It’s going to be a busy autumn for anyone seeking the most exciting new places to eat
by KATE KRADER
IT’S time to get out and expand your culinary horizons. Global growth is on the menu for restaurateurs this season. After years of stalled projects, the budgets are bigger, the footprints larger and the conceits more inspired as chefs everywhere pile on reasons why people should put down their pans and go out to eat.
In August, online data-sourcing platform Statista reported that the value of the full-service restaurant industry — places where food is ordered and then brought to you — is projected to climb to US$1.8 trillion in 2030, from US$1.5 trillion (RM6.84 trillion) last year.
Chefs are taking the opportunity to introduce themselves to new audiences. This month, Mauro Colagreco, chef-owner of three-Michelin-starred Mirazur, makes his UK debut at the £1.4 billion (RM8.12 billion) Raffles London, in the site of Winston Churchill’s wartime offices. A new spot in Australia from Aboriginal chef Mark Olive in the Sydney Opera House offers a taste of the Indigenous cooking in which he specialises.
Others are testing out new concepts. Istanbul-based Mehmet Gürs is creating an ambitious food hall at a new dining development high above Dubai. The team behind the hit Indian restaurant Dhamaka in New York City is getting ready to launch an inaugural Filipino restaurant in Manhattan’s East Village.
Some high-profile chefs have decided this is a good time to go home after making names elsewhere. French-born Dominique Crenn, who has a small empire of exquisite dining spots in San Francisco, returned to Paris to open Golden Poppy, a colourful restaurant that channels the energy of her adopted California. Daniela Soto-Innes, who became a star at Cosme in New York, is opening a solo restaurant in the surf town of Punta de Mita in her native Mexico.
In other words, it’s going to be a busy autumn for anyone seeking the most exciting new places to eat.
Here are the 13 spots to put on your to-do list. — Bloomberg
ASIA
ARRAZUNA BY MEHMET GÜRS, DUBAI
When it opens, the One&Only One Za’abeel development will be jam-packed with stars such as Anne Sophie Pic and Tetsuya Wakuda, all cooking in a long, covered bridge suspended 300ft above the ground. One of the most compelling options is Arrazuna, a pioneering food hall from Turkey’s star chef, Mehmet Gürs: Eight open kitchens will serve food and flavours from all over the Middle East. Opens in late 2023
(Source: Matera)
MATERA, SINGAPORE
Inside the 1940s-era Fullerton Waterboat House is this airy, Asian- accented Italian restaurant with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the bay. Chef Bjoern Alexander, who won fame at Octavium in Hong Kong, offers tasting menus starting at S$78 (RM268.47). Snacks such as fried spicy beef chips are followed by courses like tuna accented by burrata sauce and caviar. And don’t miss the giant, lychee-wood-smoked red prawn with prawn toast. Open now
(Source: Kanesaka)
KANESAKA, HONG KONG
Unlike many sushi spots that lack windows, this offshoot of the two- Michelin-starred Tokyo counter from Shinji Kanesaka (who also recently
opened a spot in London’s 45 Park Lane) has broad views of the city from its fifth-floor location in the Central district. The menu highlights Edomae sushi in the traditional style from Japan. Opens in late September
OCEANIA
MIDDEN BY MARK OLIVE, SYDNEY
The Sydney Opera House sits on land that was once the gathering place for the native Gadigal people. At his restaurant underneath the building’s iconic white sails, Indigenous chef Mark Olive evokes this history in dishes including rock oysters with wattleseed vinaigrette and braised wallaby shank with native tomatoes. High tea features kangaroo mini-pies and lemon myrtle scones. Open now
THE AMERICAS
(pic by Wonho Frank Lee via Bloomberg)
UBUNTU, LOS ANGELES
At her original, postage-stamp-size Cadence in New York, Shenarri Freeman turned vegan soul food into a big deal. Her new restaurant in West Hollywood is larger in both scale and scope. Here, she highlights specialties inspired by West Africa, serving miso-laced jollof rice arancini and making grits with the supergrain “fonio” topped with caramelised oyster mushrooms. The wine list consists of bottles from Black-owned vintners such as Kumusha and
House of Brown. Open now
LPM RESTAURANT & BAR, LAS VEGAS
The elegant French restaurant that evokes sunny Mediterranean waterfronts has outposts around the world, from its home base in London to Miami and Hong Kong. At its newest home in the Cosmopolitan hotel in Las Vegas, the space will be decorated with belle epoque artwork and over-the-top flower displays. Dishes include yellowtail with citrus dressing and grilled, olive paste-marinated lamb cutlets with eggplant caviar. Opens in November
NAKS, NEW YORK
The Unapologetic Foods group, whose restaurants Dhamaka
and Semma have made New York a top destination for Indian food, now wants to make the city care about Filipino cuisine. Longtime Dhamaka chef de cuisine Eric Valdez will prepare unconventional versions of dishes from his native country, such as KFC (fried chicken with fish sauce) and “imbaliktad”, a gingery stir-fry made with bison rib-eye instead of beef. Opens in late September
(pic source Daniela Soto-Innes via Bloomberg)
RUBRA, PUNTA DE MITA, MEXICO
After running the kitchen at the acclaimed Cosme in New York, Daniela Soto-Innes is bringing her elevated Mexican food to the 50-seat rooftop restaurant overlooking the ocean at the upcoming W Punta de Mita, in the state of Nayarit. She is planning dishes such as abalone with seaweed tepache (the fermented pineapple drink) with her female-led team. The wine list will feature bottles from Baja California. Opens in December
EUROPE
Mauro Colagreco at Raffles London at the OWO (Source: Raffles London)
MAURO COLAGRECO AT RAFFLES LONDON AT THE OWO, LONDON
The mastermind behind Mirazur in Menton, France, which ranked No 1 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list from 2019 to 2021, is splashing into the UK with three dining outposts at Raffles London at the OWO. Colagre- co’s signature spot, next to the grand staircase, will offer both artfully decorated à la carte items and tasting menus that lionise local produce. (Think carrots with turbot and nastur- tium sauce.) He’ll also serve guests at the 20-seat Mauro’s Table, set in a room that evokes the days when Winston Churchill stalked the Old War Office hallways. Opens in late September
MONTROSE HOUSE, EDINBURGH
One of the UK’s best — if insufficiently known — dining rooms is the picturesque Timberyard in an old warehouse near Edinburgh Castle. The team’s new venture is an ambitious wine bar in an 1880s turreted building that will take advantage of the restaurant’s 40-plus-page list of bottles. The ground floor will host a bustling lounge, and the upper floor will house a six-table dining room with a four-course menu. Co-owner Joseph Radford will oversee the 100% European wine selection; the food, from Timberyard executive chef James Murray and Montrose House head chef Moray Lamb, will include such plates as trout roe-topped devilled eggs and blood pudding toast with pear “mostarda” and sherry. Opens in late fall GOLDEN POPPY, PARIS
Dominique Crenn, whose Bay Area Atelier Crenn made her the first US-based female chef to win three Michelin stars, has opened her most casual restaurant yet, in the new 9th arrondissement hotel La Fantasie. In a colourful space where patterned wallpaper runs amok, she combines California energy with French touches to offer banana pancakes topped with a dollop of smoked caviar and dry-aged sea bream served whole, for €110 (RM550), as part of her meat-free menu. Open now
(source: Golden Poppy)
GOLDEN POPPY, PARIS
Dominique Crenn, whose Bay Area Atelier Crenn made her the first US-based female chef to win three Michelin stars, has opened her most casual restaurant yet, in the new 9th arrondissement hotel La Fantasie. In a colourful space where patterned wallpaper runs amok, she combines California energy with French touches to offer banana pancakes topped with a dollop of smoked caviar and dry-aged sea bream served whole, for €110 (RM550), as part of her meat-free menu. Open now
GUETHARY, MALLORCA, SPAIN
The wood-fired, seafood-focused repertoire at Elkano amassed a cult following that included Anthony Bourdain. In late summer, it expanded from its flagship location in the Basque region to Spain’s current hot spot, Mallorca. Guethary, in the Iberostar Selection Playa de Palma hotel, is run by Aitor Arregi — the son of Elkano’s founder — who sources prawns, octopus, monkfish and lobster from the Mediterranean Sea. The menu is finalised minutes before service starts, based on what’s available, and the wine list emphasises organic and biodynamic bottlings from the island, along with offerings from elsewhere in Spain and France. Open now
GALLADA, ISTANBUL
There’s just one place in Istanbul with two Michelin stars: Turk Fatih Tutak. To follow it up, chef-owner Fatih Tutak has created an Asian-accented Turkish gem on the roof of the Peninsula Istanbul, where terrace seats overlooking the Bosphorus are in greatest demand. The set menus range from €130 to €180, with such selections as tuna tartare adorned with tomato, tahini and yuzu, plus 60-day dry-aged rib-eye with soy butter. Cocktails include the Kuala Lumpur, a mix of cognac, kalamansi and kaffir-lime leaf. Open now
- This article first appeared in The Malaysian Reserve weekly print edition
