Welcome to our weekly round-up of all that’s happening in London’s food and drink scene.
Inside this week: booze, no booze, new openings
Boozy new year
Those of you partaking in Dry January, look away now. Partly to counter the slew of new year alcohol avoidance, several initiatives are under way that encourage the good honest consumption of booze. The Crown & Shuttle in Shoreditch has partnered with Langley’s gin to create Langley’s Yard — a juniper-steeped pop-up for the month they’re coining Ginuary. Portobello Road’s Boom Burger is slashing the price of all its cocktails to just a fiver. And breweries around the country are supporting Tryanuary, which simply encourages people to try new beers and spread the word, either over social media or with real-life friends. London breweries backing it include The Five Points Brewing Co in Hackney, Orbit near Elephant & Castle and brewpub Tap East in Stratford.
Dry drinks
Dry January bunch, you can look again now. Non-alcoholic cocktail bar Redemption — which popped-up in Hackney last year — is residing at the Fairly Square fairtrade café in Holborn for the month. It's serving healthy nibbles and desserts alongside mocktails such as the coco-rita, featuring coconut water, lime and agave syrup shaken over ice and served in a salt-rimmed glass.
Pedling Peckham
New restaurant Pedler has launched in Peckham Rye, brought about Taskin Muzaffer — a local who is also behind Little Bird Gin. The menu features seasonal dishes such as seared scallops with chard and lardo, and duck rosti with poached eggs and red onion chutney, as well as Little Bird-based cocktails.
New openings
Three restaurants and bars have opened as part of the Sky Garden at the top of the Walkie Talkie: the seasonally-changing Sky Pod bar on level 35, the Darwin brasserie on level 36, and the Fenchurch Seafood Bar & Grill on level 37. Japanese restaurant Murakami has launched on St Martin’s Lane, serving sushi, sashimi and dishes from the robata grill, alongside cocktails created by Brixton’s Shrub & Shutter. Japanese-Peruvian restaurant Amaru has opened in St Katharine Docks, from the team behind Bravas Tapas. And Soho Korean restaurant Bibigo has launched a second site on St John Street.
Talk to us
We still want your help to keep these weekly food & drink news round-ups as relevant, up-to-date, and interesting as possible. Got any top tips, local gems or foodie news? Tried one of the new restaurants we mentioned? Leave a comment below or hit us up at [email protected]. ‘Til next week…
