Can’t Get Into This One?
“The coolest restaurant right now,” says Sophie Dening, contributing editor at Mr & Mrs Smith, “is Spuntino (61 Rupert St.; no phone) in Soho, which opened in March. It’s the third restaurant from Russell Norman, who is known for combining creative Italian food with New York style. They don’t take bookings, so it’s best to show up between lunch and dinner.”
Consider This One
Norman’s two other restaurants, Polpo (41 Beak St.; 44 20 7734 4479) and Polpetto (49 Dean St.; 44 20 7734 1969), are also in Soho and still quite buzzy. “Polpo—the larger one—is in an eighteenth-century townhouse and serves Venetian-style tapas, as does Polpetto, which is tiny, atmospheric, and located above a fun pub called the French House.”
Can’t Get Into This One?
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (66 Knightsbridge; 44 20 7201 3833) is “a masculine-looking brasserie that serves historical English food, like spiced pigeon circa 1780, for which there actually turns out to be a market. It opened in January and within days was booked months in advance for dinner.”
Consider This One
Just across the street is a “brilliant new French bistro, Chabrot (9 Knightsbridge Green; 44 20 7225 2238). The menu is shamelessly traditional, but the classics—snails, steak, and foie gras—are pitch-perfect.”
Can’t Get Into This One?
“Everyone’s obsessed with getting into the St. John Hotel (1 Leicester St.; 44 20 3301 8069), opened by Fergus Henderson in April. The restaurant fare is modern British, which means warm buns filled with chocolate, prune, or anchovy in the afternoon.” Food is served until 2 a.m.
Consider This One
The meat-centric French restaurant Brawn (49 Columbia Rd.; 44 20 7729 5692) “shares the same stripped-back, minimalist vibe as the St. John Hotel and serves honest, unfussy food like spatchcocked quail with terrific wines by the glass.”