Restaurants to Look Forward to in 2011

February is a depressing month. Its cold, its rainy, its grey. It sucks. I've spent a lot of time composing a list of things to look forward to in the coming year, which has made me feel better about 2011.

So here are the places I'm looking forward to in the next couple of months:

- Amaranto (Jan)  - New Italian located in the Four Seasons. Set to do all day dining with a light Italian menu. It opened 31 January but there’s still very little information about it. 

- Dinner (Jan)- Easily the most talked about opening for a while. Its getting rave reviews in the first two days and is booked up till June.

- Gilbert Scott (Feb) -" A great British brasserie located in the heart of the much anticipated St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London.  Marcus Wareing's second venture The Gilbert Scott will offer a magnificent restaurant, private dining room and kitchen table, along with a luxurious and distinctive bar experience.  Expect an intriguing and exciting menu with a nostalgic array of great British classics in a unique and historical location." According to the website anyway.

- Spice Market (Feb)  - European outpost of the New York "it" restaurant. There’s already a couple of these around the world but this will be the only European venue after their Istanbul based outlet closed. "A timeless paean to Southeast Asian sensuality, Spice Market titillates Manhattan’s Meatpacking District with Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s piquant elevations of the region’s street cuisine served in a casual, sexy atmosphere. " Sadly, it’s opening in the new W Hotel in Leicester Square. I worry that this place will be hip for the first week and then will be taken over by girls wearing too much fake tan and too little clothing accompanied by men in too tight t-shirts with too much jewellery.

- Cocochan (Feb) - From the people who brought us Gaucho - there’s a new pan Asian in town. It’s going to be located in Mayfair. Set to be a new "it" restaurant maybe.

- Pollen Street Social (March 29)  - New restaurant by Jason Atherton "The bar area is a main focus, and a place where you can dine as well as simply enjoy a drink. It will be surrounded by many comfy banquettes, and the room will be full of eclectic furniture and art. We will also be opening London’s first ever dessert bar! Where you can sit to enjoy dessert and coffee, or pop up there after your main meal to see the magic of making desserts. We will have a main dining room of about 60 seat,” Sounds cool, right?  I've been dreaming of a dessert bar in London for ages. Definitely going to be an "it' restaurant.

- Massimo- London Eating describes this place as "Italian chef Massimo Riccioli, chef patron of La Rosetta in Rome, will open a seafood restaurant near Trafalgar Square in April 2011. The restaurant will be run by Guillaume Glipa (ex-Zuma) and will feature a 50-seater oyster and crustacean bar. The menu will include dishes like tuna black pudding with fish skin crisps and monkfish tripe in tomato and mint sauce.” This is the one I'm most excited about! I really can’t wait. Sounds like a dream combination of Scotts and Zaffarano and if its run by an ex-Zuma chef, we know it’s going to be good.

- Bread Street Kitchen - New Gordon Ramsay restaurant based in New Change, which seems oddly late after the other restaurants arrived. Apparently it’s going to be a casual, New York Deli inspired place.

- Cut by Wolfgang Puck - The first European restaurant by the famed American chef, Wolfgang Puck. Its part of a chain of upmarket steak places. It’s opening in the Dorchester's new hotel 45 Park Lane. Clearly, in 2011 hotel restaurants are the place to be.

- Balthazaar - Iconic New York Brasserie finally hitting London. its opening in Covent Garden which seems like an odd choice but with Laduree apparently opening a cafe here I feel this place is going to have a distinctly more up market feel soon. As a local, this could just be the best news ever.

- Spuntino - Another addition to the Covent Garden scene. According to the Zagat Blog " Russell Norman is set to open a third eatery early this year with Covent Garden’s Maiden Lane mooted as the location for Polpo and Polpetto’s newest sibling. Expect more of the highly popular Venetian-style tapas, in small and atmospheric, New York–inspired surroundings."

- 34 (Summer) - A new steakhouse will be hitting the scene in summer, from Richard Caring. Picture the steak version of Scotts.

Trends we can expect in 2011?

-      More restaurants based in Hotels (6/12)

-      More semi-chains

-      An invasion of US chefs and restaurants

-      All day dining becoming the new “it” thing.

-      Covent Garden going more upmarket

-      And hopefully, a return to the era of white tablecloths.

Other things I’m looking forward to?

-     -  Ferran Adria’s new tapas bar in Barcelona called Tickets which I think merits a trip to Barcelona 

-      - Thomas Keller, of French Laundry and Per Se fame, doing a pop up restaurant in Harrods.