Five tables to book this spring – from Paris’s latest Korean opening to a late-night cocktail spot in Hong Kong
This month’s round-up of top-tier restaurants, foodie havens and kitchen innovations features imaginative chefs bringing something new to the table, as well as those taking a fresh approach to their gastronomic heritage.
1.
Mius
Hong Kong
All 16 years of Shelley Tai’s bartending experience have been poured into her first solo venture, Mius. The new spot, which is open until 01.00 every night except Sundays on Gough Street in Hong Kong’s Central district, is already attracting a lively crowd. A stainless-steel bar stretches almost the length of the main space, while a second room has cosy seating around low tables. With its clean lines and mid-century aesthetic, Mius is a calming backdrop for raucous evenings.
When designing the space, Tai referenced coffee shops, wanting to emulate their informality and approachability. “I like the simple look,” she says. “I like places to feel like you can go back to them again and again.” There is a touch of comfort on Mius’s menu too, with dishes such as pasta alla vodka and duck-fat fries. But everyone is really here for the drinks. Mius specialises in subtle twists on old classics — adding fennel pollen to a margarita or mixing its negroni with strawberry and pink peppercorn. “The highball is my favourite cocktail on the menu,” says Tai. “That’s what I drink every night after work and on my day off.” Mius’s Kobe-style highball features frozen whiskey and chilled Japanese soda, keeping the drink as cool as the bar itself.
mius.hk
2.
Juntos Farm
Ibiza
When Christian Jochnick bought a decrepit dairy farm on the outskirts of the village of Santa Gertrudis in Ibiza in 2021, he was met with consternation and curiosity. His plan to regenerate the island’s fading farmlands was ambitious. “Ibiza has lost 70 per cent of its agricultural surface in just over a decade,” says Jochnick. “Despite a rich Ibicenco farming history, only 4 per cent of the island’s food is grown locally today.”
Juntos Farm, which the Swedish venture investor leads with British environmental designer Finn Harries, has become a hub of activity and fresh produce after five years. A new on-site shop and tasting room, Casa de la Cosecha, sells fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as artisanal products. A “triangular ecosystem” includes sister restaurant Juntos House in nearby Sant Mateu and a delicatessen in Santa Gertrudis. “It has been a battle but we wanted to create a model of collaboration,” says Johnick.
juntosfarm.com
3.
Orson
Paris
Away from the catwalk, Paris Fashion Week is also the time for exciting restaurants to move into the spotlight. In Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Orson – with its creative menus and retro-futuristic decor – was one such opening last season.
“This is my ode to the city,” says South Korean-born chef Esu Lee, who also runs the more casual Jip in the 11th arrondissement. “I get so much from Paris that I wanted to give something back; everything is rooted in Korean generosity.”
At Orson, he blends the wood-grilled flavours of South Korea with ingredients from the Med and French bistronomie principles: think perfectly charred meat and fish, with sides like chorizo-laced radicchio, washed down with natural wine.
orson.paris
4.
Simpson’s in the Strand
London
It was a sense of reverence for the history of Simpson’s in the Strand that appealed to restaurateur Jeremy King and his longtime design collaborator, Shayne Brady, in their latest venture together. The grand building, next to London’s Savoy hotel, counts PG Wodehouse, Winston Churchill and Audrey Hepburn among its former patrons.
“When we walked onto the Simpson’s site, Jeremy said, ‘This should feel like it has been loved by every owner that’s had it over the past 180-odd years,’” says Brady. “It was making sure all the wood panelling felt lovingly restored but not perfectly.” That panelling stretches through two dining rooms, two bars and a ballroom. “At 21,500 sq ft [1,997 sq m], it’s the largest restaurant that I have done,” says King.
The food at Simpson’s is traditional British, with hearty roasts in the Grand Divan and lighter contemporary meals in the smaller Romano’s. In the bar, Nellie’s, cocktails (the signature is a peach melba sling) are served until 03.00.
“Something that Jeremy taught me early on in my career was to sit in every seat on the plan and ask how it feels,” says Brady. “What is that guest looking at? Are they seeing into the kitchen?” The duo also obsessed over lighting. “Jeremy’s restaurants are famous for taking you from breakfast to dinner to late night,” says Brady. “That’s down to the lighting,” adds King: “I learnt the most about that from Peter Langan, who was a wonderful, natural restaurateur. He was a lascivious drunk, so he’s not a role model… but he did teach me about lighting.”
simpsonsinthestrand.co.uk
5.
Tiella
London
Tiella, the debut restaurant from London chef Dara Klein, distils three generations of family businesses centred on a love of home-cooked Italian fare. As a child, Klein bounced between Italy’s epicurean epicentre Emilia-Romagna and her nonna’s pasta shop before a family move to New Zealand. London beckoned with opportunites to train at Brawn and Trullo, as well as the chance to helm a residency at the Compton Arms. With restaurateur Ry Jessup she sought a permanent location, finding an east London pub in need of a new direction. Tiella encapsulates her view that the trattoria and the pub share attributes in aesthetics and ambience.
The menu is a roster of rustic seasonal dishes: a salad of delica pumpkin, radicchio and taleggio fonduta might sit next to her mother’s recipe for polpette (meatballs).
With wines from voguish labels and selections by Klein’s wine-importer father, Tiella is a true ode to her forebears.
tiella.co.uk
