March Round -up

Hi Fellow Foodie,

Well, the best-laid plans and all that — two weeks in Thailand via Doha somehow turned into a two-week staycation. Our exciting trip was cancelled, which was obviously disappointing, but worse things happen. On the plus side, it gave me a clear diary to catch up on the jobs I keep putting off. I ticked a few off the list — not as many as I'd have liked, but enough to feel vaguely virtuous.

However I did manage a lovely weekend away, slightly closer to home in Chichester, whilst we were there we went to Tinwood Vinyards for a bubbles tasting, they make their wines using the champagne method, they are seriously good and the winetasting event on a saturday is highly recommended.

You might have noticed that I have changed the design of the newsletter. I upgraded my design software and thought that, in celebrating our birthday, it was time for a refresh. Let me know if you like the new layout.

🍽️  THIS MONTH'S RESTAURANT REVIEWS

Two very different restaurants this month — and both well worth your time.

Aces Foodcraft, Fitzrovia

Alex Craciun's debut restaurant has been on my radar since it opened in December, and the extended lunch offering was the perfect excuse to finally get there. This is an amazing restaurant, a taste sensation, and it's one to go to before it’s booked out for months ahead. See why I rate it so highly. Read here

Crust Brothers

Home of the leopard skin crust pizza, Crust Brothers found its way into my “Best London Pizza Guide”. Find out more about pizza’s at Crust in our review. Read more about the award winning Crust Brothers.

👨‍🍳  IN THE KITCHEN

Plenty of new recipes this month, thanks again to Wylde Market for some stellar produce. 

• Harissa Lamb  — super easy, big flavour. A weeknight winner.

• Slow-Cooked Beef Short Ribs in Red Wine  — the kind of cooking that makes the whole house smell extraordinary.

• Beef Massaman Curry — a small act of revenge for the cancelled Thailand trip.

• Pork Chop in a creamy cider sauce

See all our recipes here

💰  THIS MONTH'S BEST VALUE LUNCHES

I often say it, and I'll keep saying it — London's set lunch scene is one of the great undiscovered bargains in dining. Here are this month's picks, including a Michelin-starred pub lunch for 

📰  WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT

Veeraswamy

Veeraswamy celebrated its 100th birthday with a special celebration dinner this month, I was lucky enough to be sent this lovely brochure featuring the history of Veeraswamy. There are some great stories from the 100 years of this iconic restaurant. I still can’t believe that Crown Estates (landlords of the Regent Street restaurant) are prepared to force Veeraswamy to close, shame on them. 

Anyhow, Veeraswamy is launching a special Nostalgia menu, which features signature dishes from their 100-year history, 4 courses for £60

Dinner by Heston — Closing Time

Another significant closure to report. Heston Blumenthal announced this week that he is winding down Dinner by Heston at the Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge, citing the end of his tenancy after 16 years. A genuinely iconic restaurant that changed the way London thought about British culinary history. It will be missed.

Riding House Cafés

Riding House Cafés is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, with new additions to its much-loved brunch menu across its three central London locations in Fitzrovia, Bloomsbury and Victoria. Founded in 2011 by restaurateur Adam White, the group has built a loyal following for its relaxed all-day dining, generous plates and lively atmosphere. I'll be road-testing the new menu next month, so watch this space.

📍  NEW OPENINGS

A bumper month for new restaurants — six openings worth knowing about. Featured write-ups for the three I'm most excited to visit, with the others in quick-fire format below.

Willetts

Opening on 2nd April, Willett's is a new British bistro at The Cadogan, A Belmond Hotel on Sloane Street. Executive Chef Michael Turner — formerly Executive Head Chef at The Savoy Grill — brings a confident, unfussy approach to seasonal British cooking, with a menu that runs from breakfast through to late-night dining. Highlights include their signature sourdough crumpets served savoury and sweet throughout the day, classic starters like prawn cocktail with Bloody Mary jelly, and indulgent British puddings. A £32 two-course and £36 three-course menu is available from lunch through to early evening, with sharing-style Sunday lunches rounding things out nicely.

📍 75 Sloane Street, London , SW1X9SG

Simpson's in the Strand

One of the most significant restaurant revivals London has seen in years. Restaurateur Jeremy King has finally reopened this storied 200-year-old institution — closed since March 2020 — as two restaurants, two bars and a ballroom. The ground-floor Grand Divan is the quintessential, wood-panelled British dining room, with silver carving trolleys returned to tableside service, while upstairs Romano's offers a lighter, more casual all-day brasserie feel at friendlier prices. Add a destination cocktail bar and Nellie's — a late-night basement bar open until 3am — and Jeremy King may just have delivered his masterpiece.

📍  100 Strand, London WC2R 0EZ

Berenjak Mayfair

The JKS group's beloved Michelin Bib Gourmand Persian restaurant has landed in Mayfair — and it's their biggest site yet. Inspired by the coastal villas of Northern Iran, the new Duke Street restaurant spans two floors for 53 guests, plus a terrace for 20. Over 20 new dishes sit alongside the classics, including a lunch-only menu of homely regional Persian cooking. If the Soho and Borough Market sites are anything to go by, this one will be very hard to get into. Book early.

📍  80 Duke Street, Mayfair W1K 6JG

MAZA

The duo behind Mazi and Suzi Tros — husband-and-wife team Christina Mouratoglou and Adrien Carré — are venturing out of Notting Hill for the first time with Maza, opening this spring on Bruton Place, just off Berkeley Square. The name translates as "everyday bread" in ancient Greek, and the concept channels the warmth and ritual of a 1980s Athenian taverna: generous portions, shared plates, and the kind of convivial dining that makes you linger.

The menu leans into open-fire cooking: spit-roasted lamb shoulder, crispy pork belly gyros served tableside with pittas and tzatziki, and fish sourced exclusively from the previous night's catch. Standout dishes include handmade pasta with sea urchin, steak tartare with graviera cheese ice cream, and a pistachio baklava ice-cream sandwich for pudding. Adrien has also curated what is claimed to be the world's largest exclusively Greek wine list — over 150 bottles, no less.

 📍21-25 Bruton Place, W1J 6NQ

Impala

One of the most anticipated openings of the year. Former Kiln head chef Meedu Saad draws on his Egyptian heritage and years of research to create a menu centred around a charcoal grill positioned right in the middle of the dining room — described as a collision between a Cairo Friday market and a Soho bar. Expect skewered meats, fire-baked rice in clay pots, and an in-house butchery taking sourcing very seriously. Part of the Super 8 group behind Kiln (a firm favourite here), Smoking Goat, Brat and Mountain. High hopes for this one.

📍  14 Dean Street, London W1D 3RS

🔥  Also Opening This Month

🍣 Temaki Mayfair, 11 Maddox St W1S 2QF  — London's cult Brixton handroll bar graduates to a two-floor Mayfair space with counter dining upstairs and a Japanese listening bar below. Book now.

 🍝 Jamie's Italian, 17-18 Irving St WC2H 7AU  — Back from the dead, seven years after its collapse. Three floors, 140 covers, fresh pasta daily — and plans for 39 more UK sites. Watch this space.

👀  ON OUR RADAR

Brutes of Mayfair — Opening April

Martini lovers, mark your diaries. Founded by James Stevenson and Guy Mazuch — veterans of the JKS Restaurants beverage team — Brutes is positioning itself as Mayfair's neighbourhood cocktail bar and martini shop on Bruton Place no less. The centrepiece is a customisable martini card: choose your base spirit, style (dry, wet, dirty or the intriguingly named 'brutal'), and garnish. Options range from blue cheese olives to pickled onion Monster Munch. Only 12 seats at the bar — you may need to be quick off the mark.

📍  34a Bruton Place, London W1J 6NR — Opening April 2026

📈  TRENDING ON MAYFAIR FOODIE

This month's most-read content on the website:

• Review: Bombay Bustle

• Recipe: Skate Wing with Brown Butter & Capers

• Feature: Best Cafes In Mayfair

Also, a new article is in progress: 'Where to Eat in Mayfair for Under £30'. I know this is something a lot of you have asked about, and I'm pleased to say there's more to talk about than you might expect. It should be live in the next week or two.

📅  COMING IN APRIL

A busy month ahead with several restaurant visits planned, including a return to Marjorie's to road-test their new menu. I’m also booked into a rum masterclass at Rhum Tavern (Oxford Circus), which should be a lot of fun. Recipes-wise, I have my eye on a wild fennel sausage pasta and — because Bombay Bustle has been living rent-free in my head — a Keema lamb shepherd's pie, which I have to say I’m excited about. Also on the agenda is a herb-crusted rack of lamb, and for those who like their desserts, something slightly different, a sourdough bread & butter pudding — who knew?

Spring is also properly here, so I'll be looking forward to some seasonal inspiration for new recipes. New season, fresh produce, new dishes — I'm looking forward to it. If you have a recipe that you would like featured, feel free to submit it.

Thanks as always for reading — it is genuinely appreciated. And I still can’t quite believe The Mayfair Foodie is three years old. Here’s to many more birthdays

Have a great April,

Martin

www.mayfairfoodie.com   ·   @themayfairfoodie

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