chance to enjoy privileged behind the scenes access to the aviation industry and the chance to experience what it’s like to fly a jumbo jet in a £15 million full motion flight simulator. The simulators are based at a number of locations around the UK and are the same as those used to train airline pilots.

As well as the chance to fly in the simulator, you will also have your own dedicated airline pilot for the duration of your experience. It’s as near to the real thing as you can possibly get and you don’t need to have any previous experience.

For further information or to make a booking, please contact your concierge at Bon Vivant. To make sure you’re kept informed of similar updates on a regular basis, subscribe to the blog, our fortnightly newsletter, follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook!

Competition: Win Your Own Personal Concierge Service

Posted by Bon Vivant

Bon Vivant is delighted to offer complimentary access to your own personal concierge for one month. Simply visit our Facebook page, click the ‘Like’ Button and enter your details in our Sweepstake by clicking here.

To have a greater chance of winning, remember to invite your friends to enter their details as well. Full details can be found on our Facebook page at the link above.

Good Luck!

Christmas Gift Guide – Christmas 2011

Posted by Bon Vivant

With Christmas fast approaching and the party season in full swing, it can be overwhelming to think of all the gifts that need to be purchased. To try to ease the pressure, here’s our Christmas gift guide, which will hopefully give you some inspiration to treat your loved ones.

Christmas Gift Guide: Limited Edition Candle and Night at Babington House

Escape to Somerset and invite someone to spend a cosy winter’s night at Babington House. With 18 acres of grounds, a Cowshed Relax spa, 2 heated swimming pools and several areas for dining and relaxing, Babington House is the perfect escape.

Purchase a Spoilt Cow candle and tucked inside will be a personal invitation for a night at Babington House. To purchase this gift for £195, please call 01373 812 266.

Christmas Gift Guide – Smythson Business Card Holder

Patrick Bateman might have taken it to the extreme, but we use business cards every day and rarely have much of a say in their design or quality. We can, however, ensure we have a stylish way of storing them and the range at Smythson oozes style and sophistication.

Christmas Gift Guide – Hawksmoor at Home

Hawksmoor at Home, from Hawksmoor restaurant, is described as ‘an extended love letter to beef’, from finding the right breed to ageing, the book explains and illustrates different cuts alongside historical references and anecdotes.

Above all, Hawksmoor at Home is a practical cookbook with over a hundred recipes including roasts, the restaurant’s famous burgers and sauces. There are also extensive chapters on seafood, brunch, puddings as well as cocktails and a chapter on wine and how to best match it with beef and seafood.

The team at Hawksmoor are donating all their profits of the sales to Action Against Hunger. To order a copy for £20, click here.

Christmas Gift Guide – ‘Life in a Book’

‘Life in a Book‘ offers a personal photo organisation service, the end result being beautiful coffee table books of your photos – a great way to share memories with your loved ones.

Christmas Gift Guide – Giving the Gift of Fine Food…

Two Michelin starred chef, Marcus Wareing, serves superb cuisine in the beautiful surroundings of the luxurious The Berkeley Hotel. Marcus’s style of cooking is modern and light delivering the best flavours, and The Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley gift card is the perfect treat for food lovers.

The cards are available to buy on the website and can be delivered within 3 working days, arriving in a beautiful presentation box.

Christmas Gift Guide – The Dalmore King Alexander III Whisky

To create this whisky, Master Distiller Richard Paterson has selected a range of differently-aged malts matured in a mixture of French wine casks, Madeira drums, Sherry butts, Marsala barrels, Port pipes and Bourbon barrels from Kentucky.

Available for £150 from specialist whisky merchants.

Christmas Gift Guide – 18 Greatest Golf Books

’18 Greatest Golf’ produces great golf volumes, as much collectible works of art as books, which make fantastic gifts for the golfer who has everything.

The books are luxury limited editions containing original photography and illustrations as well as exclusive interviews with the game’s luminaries, priced at £195. For further information visit www.18greatestgolf.com

Christmas Gift Guide – Clive Christian Perfume

Clive Christian has created ‘the world’s most expensive perfume’, with a gift set containing both male and female version side-by-side. ‘No.1’ contains ‘solely the most prestigious and rare ingredients available’ with both scents complementing each other. £520 for 2x30ml perfumes, available in store at Harrods and Fortnum and Mason; only 500 limited edition boxes available.

Christmas Gift Guide – The Chocolate

‘The Chocolate’ uses the finest chocolate available (63% Toscano Black sourced from an artisan chocolate maker just outside Pisa) to create handmade truffles, filled with champagne, flaked with edible 24-carat gold, all enclosed within a box encrusted with more than 450 Swarovski Crystals inside and out.

A truly indulgent gift for the chocolate lover, the box contains 15 chocolates, retailing at £190 including postage and packing.

Christmas Gift Guide – The Ultimate Collection Box – Moet Hennessy

Moët Hennessy has unveiled its Ultimate Collection Box, showcasing the flagship offerings of each of the wineries in its Estates and Wines portfolio.

The stunning limited edition wooden and metal collection box designed by Parisian artist Pablo Reinoso (£500 and available from Harrods) contains six ‘icon’ wines from around the world, including Argentina, New Zealand and Spain.

Christmas Gift Guide – Record An Album

Representing some of the world’s best songwriters, record producers and DJs, The Private Recording Company can help private clients create world-class music albums – the perfect gift for the aspiring singer or band.

Christmas Gift Guide – A Mulberry Briefcase

A briefcase is an essential part of today’s professional world and can speak volumes about its owner. The Mulberry Heathcliffe briefcase in black natural leather is stylish and durable and is the perfect size for a laptop as well.

Christmas Gift Guide – Bespoke Shirts

A bespoke suit is the epitome of true style, but in current times, it can be seen as quite the extravagance. To achieve the same sharp look without breaking the bank, invest in some bespoke shirts from Turnbull & Asser on Jermyn Street or Gieves & Hawkes on Savile Row.

And, of course, the most important gift of all….

A Bon Vivant Membership

Give the gift that can help maximise free time, offer the joy of convenience, and access to our insider knowledge and expertise. We specialise in every travel, leisure and lifestyle need that your loved ones don’t have the time, inclination or expertise to do themselves, so they can enjoy life.

Whether it’s planning holidays for the year ahead, booking a table at the best new restaurant or sourcing tickets for an exclusive event, our concierge team can help – email us for further details. Sign up to our blog below:

A Bon Vivant’s Christmas

Posted by Emyr Thomas

By Frances Cottrell

Christmas, like no other time of the year, calls upon super human resources and a 25th hour in the day. Unless of course, you are savvy enough to employ the skills of one of London’s finest Luxury Concierge Services.

Bon Vivant offers a fool-proof Christmas solution – the perfect package for those looking to impress friends and relatives with seamless excellence. With total discretion, we can ensure Christmas is a time for indulgence, relaxation and most importantly, stress free.

We can source a selection of interior designers to create bespoke packages for any sized home, from Christmas tree dressing to whole home grotto transformations.

We have a team of chefs on hand to prepare bespoke baked goods to act as Christmas presents for friends, relatives and colleagues, and even to cater for parties throughout the season. They, of course, will also whisk up Christmas lunches to be proud of, so you can enjoy time away from the stove and still enjoy traditional Christmas lunches with all the trimmings.

A fleet of cars to suit even the most stubborn relatives can be available to fetch and carry throughout the Holiday season, so that guests don’t outstay their welcome!

Gifts for loved ones and children can come directly from recommendations from Bon Vivant’s concierge teams if you are lacking in inspiration, and the ‘must haves’ become ‘of course we haves’ for those savvy enough to employ their concierge to acquire them.

So, happy children: check. Well-fed relatives: check. Beautiful homes: check. Stress-free hosts with manicures intact: Check. Bon Vivant offers a solution for any festive problem. For further details, please contact your concierge.

Look out for our Christmas gift and holiday guides, which will be published over the next few days.

London Lifestyle Awards: Runner-Up Prize

Posted by Bon Vivant

We are very pleased to announce that Bon Vivant won the runner up prize for the best concierge service in London at the London Lifestyle Awards 2011. Whilst we always strive to be the best, and hope that our clients and followers agree, to come second against much larger companies who have been established for much longer is quite an achievement.

We will work hard over the next year, continuing with our emphasis on offering our concierge clients a highly personal service, tailored to their specific needs, as well as our commitment to informing our clients, newsletter subscribers and blog readers of the best that London has to offer – we’ll be going for the win next year!

Thank you for your continued support.

London Lifestyle Awards: Best Concierge Nomination

Posted by Bon Vivant

We are delighted to have been shortlisted in the Best Concierge category for the London Lifestyle Awards, which is a celebration of London and of the companies that help make London a great place to live and visit.

We believe that our emphasis on offering our concierge clients a highly personal service, tailored to their specific needs, as well as our commitment to informing our clients, newsletter subscribers and blog readers of all that London has to offer, makes us the best concierge company in London, and we hope you agree.

We try to make sure that we are shouting about the best of the best, and informing as many people as possible about exciting trends and events in the capital, including information on new launches, hotel, restaurant and bar reviews and great event listings.

If you agree, we would be delighted if you could vote for us and your other favourite London companies by clicking here. [You will need to click on a link from the LLA from your email to confirm your nomination, which may go to your junk folder, so please check]. Thank you for your continued support.

Supperclub with the Marvellous Dorians

Posted by Bon Vivant

Award winning comedians, The Marvellous Dorians, are combining their love for laughs and liquor with London’s first and only comedy Supperclub.

Guests will enjoy a three-course dinner within an improvised comedy setting, taking place within the restaurant context.

The action of eating out and watching live comedy combine under the pretence of incompetence, absurdity, cabaret acts and spontaneous interaction between the restaurateurs and diners.

The Marvellous Dorians have been declared as ‘people set to define the next generation’ by Vogue, and are winners of a Time Out Critics’ Choice award.

Tickets are £25 including a 3-course dinner and comedy show, and can be purchased here.

The Marvellous Dorians will appear on 2nd, 3rd and 4th June 2011 at The Mission Room, 26 Exmouth Market, London, EC1R 4Q. 7pm until late.