With January out the way, the days are getting a little bit brighter. And there are even more reasons to be cheerful thanks to the arrival of some exciting new restaurants around the world. In London, the eagerly-awaited new spot from French chef Claude Bosi, Socca Bistro, is swinging open its doors this month, bringing a taste of the Mediterranean to the city. Across the pond in the US, the French vibes continue at Le Select in Chicago, with Michelin star chef Daniel Rose running the kitchen. Meanwhile, in Rutherglen in Australia, All Saints Estate winery has launched its own restaurant on-site, which puts local produce centre stage. Read on to discover more about the best new openings of this month.
New restaurants to visit around the world in February 2023
Kin
Rutherglen, Australia
Set within a heritage-listed castle with views of vineyards and a lake, the location for this new restaurant at the All Saints Estate winery is pretty idyllic. This spot is a family-owned winery in the Victorian wine region of Rutherglen, three hours from Melbourne – and Kin is its shiny new restaurant. The modern menu is all about celebrating local produce with a regularly changing selection of seasonal dishes – current highlights include striploin with bone marrow and Murray cod with fennel. Obviously, you can expect great things from the wine list, too – including heritage wines from an estate known for its Muscats, plus some great bottles from further afield.
Open now, allsaintswine.com.au/kin
Socca Bistro
London, UK
French chef Claude Bosi, known for his two-Michelin-starred restaurant Bibendum in London’s Chelsea, opens his eagerly-awaited new bistro this month. He’s teamed up with restaurateur Samyukta Nair to launch Socca, which aims to bring a taste of the French Riviera to Mayfair. The menu will have a French/Mediterranean vibe, with dishes including beef cheeks Provencal, octopus with harissa, preserved lemon and parsley, and whole baked sea bass in a salt crust. Save room for dessert, which will feature classics such as crème brûlée and orange blossom madeleines.
Opens 14 February, soccabistro.com
Foul Witch
New York, USA
From the team behind popular pizza spot Roberta’s comes Foul Witch, a wine bar and restaurant in NYC’s East Village. The food here is Italian-inspired, but rather than pizza, the menu features creative dishes like veal tortellini, polenta with Maine sea urchin, and roasted saddle of lamb. Don’t miss the ‘fire and ice’ starter, which is a plate of creamy stracciatella piled high onto a bed of fiery ‘nduja. All that’s missing is a glass of something delicious to drink – thankfully, they have that covered too, with a list that’s focused on natural wine.
Open now, foulwitchnyc.com
Crocadon
Cornwall, UK
Crocadon, a new farm-to-table restaurant in Cornwall, has been years in the making. It’s headed up by chef Dan Cox, who was previously the executive chef at Simon Rogan’s Fera at Claridge’s and who took over a 120-acre organic farm in Cornwall five years ago. In that time, Cox has been slowly making his mark on the farm, improving the soil and establishing herds of rare and heritage breeds of animals. The restaurant will mostly use produce from the farm, while things like seafood will come from local suppliers. There will be two tasting menus on offer in the evenings, a longer one for £95 and a shorter one for £65. Expect dishes like gigantis beans and cured saddleback pork loin, brown crab and lemongrass, and whey caramel, yoghurt and caramelised apples – but the menu will change regularly, depending on what’s in season. As for the wine, there will be a focus on natural, organic and biodynamic wine from across Europe, but the aim will be to eventually offer more bottles from the West Country.
Open now, www.crocadon.farm
Le Select
Chicago, USA
Steak au poivre, duck breast à l’orange, duck rillettes…the menu at Le Select, a new brasserie in Chicago, is focused on classic French dishes. The brains behind the menu is Michelin Star chef Daniel Rose, an American chef known for his interpretations of traditional French cooking. The French-classics-done-well approach continues on the dessert list, which includes profiteroles, crème caramel and coupe mont blanc. On the drinks front, there are cocktails (including a niche section on kir cocktails), ciders, beers and an extensive wine list with options from Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Loire and more.
Open now, www.leselectchicago.com
