A new wave of restaurants bringing bold flavours to London, Rome, LA and Mexico City
From Mediterranean delights in London, seafood in a design-led lounge in Rome and European flair in LA to cosy Mexican cantinas, these are places to put the world on your plate.
Oma
London
Barbadian chef David Carter travelled around Greece in preparation for the launch of Oma in Borough Market. The menu, created by Ecuadorian chef Jorge Paredes (previously of Sabor in Mayfair), offers a rich, culinary fusion that braids flavours and textures from the Levant. Dishes start with a bedrock of oregano, salt, lemon and olive oil. Try the zesty Peruvian ceviche, creamy lobster bourek from Tel Aviv and yellowfin tuna in clementine ponzu. There are also pillowy açma bagels that the chef originally came across in Istanbul, spanakopita gratin and labneh with salted cod, shallots and chilli oil from Aleppo. “At Oma, each dish arrives at the restaurant in its raw form: bread comes as flour and pasta as egg yolks.” It’s a creative take on Greek gastronomy, which shows that the nation’s culinary repertoire extends far beyond its balmy Mediterranean shores.
oma.london
Ninù
Rome
Italian interior designer and architect Alessandra Marino has made her Roman residence a restaurant and a cocktail bar with rooms. Precious furniture nestles by a floor-to-ceiling library, alongside pieces by the likes of Eindhoven-based studio Paul Heijnen. Chef Marco Gallotta has created a menu focused on Mediterranean flavours, with a particular emphasis on seafood delicacies. Should you have one too many glasses, guests can bed down in one of Ninù’s three suites.
ninuroma.com
Café Telegrama
Los Angeles
LA’s once sleepy Melrose Hill neighbourhood is now alive with new businesses, cafés, restaurants and museums. Artist and designer John Zabawa has added a European stamp in the form of Café Telegrama (he’s also behind nearby Italian, Ètra). “The design centres on the tables of Parisian cafés, Italian ceramics and flavourful coffee profiles,” Zabawa says, “as well as Denmark’s use of interior architecture crafted with natural elements.” And the restaurant’s name and aim? “I like that telegrams are used to communicate with friends and family from afar.”
The menu runs from breakfast staples such as ricotta toast with stracciatella and stewed cherries or delicious savoury salads (panzanella is best). The ham and cheese sandwich with prosciutto cotto, gruyère and dijon mustard is a must.
cafetelegrama.com
El Minutito
Mexico City
Opened on a quiet corner of Mexico City’s tree-lined Colonia Juárez, El Minutito is a few blocks from the towering office towers that abut Avenida Paseo de la Reforma, the capital’s main throughway. Patrons can order at the window but venture inside for the cantina-style space interior and a bite to eat at the standing counter or a coffee made with beans from the state of Veracruz amid aluminium trim and mirrors by architect Lucas Cantú of Tezontle studio.
Pastries include orejas and gorditas de harina. At night El Minutito serves cocktails and spirits. The mix of alcoholic and caffeinated beverages on the menu is an echo to the upscale coffee shops that opened in Mexico’s capital during the gilded age of the late 1800s – we’re happy to report that the appeal endures.
Londres 28, Juárez
