From secret chef’s counters to big-name haute cuisine and West End-style restaurants in the City, here’s our pick of private dining openings from 2018
Exclusive use 100
Private dining 10, 16, 16
The new City project from the Gymkhana gang is a buzzing Indian barbecue restaurant and sports bar. The long menu – featuring half a dozen sections – is ideal for group sharing.
Exclusive use 50
Semi-private dining 30
This street-food vendor turned restaurant proper puts crab centre stage: crab beignets, crab-flecked mac ’n’ cheese and its famous crab rolls. Drinks include in-house cocktails.
Exclusive use 15
This table is in fact a chef’s counter. It serves small plates in the cellar of The Palomar team’s conversion of the Blue Posts pub in Soho. Chatting to the friendly chefs and front of house is part of the experience.
4. Greyhound Café, W1
Private dining 25
It might look minimalist but this Thai import is a riot of fun. Much of the food is messy and designed to be eaten with your hands; we love the crunchy pork knuckle served with fiery dipping sauces and sticky rice.
Private dining 20
Hide Above is the fine-dining floor of chef Ollie Dabbous’ new venture. The tasting menu bursts with inventive visuals such as charcuterie speared on feathers, while the view over Green Park is just as pretty.
Exclusive use 80
Private dining 32
The Petersham looks gorgeous – all cut flowers, Murano glass and chandeliers. The menu transports you to Italy by way of an English country garden.
Exclusive use 58
The chef’s menu at Robin Gill’s new Italian (on what used to be his Manor restaurant) provides a good taste of what the kitchen has to offer. To drink, there are bellinis, spritzes and cherry-smoked negronis.
Exclusive use 70
Private dining 12
Chefs Jackson Boxer and Andrew Clarke’s new joint offers a simple menu of fish, crustacea and vegetables from the raw bar, while larger plates come from a log-fired hearth.
Exclusive use 25
Kiwi chef Jeff Tyler used to be head chef of the Asian side of Novikov, so it’s a surprise that his first solo project is a tiny restaurant in Shepherd Market. What isn’t a surprise though is how good the Japanese food is.
Exclusive use 100
Private dining 8
Wellbourne Brasserie’s modern British menu in White City features a magnificent escalope of Ibïama pork. We think it’s a 2018 must-eat.