The past two years have been hard on restauranteurs and restaurant-goers alike. New openings have been pushed back, pop-up events scrapped, and long-awaited returns delayed. Now, in the fresh glow of a new year, a swathe of brilliant new and returning restaurants are opening their doors to guests once more.
Appetites for new dining experiences are increasing too, with data from Open Table showing that in London, at least, the number of sit-down meals eaten out in the last week of January increased by five per cent.
There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that this year will see a bumper crop of restaurants to indulge in, with offerings already slated from acclaimed chefs including Portugal’s Nuno Mendes and James Beard award-winning chef Nancy Silverton, as well as openings from hotly anticipated new talent like Adriana Cavita.
(Photo: Testina)
Starting with February, every month here at Club O we’ll be whetting your dining-out appetite by bringing you the best new global restaurant openings, from much-lauded debut restaurants to new sites from established chefs in food capitals all over the world. You can expect an insider’s guide to where to eat out each month, at home and abroad – as well as a sneak peek into hot new bar openings with our monthly global bar guide, too.
Keep reading below for our round-up of the most exciting global restaurant openings you need to know about this month.
New restaurants opening around the world in February 2022
Fish Butchery at Waterloo
Sydney, Australia
Sydney chef Josh Niland’s nose-to-tail approach to fish cookery becomes clear at Fish Butchery, so it’s no wonder the concept has spawned a second site. Niland’s fourth restaurant will open in early February, twice the size of the Paddington original. Eat-in options will be available from early March, but fresh fish and cooked specials can be purchased to take away from February. The new site sports floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the marble butchery counter, and has dishes including a Yellowfin tuna cheeseburger, Murray cod souvlaki and tuna meat pie on the opening menu. For at-home fish feasts, Aquna Murray cod fish fingers or yellowfin tuna lasagne can be bought frozen.
Opening 3 February 2022, fishbutchery.com.au
The Ledbury
London, UK
Brett Graham’s two Michelin-starred restaurant will be returning to a newly refurbished site in Notting Hill early this month. The restaurant has been on a two-year hiatus since June 2020, and upon its return will do away with the a la carte menu it made its name with, serving an eight-course tasting menu alone – which has increased in price from £165 to £185 per head. Diners can expect a more naturalistic space than previous iterations of the restaurant, with renovations by Rose Murray from These White Walls, the same interior design studio that created gawp-worthy dining rooms for Hedonism Wines’ flagship restaurant Hide.
Opening 8 February 2022, www.theledbury.com
Testina
Hong Kong
This joint venture from Milan restaurant Trippa and Hong Kong-based restaurant group ZS Hospitality is the first of three upcoming concepts at the newly renovated Lyndhurst Terrace. Trippa Milano was established in 2015, and is known for its modern approach to traditional trattoria cuisine. The new Hong Kong site will follow in a similar vein, serving the Milan restaurant’s signature dish and namesake, trippa fritta (fried tripe). Marco Xodo, previously of 8½ Otto e Mezzo in Shanghai, will head up the kitchen serving further nods to Venetian cuisine, including whipped cod, as well as robust dishes like homemade pappardelle with Tuscan-style lamb ragu. The space will reference that traditional trattoria feel too, with olive green furnishings, mustard yellow walls and terrazzo flooring.
Opening 9 February 2022, testina.hk
Karl-Mikael
Malmö, Sweden
Restauranteur Johannes Karl-Mikael says he wants to ‘put Malmö on the global gastronomic map’ with his new venture, highlighting the Swedish landscape with his tasting menu. Karl-Mikael will serve a four-course menu, focussing on seasonality and celebrating Nordic cuisine, with drinks are curated around the menu of the day. Dishes you might find on the menu include black trumpet mushrooms with kale, or wild strawberry meringue. The new venue will sit in the heart of Malmö on the former site of similarly local-focused restaurant, Bord 13.
Opening 18 February 2022, karl-mikael.com
Grace & Savour
Solihull, UK
If food-led experiential staycations are your thing, then Hampton Manor might already be on your radar. The hotel is home to the Michelin-starred Peel’s restaurant, but a brand-new farm-to-table offering is due to open in the walled garden of the estate in late-February. Grace & Savour will be overseen by ex-Purnell’s and Relae head chef David Taylor, with his wife Anette running front of house. There will be five bedrooms for diners and the option of a ’24-hour Grace & Savour experience’, including breakfast. Non-residents are also welcome and will receive a tour of the garden before sitting down to a dinner of 15 dishes with drinks pairings. Courses include venison tartare with fried sourdough starter and poached pollock with mussels and pickled pumpkin.
Opening 25 February 2022, hamptonmanor.com/grace-savour
Alado
Lima, Peru
James Beckemeyer, who gained recognition under chef Gaston Acurio at Lima’s renowned Astrid y Gastón, will open his second site in the city this month. The new restaurant, sister to sustainability-forward Cosme in the south of the Peruvian capital, will be fire-focused, serving mainly grilled foods. Beckemeyer believes grilling can be a way to extract the very best flavours from food, and so dishes like grilled aubergine and bone marrow will sit centre stage alongside signatures like tuna tataki, duck confit with rice and shrimp gnocchi. The new space is modern, with impressive floor-to-ceiling bar shelves and greenery.
Opening February 2022, instagram.com/aladorestaurante
Yakitori Kono
New York, USA
There’s much mystery surrounding the opening of acclaimed Japanese yakitori chef Atsushi ‘ATS’ Kono’s debut New York restaurant, but what we do know is that the 14-seat counter will open on New York’s Lower East Side in February. The eponymous restaurant will serve a yakitori omakase menu – served Kappo-style, which means the multi-course menu selection is left entirely up to chef. As chef Kono is the former exec chef of Michelin-starred Yakitori Torishin and Chikarashi Isso pop-up at Hotel 50 Bowery, you should be in very safe hands. It’s all scheduled to launch in Bowery’s Canal Arcade later in the month.
Opening February 2022, yakitorikono.com
