Niamh Walsh rounds-up some of the boldest and best new flavours to emerge from the London restaurant scene.
London’s restaurant scene has always been in motion, but its latest wave of openings feels particularly international. Across the capital, chefs with transatlantic pedigrees and global sensibilities are shaping a new kind of dining experience. From Covent Garden’s New York–inspired Twenty8 NoMad to a revived Barbary in Notting Hill, these restaurants reflect a city rediscovering its appetite for connection, creativity and fun.
Twenty8 NoMad, Covent Garden
Tucked inside the NoMad hotel in Covent Garden, Twenty8 NoMad hums with the glamour of a downtown New York brasserie. It’s all low lighting, polished wood and a faint sense of theatricality – fitting for its location beside the Royal Opera House. The name nods to the original NoMad in Manhattan, and while the design may channel nostalgia, the food feels firmly rooted in London.
Executive chef Zak Gregorie, who has cooked in New York, Los Angeles and now London, describes the menu as a conversation between the cities that shaped him.
“New York was my first experience living in a big city,” he says.
“The energy, the pace, and the incredible diversity of cultures really shaped how I think about food.”
After years spent in LA learning to “let ingredients and seasons drive creativity”, London offered something new. “It feels like a beautiful compilation of everywhere I’ve cooked before,” he says.
“People here value quality and provenance, but they’re also adventurous.”
The result is a menu that celebrates both brasserie classics and New York icons: refined but generous, elegant without being showy. “At NoMad, we love exploring tension in food – between refinement and fun, luxury and accessibility,” says Gregorie.
What to order: Start with a crisp martini paired with a wedge of blue cheese, a witty nod to the restaurant’s stateside roots, then move on to steak frites.
For something truly personal to Gregorie, the seafood tower is unmissable – a glittering homage to his Nantucket childhood and the Atlantic coastline that first inspired him.
The Barbary, Notting Hill
The original Barbary in Covent Garden built a cult following for its intimate counter dining and North African–inspired menu. Its new Notting Hill outpost is a different proposition – more spacious, more grown-up, yet still grounded in the smoky flavours of open-fire cooking. The arrival of Ian Coogan as head chef marks a confident new chapter for Studio Paskin’s beloved restaurant.
Coogan’s journey here has been decades in the making. Raised in the US, he studied Anthropology and Sociology at Columbia before swapping theory for the heat of professional kitchens. His training at New York’s French Culinary Institute led to formative roles at Eleven Madison Park, Core: club and ABC Kitchen, where he worked closely with Jean-Georges Vongerichten to develop seasonal, globally inspired menus.
Now in London, Coogan brings that same curiosity and precision to The Barbary’s fire-licked menu. His dishes balance depth, texture, and restraint, while honouring the restaurant’s signature vibrancy.
“Rooted in open-fire cooking and the cuisines of the Barbary Coast,” he says, “we’re exploring how global influences can coexist in a single kitchen without losing their soul.”
What to order: The standout is the coffee chicken, an improbable triumph of salty coffee glaze and tangy yoghurt that lingers long after the last bite.
Don’t miss the miso broccoli either – smoky, savoury and somehow richer than most meat dishes. It’s a masterclass in coaxing emotion out of a vegetable, and perhaps the best broccoli you’ll ever eat.
Toum & Encore, Mayfair
Just off Berkeley Square, Toum offers a different kind of luxury – one defined by comfort, generosity and scent rather than ceremony. Its name comes from the punchy Lebanese garlic sauce that’s dolloped alongside everything here, though the heart of the restaurant is its rotisserie. Rows of chickens spin slowly behind the counter, their skins blistering and caramelising until they reach perfection.
The concept blends French technique with Lebanese soul. The marinade is herb-heavy and subtly spiced, the skin burnished and crisp, the meat falling effortlessly from the bone. It’s the kind of meal you plan to share but secretly don’t.
Downstairs, Toum has just launched Encore, a moody listening bar where the playlists – Arabic disco and Habibi funk – are as carefully chosen as the cocktails. The transition from upstairs’ golden glow to Encore’s bass-filled intimacy feels like slipping from dinner into a house party, and it captures exactly what modern Mayfair is becoming: sophisticated, but never stiff.
What to order: The rotisserie chicken, of course. Order it with extra garlic toum and a crisp glass of white wine. That’s all you need.
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