The number of new restaurant openings is picking up with the arrival of spring and, despite the challenging economic climate for hospitality businesses in the UK, there are several high profile openings in London this month – although, perhaps tellingly, all are from owners with successful restaurants already in the capital. Highlights include an Islington institution welcoming a sister restaurant in Covent Garden, Forza Wine opening its third venture in Soho, and the Carousel team in Fitzrovia pairing the best British seafood with the flavours of Mexico for a new venture in what was the wine bar.
Elsewhere in the world, there’s a live-fire brasserie in New York from a two-Michelin-star chef and a bistro offering British classics with a twist at The Langham hotel in Sydney. Read on to discover the most exciting new restaurants to visit this March.
The best new restaurants to visit in March 2026
Cometa
London, UK
The team at Charlotte Street’s existing restaurant Carousel has turned the wine bar into Cometa, a Mexican restaurant with a focus on seafood. Chef patron Ollie Templeton is working alongside head chef José Lizarralde Serralde and sous chef Alejandra Juarez to deliver a menu that mixes traditional Mexican flavours with contemporary styles and techniques. The concise menu begins with a ‘raw and cured’ section that includes a prawn, burnt mandarin and ginger ceviche; sea bream, lemon and sesame aguachile; and a scallop tiradito before moving on to sharing plates such as smoked beetroot with citrus, horseradish salsa and mole negro; crab chilpachole rice and smoked eel cream; and recado negro fried chicken with roasted habanero and agave. Three bigger dishes of sea bass, monkfish and steak serve two to three people. Cocktails are the focus of the drinks list with spicy, classic and house Margaritas offered alongside a selection of riffs on the classics that incorporate mezcal, Tequila and other Mexican-made spirits.
Open now, carousel-london.com/cometa
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Saverne
New York, US
Chef Gabriel Kreuther has already won two Michelin stars for his eponymous restaurant in New York but Saverne is a ‘back to the basics’ follow-up in the form of a brasserie where much of the menu is cooked over a wood fire. Main courses at the new venture in Hudson Yards include black cod with green garbanzo beans and pimiento nage; crusted sea scallops with herbs, turnips and Riesling sauce; roast chicken with pomme purée with chicory and charred spring onion salsa; and beer braised pork belly with sauerkraut, Brussels sprout coleslaw and ginger jus. Eight signature cocktails are complemented by around 20 wines available by the glass, plus a longer list of bottles that’s designed to be accessible rather than ostentatious. However, this is still Manhattan after all, so Dom Perignon on Krug are on hand to be poured by the glass if you feel like pushing the boat out.
Open now, savernenyc.com
Forza Wine Soho
London, UK
Forza was born in Peckham, expanded with a restaurant in the National Theatre on the South Bank and is now opening a third branch in Soho. Referring to itself as ‘Italian-ish’, the concept for the new site is a short menu of around a dozen reasonably priced sharing plates alongside the natural wines and cocktails that helped make Forza a success in south London. At launch, dishes include burrata, leeks, anchovies and spudgrattato; ox cheek genovese ragu; and pork tenderloin with cabbage and mustard. Naturally, Forza’s trademark pudding of Custardo also makes it to Soho (a riff on affogato that involves hot espresso poured over custard). Unusually for Soho, there’s some outside seating for when the weather heats up and cocktail lovers will enjoy that Three Sheets is located on the opposite side of the street.
Open now, forzawine.com/pages/soho
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The James
Sydney, Australia
The Langham hotel, a short walk from Sydney Harbour, welcomes The James, a British restaurant from chef Sam Tuchband who has previously worked at Michelin-starred Trinity in London. The menu is brimming with quintessential British flavours given creative twists, such as Welsh Rarebit turned into pain perdu and a Ploughman’s condensed into a tartlet. Mains include lamb with leek and anchovy; short rib of beef; deer with brassicas and berries, as well as showstoppers to share such as Beef Wellington and a whole flounder with warm tartare sauce. The wine list pays homage to English sparkling wine with an array of Nyetimber cuvées dating back to 2010 before delving into Grandes Marques and Grower Champagnes. Almost 20 pages of still wines are sectioned off in various ways (by texture, country or grape variety) and contain bottles from Australia and classic European regions in current and older vintages.
Open now, srghospitality.com.au/venue/the-james
CeCe’s
London, UK
Public House Group has had plenty of success in the capital already with pubs The Pelican, The Hero and The Hart and the team now turns its attention to an Italian restaurant in West London. CeCe’s inhabits the site of what was formerly celebrity haunt Casa Cruz with the aim of serving a menu ‘rooted in classic Italian dishes with a hint of Hollywood’, so expect aubergine parmigiana, bream carpaccio with caviar, fonduta agnolotti and Bistecca alla Fiorentina. An extensive selection of wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy, alongside big names and back vintages from Italy and elsewhere, ensure the wine list is for enthusiasts and the well-heeled but not all bottles have three-figure price tags and there are many special bottles with reasonable rather than ridiculous mark-ups.
Open now, ceceslondon.com
Burro
London, UK
Italian restaurant Trullo has become a London institution since it opened in Islington in 2010 and now it has a sister called Burro in Covent Garden, headed by chef Conor Gadd. The style of cooking celebrates the quality of ingredients, so dishes are simple but indulgent. At launch, the menu starts with snacks including chicken liver bruschetta, fried artichokes with bottarga, stuffed cuttlefish and a selection of salumi before moving on to five pasta options and main courses of vitello al burro, braised beef shin with polenta and cicoria, and lamb chops with olives, tomatoes, rosemary and potatoes. As is to be expected, the wine list majors on Italian regions and features many of the big names, such as Sassicaia, Gaja, Biondi-Santi and Il Marroneto, as well as newer producers and low-intervention labels. Save space for the Tiramisu doughnuts.
Open 11 March, trattoriaburro.com
