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6 days ago | 
theinfatuation.com | Rianne Shlebak
Soho can never have too many wine bars, and this Parisian wine bar and restaurant on Foubert’s Place is open for lunch and dinner every day, with fresh takes on classic French food. So expect things like escargot with seaweed and pine nut cream. We haven’t been here yet, but want you to know this spot exists.
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6 days ago | 
theinfatuation.com | Rianne Shlebak
From the same people behind Italian restaurant Ombra and bakery Forno, Brillo is a new Friday-only wine bar with pizza, in Forno’s Hackney railway arch. There’ll be a different DJ every week, as well as plenty of wine. Natural, of course. We haven’t been here yet, but want you to know this spot exists.
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6 days ago | 
theinfatuation.com | Rianne Shlebak
When Leroy closed, London lost a great restaurant. But now, in its place, is Duchy. Set up by ex-Leroy staff, this Shoreditch spot is Italian and French-inspired, with things like brown crab arancini and grilled red mullet on the menu. We haven’t been here yet, but want you to know this spot exists.
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6 days ago | 
theinfatuation.com | Rianne Shlebak
We were huge fans of Bad Manners’ old Hackney location. And Shoreditch locals are the lucky neighbours of this Mexican cafe’s new home. If it’s anything like the original spot you can expect excellent sausage burritos, birria tacos, and baja fish numbers. We haven’t been here yet, but want you to know this spot exists.
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6 days ago | 
theinfatuation.com | Rianne Shlebak
Marvee’s Food Shop is a Caribbean restaurant inside Ladbroke Grove’s UNDR event space, that’s all about modern takes on comforting home-cooked meals like curry goat, lobster patties, and ‘old skool cake and custard’. We haven’t been here yet, but want you to know this spot exists.
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6 days ago | 
theinfatuation.com | Rianne Shlebak
When someone makes a jerk Sunday roast as good as Guanabana does, you pay attention when they open a new restaurant. So pay attention to Belly Bistro. At this Filipino bistro on Kentish Town Road, you’ll find kinilaw—a raw fish dish prepared in citrus and vinegar—as well as plenty of wines and more inventive Filipino dishes. We haven’t been here yet, but want you to know this spot exists.
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1 week ago | 
theinfatuation.com | Jake Missing |Daisy Meager |Sinead Cranna |Rianne Shlebak
There are lots of seafood restaurants in Margate, but Angela’s is the best. It overlooks a bustling square, but inside there's a sense of calm. Plates of buttery lobster and turbot, and hearty lentils topped with goats’ cheese are ferried between tables. They go back to the kitchen empty, every last drop of sauce swept up by crispy Jersey potatoes and hunks of bread. Glasses of white wine are sipped as chatter and attention turns to sweet strawberries draped with light, creamy sabayon.
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1 week ago | 
theinfatuation.com | Rianne Shlebak
Despite the chaos of North End Road outside, any urgency is left at the door after you enter Abugida. This Ethiopian restaurant in Fulham is a slow spot where the music is low, catch-ups are intimate, and the Abugida Special will cause complete silence as everyone's focus shifts to tearing rolls of injera and scooping satisfying misir wot.
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1 week ago | 
theinfatuation.com | Rianne Shlebak
At Heidi, you get a sense that the people around you might not know what day of the week it is and after a relaxed coffee, you’ll forget too. In the charming suntrap courtyard, friends exchange funny stories about chaotic grandchildren and strangers strike up conversation with the table next to them about how good the shi-shi doughnut—a fluffy, twisted pastry covered in sugar—is. The big display of pastries is tempting, and it’s all pretty good without being groundbreaking.
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2 weeks ago | 
theinfatuation.com | Heidi Lauth Beasley |Rianne Shlebak |Sinead Cranna
If you’re going to vodka sauce in London—not to be mistaken with getting sauced on vodka—then you go to Brutto. This Florentine trattoria in Farrigdon is a one-way ticket to New York’s Little Italy. The lights are low, the air is thick with the syrupy, caffeinated scent of tiramisu and pheromones, and the excellent cream-centric penne con vodka has the ideal tickle of heat.
