It seems as though Belgravia will soon be rivalling the City when it comes to new restaurant developments. Following the glitzy launch of Broadgate Circle (red carpet, brawny bouncers and all) by Liverpool Street station this summer, the tide of new launches has turned from EC2 to SW1. As well as the Zig Zag building development, which already boasts a branch of tapas chain Ibérica and this weekend will welcome London’s second M Restaurant (from ex-Gaucho supremo Martin Williams), the Nova project is also on its way.
Nova will garnish the one-time restaurant wasteland around Victoria station with 18 new dining spots in 2016. And we’re not talking about any old chains either.
Among the distinguished residents of this new development are: Jason Atherton, Bone Daddies, Will Ricker and Village London. For his next trick Atherton will turn his hand to Italian cuisine, with the restaurateur’s Nova restaurant featuring a pasta room where diners can see the food being made. This is on top of him launching Sosharu, a Japanese concept on the site of Turnmills nightclub in Clerkenwell. Atherton’s restaurant ratings took a nosedive in our 2016 survey, and we believe that can be attributed in large part to the rapid expansion of his empire. With even more growth planned in 2016 we think he’ll need to strengthen operations at his flagship Pollen Street Social to get back into reporters’ good books.
Also joining the Nova project is Adam White, the man behind Village London (The Riding House Café, Village East and The Garrison), who plans to open an all-day dining affair with 150 covers, outdoor terrace, upstairs bar and a private dining room.
Meanwhile Will Ricker (of Bodega Negra fame) will bring his American BBQ spot The Stoke House to the development. He will also launch a second organic cold-press juice and food store, Juice Well.
Bringing some street cred to the whole operation is Ross Shonhan (the daddy of Bone Daddies). He plans to open a ramen bar at Nova serving noodles, filled buns and a take on Osaka-style Okonomiyaki. It sounds like it could be Shonhan’s largest venue to date with two floors and outside space.
D&D London have also snapped up a space but are yet to announce the name, however we do know the huge (10,000 sq ft) venue will feature two floors, café, bar, terrace and food store.
And Sourced Market, which opened the first produce market in St Pancras station in 2009, opens its third site at Nova in 2016, offering everything from artisan coffee to craft beer and charcuterie to croissants.
The purpose of Nova is to ‘create a vibrant new link between Victoria Station and Buckingham Palace’, which in turn leads onto the Royal Parks. At an enormous 897,000 sq ft the development will include office space and apartments.
M Restaurants, will open its second London site in Victoria’s Zig Zag Building this weekend (5 December). The venue features a restaurant, members’ club and wine store.
Like the original M in the City’s Threadneedle Street, the site will include two restaurants – M Grill (specialising in steak) and M Raw (which serves tartares, sushi and sashimi).
To keep up to date with all the latest London goings-on and news from across the country sign up for our free newsletter. You can follow us on Twitter @HardensBites, like us on Facebook and pin us on Pinterest.
