Gaucho Tower Bridge
The latest opening from Gaucho, the best place in London to enjoy Argentine steaks, wine and lively good fun. This one has a killer location - right beside Mayor Livingston's pompous palace with sensational views across to Tower Bridge. Leave scruffy Tooley Street behind and you're in a futuristic precinct with mobile water sculptures and huge glass towers. Gaucho is a large space on the ground floor with familiar decoration like black and white hide seating but it's all more modern and chic than before. The brand is growing up. (See picture above left.) The food can't be bettered: palate-tingling ceviche of fresh fish - the perfect non-fattening diet food; tremendous beef (be warned though, the Argies don't eat meat as rare as we do); traditional sauces like chimichurri and béarnaise; chunky chips; and the South American special, "humitas", a luscious ball of creamy sweet corn. This latest Gaucho has only been open a few weeks but it's already the hot favourite of local salarymen who realise there's more to life than the commuter train from London bridge.
2 More London Riverside, London SE1, 020 7407 5222
www.gauchorestaurants.co.uk
Blueprint Café
A bargain is not what you normally expect at Terence Conran's "gastrodome" on Shad Thames. Four restaurants with great food, stunning interiors and bags of atmosphere but cheap isn't a word that springs instantly to mind. But new owners Dan&D London understand the allure of a discount. Blueprint Café, probably the most bohemian of the quartet has an attractive summer offer on wines with 10 different wines at £10 a bottle each. Save almost 50% on Picpoul de Pinet, a delicious Rueda, Cotes du Rhone and wines from Puglia, the Veneto, Bergerac and South Australia. There's even a 50cl bottle of Manzanilla La Gitana in the deal. All this plus Jeremy Lee's gutsy Modern British food and an almost unbeatable view of the City skyline (see above right). Available up to 31st August. The full wine list is available too if you aren't economising.
Design Museum, 28 Shad Thames, London SE1, 020 7387 7031
Shoreditch House
The biggest opening of the season is Shoreditch House, the latest venture by Nick Jones whose mighty portfolio includes Soho House in the West End, the Electric in Notting Hill, High Road House in Chiswick, Babington House in Somerset and Soho House New York that's a must for fashionistas. (Read more about Shoreditch House on our RADAR page.) You can eat and drink at many different areas of this huge multi-storey space including the House Kitchen (the main dining area), the Snug with its low tables - great for watching sports events on a big screen, the Square Bar, private dining areas, and al fresco dining by the rooftop pool. There's simply nothing like it in town.
Ebor Street, Shoreditch, London E1, 020 7739 5040
www.shoreditchhouse.com
Sartoria Bar
No more silly girlie drinks please. No more fruit mixes and innocuous alcopops masquerading as grown-up cocktails. At last there's a bar in Mayfair that serves proper drinks based on the austere taste of Amari or "bitters". At Sartoria, (see above centre), bar manager Mark Jenner has amassed all the famous names: Averna, Fernet Branca, Aperol, Cynar and many more. The new cocktails are suitable as aperitifs, long summer coolers or digestifs after a satisfying meal. This Amari collection is a true taste of Italy - sophisticated, cool and infinitely versatile. The bar has been given a new look too with comfortable furniture instead of stylish but uncomfortable Eames chairs. There is an easy menu of snack food from 12noon - 10pm and from Wednesday to Friday, Sartoria honours the Italian tradition of serving complimentary canapés or "stuzzichini" between 6-7pm.
20 Savile Row, London W1, 020 7534 7000
www.sartoriabar.co.uk
La Petite Maison
Movers 'n' shakers of the business world love this discreet corner site in a low-key Mayfair mews that, until recently, was the Italian restaurant, Teca. New owners have reinvented it in the style of a popular restaurant in Nice, La Petite Maison and it has caught on with the foodie world as well as men in bespoke suits. The concept is simple but unusual in London. You share the dishes, rather as you would at home if someone had prepared a bowl of salade Niçoise, a plate of thinkly sliced octopus, whole sea bass baked in salt, or a delicious roast chicken stuffed with foie gras. It conjures up the warm magic of the South of France but the menu can be confusing. Avoid ordering too much and getting a whopping bill. Let the waiters advise you about portions. It's full of smart business people during the day and a vivacious international crowd at night.
54 Brooks Mews, London W1, 020 7495 4774
www.lpmlondon.co.uk
Wild Honey
This is the second opening from Anthony Demetre and Will Smith who made such a splash last year with Arbutus in Soho. The site was previously Drones Club owned by Marco Pierre White and then Ben Goldsmith. The Arbutus team will recreate their success story in hedge fund heartland with an interior of wood panelling, cosy booths, a chic marble-topped bar with tall chairs, and just 60 seats. It is open for lunch and dinner every day with European cooking: bouillabaise, beef with roast bone marrow, risotto, and Welsh lamb with Greek-style stuffed courgettes. Wines are by the glass, the bottle and useful 250ml carafes. There's the daily-changing menu plus a three-course lunch, £15.50 and three-course pre-theatre dinner, 5.30-7pm, £17.50.
12 St George Street, London W1, 020 7758 9160
It's the dog days of summer but there's no stopping London's lively restaurant scene. Newcomers are thriving in the City and the hedge fund heartlands of Mayfair. Roll up, roll up. We never close.
Must try...
American bankers like salt beef sandwiches. Fact. Hence the success of the Brass Rail at Selfridges where chefs in traditional whites carve juicy slices and serve them up with rye bread and mustard.The salt beef sandwich is the takeaway of choice for financial whiz kids, lawyers and oil brokers who now populate W1. The Brass rail celebrates its 40th birthday this year with a new interior by ultra-hip architects Michaelis Boyd (they're doing David Cameron's eco-home), and you sit at conventional tables or on the high stools at the bar. Breakfast from 7.30am including croissants, muffins, bagels with smoked salmon, proper porridge or fruit and yoghurt for cissies. There's an all-day menu from 10am with salads, sauerkraut and freshly baked New York cheesecake. Ground Floor Food Hall, Selfridges, 400 Oxford Street, London W1, 0870 837 7377
One of London's best new restaurants is Trinity in the heart of Clapham Old Town. Adam Byatt moved away from the West End (at Hospital) to open his own small, friendly place with masterly complex food. He immediately won over the posh clientele south of the river. This summer he's launching small cooking classes, "Thoughts For Food", on Tuesday mornings every fortnight until the end of the year. Each class is £50 per person including lunch and a glass of champagne. August 7th covers pasta making and light meat dishes; August 21st covers English fish and shellfish. 4 The Polygon, London SW4, 020 622 1199 www.trinityrestaurant.co.uk
An exceptional Champagne house that rarely hogs the headlines is Gosset which has launched the extremely rare Celebris Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut. It is made with 100% chardonnay, a blend of four vintages from just eleven selected villages. On the nose and in the mouth it is deliciously fresh and lively, avoiding the thin bitter taste associated with inferior Extra Brut, and it retains Gosset's signature toasty complexity alongside the floral, fruity notes. Only 4000 bottles have been made and the UK has an allocation of little more than 300. Celebris Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut will be available from Berry Bros, Harrods and exclusive restaurants with the best wine lists such as Le Gavroche. At retail it will cost around £100 a bottle. For more information, contact distributors McKinley Vintners on 020 7928 7300 or email info@mckinleyvintners.co.uk
