London Life
23
London’ s hospitality sector battles on
by Vince Burke
Despite ongoing challenges, many new eating and drinking places opened around the capital during 2026. England’ s progress in the football World Cup and the prolonged hot weather also boosted the sector during the summer.
Revival
The post-covid revival of the City as a leisure destination continued with the opening of Gordon Ramsay’ s Bread Street Kitchen & Bar spectacularly placed on the 59th floor of 22 Bishopsgate. Also, award-winning fresh pasta restaurant Bancone opened near Bank station and in the newly refurbished Imperial Hotel in Russell Square.
Hipster Shoreditch remains a hotbed for eating out, with the opening of several new places including Japanese restaurant Mitsu in April,“ bringing East Tokyo to East London”.
Diversity
Staying east, Café Jikoni opened in partnership with the new V & A East at East Bank, the emerging cultural quarter in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. It offers guests“ a new dining experience that goes beyond great food, celebrating community, creativity and the diversity of east London.”
Not surprisingly, central London continued to attract new restaurants. These include Maki Nori which opened on Old Compton St, combining counter seating, tableside service and top quality ingredients tailored to London’ s fastpaced restaurant scene.
Maki Nori’ s founder Teddy Lee said the new restaurant is“ specific in its focus, built around freshness, speed and the theatre of handroll dining in the heart of Soho.”
Warmth
Mour, a new Mediterranean restaurant and martini bar, opened during the summer and aims to bring“ warmth, generosity and conviviality” to Marylebone. It is jointly owned by brother and sister Saachi and Sienna Sehgal, who have spent many years in the area.
According to Sienna, they are already getting regulars from the neighbourhood, which exactly fits their wish for Mour to be“ a home away from home” for customers.
Marylebone also saw the arrival of Taverna Ermou, part of the celebrated Athens restaurant chain by ERGON. The 120-cover restaurant opened on
James St, bringing“ an authentic slice of Athens to the heart of the West End.”
Pre-theatre
Many outlets innovated during the year to keep customers and attract new ones. These included
Colonel Saab’ s Kinky Boots pre-theatre menu and entry to the hit musical. Meanwhile the Bluebird Chelsea capitalised on the‘ summer of sport’ by transforming its spacious courtyard terrace and menus to make it an ideal place to watch major sporting events, including Wimbledon and the World Cup.
Urban Pubs and Bars continued its strong growth with notable openings including
The Gun in Spitalfields, the Tower Bridge Arms and the Fire Station in Waterloo. They now own around 70 pubs across the capital with more planned in 2027.
Meanwhile, the UK’ s oldest brewery, Shepherd Neame, continued to invest in its historic London pubs, with refits at the
Coach and Horses in Mayfair and The Duke of York, Southwark as well as opening the Jamaica Clubhouse beneath the Jamaica Wine House in the City of London.
As Christmas and New Year approaches, many in the trade will hope it will be the sector’ s busiest period as usual this year to offset likely increases in energy costs next year and the tourist tax due to be introduced in 2028.
At the timing of writing, the new Chancellor was preparing his first Budget. After some limited support from Prime Minister Andy Burnham on taking office, many owners of pubs, restaurants and hotels are looking for more significant government action such as cutting VAT to help create the right conditions for a prosperous 2027 in hospitality.
Vincent Burke is a communications consultant, journalist and podcaster
www. linkedin. com / in / vincent-burke- 7b98968
https:// www. gordonramsayrestaurants. com / bread-street-kitchen / www. bancone. co. uk / https:// bluebird-restaurant. co. uk / https:// colonelsaab. co. uk / www. ergonfoods. com / tavernaermou-london https:// www. shepherdneame. co. uk / https:// www. urbanpubsandbars. com https:// www. jikonilondon. com / cafejikoni