We’re kickstarting 2023 in the best way we know how: with a sensational selection of new restaurant openings. Across January and February, London will welcome a 4-storey Italian trattoria, a Hackney-based bakery and deli, and a showstopping Iberican restaurant. Go on, have a scroll:

New Restaurant Openings: January

1. For Modern Palestinian Cooking: akub

The Lowdown: Often cited as the modern voice of Palestine cuisine, Franco-Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan will be opening Akub in Notting Hill on 16th January. At Fawda, in the heart of Bethlehem’s Old City, the chef and hotelier has developed an elegant, progressive cuisine that pays homage to Palestine’s local terroir in a refreshing, imaginative way that’s totally delicious and unmistakably Fadi.

Eat and Drink: Highlights from the menu will include Freekeh risotto (charred green wheat, saffron and cream); Mousakhan mille feuille (chicken, onion, sumac, layered on taboun bread); and Dead Sea chocolate cake (chocolate, sea salt, tahini, caramel, pistachio ice-cream) for dessert.

Where: 27 Uxbridge St, London W8 7TQ

2. For an Italian Tratorria: Jacuzzi 

The Lowdown: Big Mamma (the group behind Gloria Trattoria, Ave Mario and Circolo Popolare) is expanding to High Street Kensington with the opening of Jacuzzi, a 4-storied pleasure palace on 20th January.

Eat and Drink: Head Chef Manuel Prota will be cherry-picking only the finest ingredients to flaunt their beloved Italian suppliers – the finest Culatello di Zibello PDO from Onesto Ghirardi, and delicate pizzette topped with seasonal bests: truffle, caviar, bottarga. The cheese wheel pasta will have a renaissance, to a colossal truffle pasta for two with fresh black truffle, truffle cream and Parmigiano foam, in a 4kg wheel of pecorino.

Where: 94 Kensington High Street, London W8 4SH

3. For a Bakery and Deli: Forno

The Lowdown: Introducing Forno, an all-day (and occasional night) bakery, pastificio and deli opening under the arches just next to Regent’s Canal in Hackney in late January. Mitshel Ibrahim has been dreaming up Forno for some time and settled on a home across the road from Ombra.

Eat and Drink: Filled, short and stuffed pasta, fresh sauces, cold cuts, Italian cheeses, freshly baked bread and wines will be available from the Italian deli. Everything can be taken away, but there will be 10 seats inside and 20 outside for a breakfast of freshly baked cornetti, maritozzi and sfogliatelle served with strong Italian coffee, followed by lunch of stuffed focaccia sandwiches and daily changing soups.

Where: 332 Andrews Road, Hackney, London E8 4QF

Photo credit: Rebecca Dickson

New Restaurant Openings: February

4. For an Iberian Restaurant: JOIA 

The Lowdown: In February 2023,  Henrique Sá Pessoa, one of Portugal’s most celebrated chefs, will open JOIA, an Iberian restaurant situated over the top floors of the new art’otel London Battersea Power Station.

Eat and Drink: The menu at JOIA will showcase Sá Pessoa’s culinary heritage and will be influenced by the robust flavours and cooking techniques of Catalonia and Portugal, using the best of British and Iberian produce. Plates will include; Scallops with black garlic sabayon; Grilled leeks with romesco with rocket and hazelnut salad; Salted Cod Esqueixada with pickled red onion and orange; and Arroz de Cogumelos (wild mushroom rice with Azores Island cheese).

Where: 1 Electric Boulevard, Nine Elms, London SW11 8BJ

Photo credit: Charlie McKay

5. For an All-Day Restaurant: Harvest 

The Lowdown: Acclaimed chef and restaurateur Jesse Dunford Wood (Parlour, Six Portland Road) will open his third restaurant, Harvest, in Kensal Rise, in early 2023.  Opening on Chamberlayne Road and joining the array of new restaurants flocking to the area, Harvest will be a bright and airy all-day restaurant.

Eat and Drink: The colourful, approachable and seasonal frequently changing menu will start at Breakfast and Brunch and run through to Lunch and Dinner and will focus on British ingredients. There will be a great emphasis on contemporary vegetarian dishes which will complement the British coastal fish, and direct-from-farm meat, with Dunford Wood having built these wonderful supplier relationships over the last 20 years of running professional kitchens in the UK.

Where: 68 Chamberlayne Road, Kensal Rise, London NW10 3JJ