Time to put the summer bod on hold for a month; London Restaurant Festival is back for 2023.
June always means something pretty exciting for us: the start of London Restaurant Festival.
The month-long event is a bit of a high point in London’s culinary calendar, and sees a bunch of great restaurants around the city teaming up for special menus, masterclasses and a general celebration of the city’s food scene.
They run the festival twice a year – the next leg happens in October to take advantage of the autumnal ingredients – and 2023 marks the 15th year running, so you can expect the folks involved to be celebrating.
Things to Keep an Eye Out For
Top Ten Cuisines
LRF runs a series where ten London chefs put on special tasting menus at their restaurants. Each chef rustles up a different world cuisine based on their expertise – and the chefs they’ve got in this year are reason alone for excitement.
You’ve probably heard the hype around JOIA, the new Portuguese restaurant at Battersea Power Station. Well they’ve got their name on the list with chef Henrique Sá Pessoa laying on a multi-course Portuguese feast 15 floors up.
You should also try to grab tickets for Alex Webb’s British menu at Park Lane. The guy is something of a rising star having won Masterchef: The Professionals and gained much attention for his 2022 restaurant debut.
You’ll want to book these in ASAP once they announce the restaurants taking part. You can see the full ten and book in here.
Restaurant Hopping Tours
Who wants to eat at just one restaurant? Not us, that’s for sure. The folks behind the festival probably sympathise with our desire to try a little bit of everything. LRF has only gone and offered three tours where you can cruise from place to place trying a few small dishes at each spot.
This year you’ve got four choices: Soho, Fitzrovia, Carnaby Street and Regent’s Street. Each option is £47 and includes four stops.
They all look pretty good… But, if you had a gun to our heads, we’d have to go for Fitzrovia on the basis of Ember Yard’s experimental Spanish cooking.
Masterclasses
Naturally, there are some foodies among you who would want to try and recreate what you’ve seen on your plate. Well there’s going to be plenty of chefs on hand to show you some insider knowledge.
Last year The Four Seasons Hotel on Park Lane was doing Negroni masterclasses and Michelin-starred chef Nieves Barragan from Sabor was teaching classes on Spanish cooking, among other things. No doubt this will be one to keep an eye on.
This year Hide is offering whisky tastings and the utterly gorgeous L’oscar London is holding a general spirits masterclass in their Committee Room (Google that if you’ve not seen pictures before.
And More…
That’s just a few broad strokes of the festival’s highlights. There’s heaps more going on including a food festival at POP Brixton on opening night (31st May) and menus at over 50 restaurants to choose from.
Tickets and more information are available on their website. You can find a link to that right below.
London Restaurant Festival: Practical Information
Where: At restaurants all across London
When: The whole month of June, and then again in October
Cost: Cost will vary depending on where you’re eating.
