5 Things You Need to Eat in London This WeekBy Alicia Grimshaw
If reading about new pizzas dishes in London doesn’t make you happy – nothing will. Here’s the best eats you need to munch in London this week. Time to feast:
1. For New Specials: Franco Manca
What: As the days get longer, Neapolitan sourdough pizza pioneers Franco Manca has announced the launch of its new seasonal menu. The new menu champions Neapolitan heritage and locally-sourced ingredients – all created by the pizzeria’s founder Giuseppe Mascoli and the in-house team.
Why: The newly introduced pizza no. 3 is topped with seasonal courgettes, basil and Franco & Lloyd Mozzarella from Somerset, combined with buffalo ricotta, and Franco & Cantarelli grana. Other veg specials include Buffalo mozzarella, with red Piennolo from Vesuvio D.O.P, mixed with peppers and wild caper berries from the island of Salina in Italy – Giuseppe’s home from home. Meat lover? Try the new tomato-free sourdough pizza special, made with Franco & Lloyd Mozzarella, a selection of sweet sunny yellow piennolo tomatoes from Vesuvio, buffalo ricotta, paired with spicy lamb sausages, especially produced for Franco Manca in the UK.
Where: Locations here
2. For a New Opening: The Lacy Nook
What: Opening this month, The Lacy Nook is a new neighbourhood restaurant and bar influenced both by the founders’ native Macedonia and their travels around the world. Working with the best small independent producers and community growers in East London, the menu will fuse seasonal British ingredients with Balkan, Middle Eastern, and Asian flavours to create modern, globally-inspired dishes.
Why: As a tribute to Elena and Jana’s upbringing in Macedonia, the menu includes some traditional Balkan dishes such as Beef Cevapi – a flatbread filled with mini beef patties, kajmak (a kind of milk spread), fresh sweet onions, and ajvar (a spread made from roasted peppers) – and The Lacy Nook’s signature dessert, a raspberry baklava made from a recipe passed down through Elena’s family over the years. Elsewhere on the menu vegetables will play a key role, with dishes including charred cauliflower, kidney bean hummus, pistachio and sumac; roasted aubergine, jalapeno, miso, and tahini yogurt; smoked celery root, brassicas, hazelnuts, lime and chilli; and regularly changing seasonal salads.
Where: The Lacy Nook Neighbourhood Kitchen & Bar, 8 Cazenove Road, London N16 6BD
3. For a New Rooftop Bar: Sisu
What: Summer has returned to the rooftops of Oxford Street with the opening of Sisu; London’s latest cocktail hotspot. The team behind last year’s alfresco favourite #NotchLDN are once again serving up some of the best rooftop vibes in town, as the space has transformed into a utilitarian nature reserve where Londoners can escape the bustle of the city in Scandinavian-inspired surrounds with a greenhouse street food restaurant and Negronis on tap.
Why: Made from upcycled windows and overgrown with foliage, the RetrEat is where you can shelter from the elements and tuck into an international street food menu featuring the likes of miso aubergine tacos, fried chicken waffles, crispy squid with shredded kimchi, Canadian-style poutine (basically chips and cheese with gravy), and cheeseburger sliders with pickled jalapeños. Besides Negronis and Old Fashioned, Sisu is serving Camden Town Brewery beers, Caple Rd cider, wine, plus a range of cocktails. Signature pours range from the light, summery Florodora, a medley of Bulldog gin, fresh raspberries and ginger to the warming Howler with Wild Turkey 81 bourbon, apricot preserve and lemon.
Where: 535 Oxford Street, London W1C 2QW
4. For a New Permanent Site: Yolk
What: After a string of successful pop-ups, the Yolk team are opening their first site – a small but perfectly formed home in the City of London. Yolk will be serving breakfast and lunch to take away including poached egg pots, and gourmet sandwiches the rest of the day. In celebration of their opening, Yolk are offering 50% off the breakfast menu, Monday 8th May – Wednesday 10th May.
Why: Highlights from the menu includes steak béarnaise sandwich with bavette steak served with brown butter béarnaise, caramelised balsamic onions and fresh rocket leaves on a hot ciabatta, and Yolk’s signature Eggs Benedict pot: perfectly-poached Burford Brown eggs, served with pulled 24hr ham hock, Yolk’s famous hollandaise and a dusting of cayenne pepper. Other favourites include the umami chicken sandwich with pickled daikon and Yolk’s secret hot sauce, confit duck bun with applewood-smoked aioli and duck-skin crackling, and rancheros egg pot with smashed avocado, chilli, lime and coriander.
Where: Unit 4, Finsbury Avenue Square, Broadgate, London
5. For New Dishes: The Grill on the Market
What: The Grill on the Market has received a spring clean – with fresh interiors and a new menu to boot. The new menu has return to the restaurant’s roots – think good quality steaks, fresh off the boat seafood and plenty of cocktails.
Why: Steak and seafood lead, and there’s now the ‘Book of Beef’ – an in-house guide on everything you need to know about beef. Classic cuts are mixed with a more premium selection including English Galician, Wagyu and an Australian fillet and, of course, the Big Boy cuts the restaurant is famous for. There’s also the introduction of The Butchers Block’– Himalayan rock salt aged beef, cut and weighed at your table. There’s now extra emphasis on great quality seafood dishes on the new menu, with seared sashimi tuna and whole baked seabass fillets.
Where: Grill on the Market, 2-3 West Smithfield, City of London EC1A 9JX
