2024 was another rollercoaster of a year that saw Jeremy King’s triumphant return, the smash burger craze, elections, the Olympics in Paris, furores about corkage and canned carbonara, some exciting new openings (such as Lita and Ibai) and some questionable or divisive openings (Public House in Paris, The Yellow Bittern in London). As is Palate tradition, we take stock of the year gone by and look forward to the next; further below a selection of our contributors give their reflections on 2024 and their predictions for next year. We also name our UK opening of the year!
Use them or lose them
But first, despite its many delicious high points, we can’t ignore how difficult 2024 has been for the hospitality industry. The decimation has been reportedly worse than during Covid itself, nay even the financial crisis of 2008. As Glynn Purnell said with the recent closure of his eponymous restaurant, “no-one is bullet-proof.”
Obviously closures are devastating for the owners and the employees, and there’s the knock-on effect on suppliers, but one aspect that doesn’t get many column inches is the heartbreak customers can feel. (Forgive the sentimentality, things perk up below.) Restaurants and bars are much more than a place to go to eat and drink; they play a crucial role in bringing people together, for customers and staff alike. Losing an old neighbourhood favourite can feel like losing an old friend.
So, at the risk of sounding like the In Memoriam segment of the Oscars, we remember those restaurants we’ve lost in 2024 and bid adieu to Le Gavroche, Galvin at Windows, Frenchie (Covent Garden), Pollen Street Social, Mere, Odette’s, Cornerstone, Hawthorn, Anglo, 12:51, Pidgin, Allegra, Hereford Road, Café Kitty, London Shell Co’s floating restaurants The Prince Regent and The Grand Duchess, Super-Ya Ramen, Launceston Place and Leroy. There have been high-profile chef departures too including Ollie Dabbous from Hide and, at the end of the year, George Blogg leaves Gravetye Manor after a decade there.
Outside of London, we’ve lost Wood (Manchester), Purnell’s (Birmingham), L’Ortolan (Berkshire), Read’s (Faversham), Psycho Sandbar (Leeds), Simon Rimmer’s Greens restaurants (Manchester), Michael Caines’ Mickeys Beach Bar & Restaurant and Café Patisserie Glacerie (Devon) and Mark Hix’s Oyster and Fish House (Lyme Regis). Looking at it like that should give any food lover (and indeed those who set the Budget) pause for thought.
But it hasn’t all been doom and gloom. Despite the challenging headwinds there have been some flickers of confidence: Blacklock and the Mamma Mia group have expanded out of London (in Manchester and Birmingham respectively) and several London restaurants have extended their hours to Mondays (The French House, Brutto, Café Deco, Lorne, Baudry Greene and Clarke’s in Kensington, which also celebrated its 40th birthday this year, have all recently joined the Monday Club). Further follow-ups are expected next year such as a second Josephine Bouchon in Marylebone (while Claude Bosi closes down Socca), Highgate’s Red Lion and Sun is taking over a second pub (already soft-launched), Rick Stein is opening his first restaurant in central London and Chantelle Nicholson is launching The Cordia Collective. And when certain doors close, others open: James Cochran of the defunct 12:51 is now running The Brave and Tom Brown is concentrating his efforts on Pearly Queen.
Palate’s best new restaurant of the year
Before some of our writers give their personal reflections on the year, we turn now to the best new UK restaurant of 2024.
This roundup’s introduction may have sounded macabre but when you think about it 2024 has been a fabulous year for new restaurants with some very high standards being set: Arlington, The Park (pictured above), Café François, OMA, AGORA, Lita, Ibai and Josephine Bouchon all sailed straight through to the longlist. Bravo.
But there were three openings that particularly impressed our writers this year, namely Cornus, Plates and The Cocochine. Picking one from that shortlist has been extremely difficult but if there’s one that has just a teeny bit of edge then it would be Kirk and Keeley Haworth’s Plates with its ground-breaking approach to plant-based cookery. As our writer Amanda David said in her review, “I can’t shake the feeling that this is the start of a completely new direction for plant-based cooking and I’m very interested to see where the ripples lead – particularly long-term, as chefs that train here eventually leave to do their own thing.” So, congratulations Plates! (For the reviews at the time, click on the links above.)
Southdown lamb with romero pepper piperade, lamb kofta, fried capers and olives at Cornus
English tomatoes, house ricotta, raspberry and white kombu jam, frozen strawberry at Plates
Japanese Otoro tuna with roasted foie gras, and Golden Oscietra caviar at The Cocochine
Perspectives from our writers
What were the other successes of 2024? Which dishes stood out? What, like Joker: Folie à Deux, promised so much but flopped? And what are we predicting for 2025? Some of Palate’s contributors weigh in…
Amanda David
This year has seen exciting new openings Plates, Ibai, David Carter’s OMA and AGORA in Borough, and the very welcome resurgence of Jeremy King with Arlington and The Park. Thai food fans can rejoice in AngloThai finally finding a home and the legendary David Thompson’s Long Chim popping up in Horvada (just along from Speedboat Bar).
I’m also looking forward to having Spencer Metzger back in the UK (along with unstoppable force Jason Atherton, who also opened Sael, Mary’s and Three Darlings this year). I’ll start saving my pennies now, but he’s on my culinary bucket list.
If I had to pick a new star to watch it would be Hausu in Peckham: don’t miss their confident, accomplished and inventive cooking from the heart (plus some great cocktails).
But the hospitality gods do not give with both hands. In addition to the shock closures listed above, I would like a moment of silence for Leroy, Soho’s historic I Camisa and my local Dalston spot Snackbar.
Looking forward to a positive 2025, I’m excited about the trend for excellent regional French restaurants continuing with the opening of Varrons, and Roji’s relaxed izakaya Himi coming to Carnaby.
I’m predicting more cuisine-specific, high-quality yet relaxed pub residencies like Mamapen (Matt Burgess’s Māori food would be on my wish list, having attended his supper clubs this year). I’m including in this an increased focus on non-Neapolitan regional pizzas, currently spearheaded by the likes of Dough Hands, Lenny’s Apizza and Neil Rankin’s Little Earthquakes.
Food trends-wise, I’m happy to see the ubiquitous hipster small plate of whipped smoked cod’s roe stay on menus, but please can we have a merciful death for chargrilled hispi cabbage? That aside, expect to see gut-friendly, plant-packed but interesting dishes start to become more mainstream across a range of restaurants as Professor Tim Spector gets us all aiming to eat 30 different plants per week.
Rachel Naismith (Paris correspondent)
The food industry in France, like nearly every sector this year, felt the ripples of the Olympic Games. Interviewing Alexandre Mazzia – torchbearer for the Paris Olympics – at his three-starred AM in Marseille was undoubtedly a high point for me. His reflections on flavour, management, and the parallels between professional sport and the kitchen stayed with me long after. Besides Mazzia’s adjacent food truck, Marseille offered plenty of surprises: Mercato Wine Sucker delivered one of my favourite meals of the year, preceded by a killer €5 Negroni at Apotek. Carlotta With’s new boulangerie, Pompe, with its huge, fun loaves studded with fruit and chocolate, felt carefree and very Marseille.
Back in Paris, Oobatz more than lived up to its hype with pitch-perfect pizzas, while Belleville became my entire personality – alongside every other food writer here. Paloma’s €16 three-course formule (my birthday lunch of choice), Kissproof’s inventive drinks, and Le Cheval d’Or’s croque-madame-prawn-toast hybrid justified the neighbourhood’s acclaim. Lemon Story, tucked into Montmartre, offered jams of rare citrus fruits (kalamansi, Buddha’s hand, Meyer lemon)—perfect for gifting or hoarding.
But not all was rosy. ‘Chainification’ is quietly creeping into Paris. Public House, as I noted in my less-than-enthusiastic review, epitomises this shift. It’s a guilty secret (this is Paris – no one openly admits to loving a chain), but it’s happening. Post-Olympics, many restaurateurs reported dismal trade, with some saying they earned more during Covid. Crowdfunding campaigns, like Boneshaker’s, are becoming commonplace, while high-end spots pivot to catering for offices, plating up haute cuisine in chic boxes to compensate for losses.
Before the year ends, I’m eyeing Double in Lamarck (my neighbourhood), which Marina O’Loughlin and Meg Zimbeck have praised, and Trouble, where Roman chef Stefano De Carli breaks the cookie-cutter wine bar mould with audacious dishes such as vitello tonnato cheesesteak bites and mouthwatering-looking patisserie like his ‘tiramchoux’. And continuing the ‘Italians in Paris’ theme, I’m already eyeing Tempilenti’s épicerie, due to open next year – Paris’s best pasta deserves a fitting next act.
Sabrina Goodlife
2024 has been a year of culinary snakes and ladders. Sliding downwards: many restaurants we knew and loved – Galvin at Windows, Launceston Place and Le Gavroche all closed business, perhaps a sign of a wider trend away from traditional fine dining. This descent chimes with an alarming experience I had at Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, now sadly a shadow of its former self.
Climbing upwards: some brilliant new openings – Cornus promised and delivered great things, with a particularly impressive offering by pastry chef Kelly Cullen, whose desserts were the highlight of the menu. Lita became an instant hit. Steaming plates of pasta and generous platters of grilled meats and langoustine made for an irresistible combination, my favourite neighbourhood opening. The Cocochine had a dazzling debut, a great example of Nouveau Fine Dining where tablecloths are out, but chips, caviar and rare Champagnes are most definitely in.
Predictions for next year: more quiet closures of struggling formal restaurants, replaced by vibrant, noisier, crowd pleasing eateries. There is also space (and an appetite!) for more charming gastropubs – think Bouchon Racine or The Devonshire – offering diners some much needed warmth and authenticity during these uncertain times.
Foie gras, bacon and egg muffin at Café François
Alexandre Mazzia. Photo credit: David Girard
Saint-Félicien soufflé at Josephine Bouchon
Milton Tomic
While promiscuity of small plates and natural wines continued to dominate much of the landscape in 2024, there is something to be said about the shift from preachy, condescending sommelier/chef’s muse to a waiter simply offering rather than mandating that the menu be explained. However, we still endure the relentless tyranny of the ‘ingredient, ingredient, ingredient’ formula on the menu. You know the type — the endless ‘meat, potato, gravy’ speil dressed up as poetry, but delivering what is basically a Shepherd’s Pie and sending Blumenthalian chills down your spine. Similarly, there seems to be a slight lilt towards substance over show when it comes to dips and spreads. For these used to be smears on a plate, or, as Delia Smith has recently put it — ‘towers, foams, drizzles and dusts’. What we are seeing more of is something that is far punchier and more substantial — bowlfuls of oomph. OMA’s salt cod xo labneh, or Kima’s garangutan portion of taramas, to name a few. These are welcome to stay, making them far more worthy of their place in the ‘shared/snacks’ section of a menu.
It does feel like restaurants are continuing to focus on the provenance of their ingredients as well as the impact of their cooking a great deal. Still, it is difficult to distil when this simply is an exercise to justify outrageous mark-ups on anything from tap water to potato and banana skin curry that they might serve. A bit more of the discreet £1 addition to the bill for charity (no one has ever turned away from the Street Smart initiative), and a bit less of a 5.5x mark-up for ethical orange wine, please.
In 2025, I look forward to going back to the restaurants that I can finally book without setting alarms throughout the day, six weeks in advance (and still failing to get a table) — The Devonshire, The Hero, Sessions Arts Club and Mountain. But perhaps more so, I am looking forward to revisiting the places that are getting a second wind of attention, such as Julie’s which has her groove back, or Orasay* which feels like a very dear yet forgotten friend from the Western Isles who’s having to be reintroduced at a party.
For those places I still can’t get into without some elbowing and obsequious grovelling — I’ll cope, Bouchon Racine, you elusive beast. And if not, I’ll be drinking St Pourçain La Ficelle and inhaling the jambon beurre downstairs at The Three Compasses instead, pretending I don’t mind.
[*Editorial note: after this roundup was published, Jackson Boxer announced that Orasay would be closing in its current form at the end of December 2024 and re-opening in 2025 as a new restaurant.]
Daniela Toporek
I’m new to London’s restaurant scene but one thing is certain: London (and the whole UK) is yearning for Mexican food. Real Mexican food, and I’m cheering it on for 2025. The era of what I call “Brit-Tex-Mex” is finally evolving – away from grated yellow cheese and cajun fries (how did this one even start?), and towards fresher produce and genuine Mexican representation. We see it in the openings of Fonda, Sonora Taqueria and Corrochios in London, La Masa in Glasgow and most recently, El Bolillo in Brighton. Extensive tequila and mezcal menus are popping up in bars like Side Hustle, within The Nomad Hotel, and Decimo in The Standard.
The revival of French bistros and brasseries was also exciting, and I hope it continues next year, proving that the French and English can both, get along, and eat well. Claude Bosi’s Josephine Bouchon was a huge hit in Fulham (I dream of its cheese soufflé) as well as spaces like Café François (sibling of Maison François), MAISON by Glaschu in Glasgow and its comforting French onion soup, and Bistro Freddie in 2023.
For my favourite opening, Godet is a new wine bar (with a pub-feel) that opened in Islington this October, and is the sister restaurant of Binch in London Fields. Within the bar, Perk’d Up Burgers serves some of – if not, THE best burgers I’ve had in London. Perk’d Up has a simple menu with starters that melt your heart like brie croquettes, and non-fussy burgers that will have you make audible noises of pleasure. It’s good comfort food, served with some equally good wine. Ricky Evans is the chef behind the burger, and is already making strides with his Delirium Dining Club, where I was wowed by his British series last month, so I’m looking forward to whatever he’s cooking up for next year.
J A Smith
Despite the difficulties of 2024 it has been great to welcome Arlington, The Park, Cornus and Josephine Bouchon, all of which I loved instantly. However, they’re by established restaurateurs. That’s not that a criticism – there’s comfort in the familiar and they are obviously brilliant at what they do – but one wonders what, if anything, the new government will do to help upcoming entrepreneurs and smaller businesses in an increasingly volatile market.
On a personal note I was particularly saddened by the sudden closure of Odette’s after going there for at least 15 years and when Crossroads had to vacate their new premises, having only just published their pioneering book Bubbles. The Crossroads guys are indefatigable though and have been busy doing takeovers and industry talks; fingers crossed they’ll find a new home soon. And the former Odette’s site has not gone to waste: it has now been taken over by Home Kitchen, a restaurant staffed entirely by homeless people.
While trying to keep up with the new openings, I feel it’s important to practise the ‘use them or lose them’ maxim and go back to old favourites too. I can’t go a year (nay even six months) without returning to the unique and wonderful Otto’s but I also had lovely meals at Lorne in Pimlico, Les 2 Garçons in Crouch End, The Dysart in Petersham, Riva in Barnes, Paulette in Maida Vale, Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham and La Trompette in Chiswick – all places that just quietly but impeccably do their thing. If you’re lucky enough to be able to dine out, do support your local restaurants.
This was technically a 2023 opening but I was pleased to ‘discover’ Origin City too, which surely has the best value wine list in London (a mere £1 mark-up in places). Not far from there though I wasn’t so impressed by Morchella or Cloth but I stick by my reviews. I’m not saying they’re intrinsically bad, I just didn’t get the hype. (I actually went back to Morchella a few months later with different companions who hadn’t read my review but they independently came to the same conclusion: inconsistent cooking, chaotic service and still no clear ice cubes.)
As for next year, I’m looking forward to Jeremy King’s resurrected Simpson’s in the Strand (originally scheduled for autumn 2024) and Gento Torigata’s new bar Waltz (following Gento’s departure from the wonderful Kwãnt in Mayfair). I’m also keen to see what Ben Murphy (formerly of Launceston Place and a true talent) does next and I’m excited for Chantelle Nicholson’s new project The Cordia Collective. We’ll hopefully see more African restaurants in the vein of Chishuru move to the centre-stage. And I very much hope we will soon see the back of high-end hotel bars charging £25 (or more) for pre-batched Negronis (an unforgiveable practice in posh hotel bars but I’ll save that rant for another day).
This roundup was published on 1 December 2024 and reflects the writers’ views at that time.
Photo of Alexandre Mazzia by David Girard. All other photos by the writing team.
Introduction and editing by J A Smith.
