Round-up: Indian restaurant-turned-bakery and debut project for top sommelier
This week's round-up of new restaurants across the UK features two in Scotland and two in London, one being an Indian restaurant which is becoming a bakery in the mornings.
MOI ET TOI, LONDON
This week saw the opening of bakery Moi et Toi in London’s Notting Hill, on All Saints Road.
Harneet Baweja, founder of Gunpowder Group and Empire Empire, has collaborated with chef and restaurateur Edward Delling Williams for the project, the founder of Le Grand Bain in Paris.
In the same space as Indian-themed Empire Empire, the venue now becomes Moi et Toi in the mornings, combining classic French patisserie with British flavours.
Among the array of sweet treats are coconut and stewed pineapple buns, peanut butter pain au chocolat and earl grey custard tarts. Savoury options will also be available, pastries filled with ingredients such as leeks and camembert.
Locals will know when Moi et Toi is open when the neon light above the Empire Empire sign lights up, at 7am. When the light switches off, it reverts back to the Michelin Bib Gourmand-awarded Empire Empire.
TAMILA, LONDON
Also in London, Indian street food concept Tamila has confirmed its debut standalone site.
The concept from chef Prince Durairaj and ex-Market Halls operations director Glen Leeson is opening on Northcote Road in Battersea on Tuesday, October 1.
Described as ‘casual Indian dining’, Tamila is a curry house branching out from popular The Tamil Prince pub north of the river.
Food includes roti and curries, as well as an expanded bread section and street food snacks such as chicken lollipops.
There will be a curated drinks menu with Indian-spiced cocktails alongside the food.
Tamila will host a soft launch on September 27 and 28, from 5pm-10pm, for walk-ins only, where there will be 50 per cent off all food and drink.
MARGO, GLASGOW
The team behind Scottish restaurant group Scoop are bringing a new restaurant called Margo to Glasgow next month.
Due to open on Monday, October 28, Margo provides a new drinking and dining spot in the city centre, headed up by Glasgow native Robin Aitken.
Robin was previously chef at two of Scoop’s other ventures in Ox and Finch, as well as Ka Pao, which both received the Michelin Bib Gourmand.
Margo will deliver snacks, small plates and sharing dishes that highlight seasonal produce, with a regularly evolving menu.
The flavour-led approach will focus on Scottish seafood and meat butchered in-house, plus bread and pasta made from scratch.
Available dishes will include smoked haddock churros, west coast crab tart and skate wing with kumquat kosho, followed by Robin’s take on classic desserts such as baked rice pudding crème caramel.
A cocktail list has also been designed to go along with the food, alongside Scoop’s most comprehensive wine list to date.
Margo will be situated on 68 Miller Street, seating 138 diners across two floors and will open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. Stuart Black of Mosaic Architecture and Design has been involved in the interior works.
There will be a large open kitchen, with counter seats available to see the chefs at work.
Paige Wilson will led the front of house operations, previously working at Ka Pao.
Jonathan MacDonald, managing director of Scoop, said: “Margo will be an evolution of our first restaurant, Ox and Finch, which has just celebrated its 10th birthday.
“Margo will be bigger and bolder. We’re pushing things further in the kitchen.”
Sotto enoteca and trattoria, Edinburgh
Staying in Scotland, Edinburgh-born sommelier James Clark is to open his debut venture in the capital next month.
On Friday, October 4, James launches Sotto in the heart of Stockbridge.
James previously worked at restaurants in the city including Divino Enoteca and The Palmerston.
Sotto takes its name from the Italian for “under”, referencing the wine cellar hidden under Stockbridge high street that will store its extensive collection.
Set over two floors, Sotto will comprise an upstairs enoteca (wine bar) and a downstairs trattoria led by Calabrian head chef Francesco Ascrizzi, who brings experience working at Italian restaurants in Edinburgh, including Divino Enoteca, Mono and Tipo.
Sotto’s food menu will combine seasonal British produce with classical Italian cookery, with dishes changing regularly. The restaurant will seat 36 downstairs, including a private dining room for up to eight guests. At the upstairs wine bar that will seat 25 people, guests will be able to enjoy bottles from Sotto’s cellar – with many poured by the glass – as well as coffee, aperitivi, cocktails and light snacks.
Guests will be able to purchase wine to take away, as well as a range of homemade pickles and chutneys under the label Sott’Olio and a small, curated selection of Italian pantry goods.
James said: “I’ve fallen in love with Italian food, wine and culture over the last decade. There’s such variety in the food, wine and landscapes, and we can’t wait to share our interpretation of that with the people of Edinburgh.”
Sotto will open from 10am-11pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
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