Following Sleeper’s recent publication of The Top Hotel Openings of 2020, we’re taking a look at the most anticipated restaurant and bar projects on the boards this year. 2019 saw the launch of acclaimed projects including The Fleur Room atop New York’s Moxy Chelsea – an AHEAD award winner with wraparound glass walls that retract at the touch of a button – whilst the debut of The Standard London (the brand’s debut outside of the USA) brought four distinct concepts and experiences along for the ride. Elsewhere, new names like Treehouse Hotel London’s Madera broke into a busy capital scene, and British celebrity chef Tom Kerridge took to the stoves at The Stock Exchange Hotel’s Bull & Bear. Can 2020 top it?
Despite uncertainty and disruption caused by COVID-19, we’re keeping an eye on the best new dining experiences planned (so far) to open this year.. From a converted historic bank vault to an entire floor atop a newbuild modernist spire, these restaurants and bars span the scope of an increasingly ambitious hotel F&B landscape.
Nobu Hotel Portman Square
London
The latest addition to chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa’s portfolio of hotel restaurants will see his flagship Berkeley Street outpost move into a new David Collins Studio-designed space within Marylebone’s Nobu Hotel London Portman Square. Seeking to continue the original restaurant’s 15-year legacy, the menu will retain handcrafted service and cuisine touchstones whilst the bar scheme will depart from the lobby’s palette of warm, natural tones for a more colourful experience.
www.london-portman.nobuhotels.com
Majordomo – The Palazzo at The Venetian
Las Vegas, NV
Introducing Momofuko founder David Chang’s Majordōmo brand to Las Vegas following the success of its 2018 LA debut, DesignAgency has redesigned an expansive existing space within the Palazzo at The Venetian. Majordōmo Meat & Fish will offer a versatile mix of bar-side dining, fixed seating, trolley service and private rooms, with sophisticated monochrome interiors and a statement curvilinear raw bar complemented by wraparound barstools.
www.venetian.com
Khora – Kinley Cincinatti Downtown
Cincinatti, OH
The anticipated Khora will take up residence in Cincinatti’s Kinley Hotel – a new addition to Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio – with a focus on reworked local classics (think handmade pasta with Cincinatti chili ragu) and a name drawn from an ancient grain. Chef Edward Lee, formerly of 610 Magnolia and Milkwood, and Kevin Ashworth – a Cincinnati native who worked alongside Lee at both – will oversee the project. If the wait gets too much, Lee wrote the James Beard Award-winning Buttermilk Graffiti in 2019, which could give some insight as to what guests can expect from the purveyor of ‘America’s new Melting-Pot Cuisine’.
www.marriott.com
Lalo and Coco – Nhow Amsterdam RAI
Amsterdam
Encompassing the entire 24th floor of Nhow Amsterdam RAI – a 650-key modernist structure next to the city’s convention centre – two new projects from The Entourage Group will blend international flavours with vibrantly designed interiors. Kitchen and bar Lalo will serve up a reinterpretation of traditional Mexican cuisine from a space defined by 360-degree skyline views, whilst the Coco lounge and sky bar adjacent will offer a more casual, all-day experience amidst greenery and leather velvet seating that spills out onto a tropical-inspired terrace.
www.lalo-restaurant.com
The Gantry
London
This 18th floor venue will mark East London’s highest rooftop bar when it opens as part of The Gantry – a 219-key luxury project designed by ICA. With views over Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the London skyline, the space is set to be characterised by a punctuating rhythm of slender pillars as part of a curving façade, and will be complemented by a ground-floor-restaurant. Joining Hilton’s Curio Collection, it will provide the emerging district with its second hotel dining destination in as many years following the launch of Allegra at the nearby Stratford Hotel.
www.weareica.com
Dinner by Heston – The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences
Dubai
The first named restaurant to be announced as part of The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dubai, will be the third member of British chef Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner by Heston brand. Joining properties in Melbourne and London, it will be the first to operate within a hotel, and is set to feature alongside no less than 16 other restaurants as part of the Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed resort. Chef Jose Andres will also set up camp within the distinctive structure: his latest effort Jaleo is set to star Spanish cuisine from small plates to paellas.
www.dinnerbyheston.com
Silver Lyan – Riggs DC
Washington, DC
Occupying the converted vault space of the historic former Riggs National Bank – now open as the 181-key Riggs Washington DC – Silver Lyan is the first bar outside of Europe for Ryan Chetiyawardana’s innovative Mr. Lyan collection. Referencing the US capital’s status as a political nerve centre, the typically leftfield cocktail menu features Project Apollo – Moonrock gin, Henrick’s gin, sour pineapple & raspberry dust – and Project Manhattan – a “nuked” mix of Westward whiskey, Laird’s applejack, vermouths and Warwick Valley blackcurrant.
www.silverlyan.com
Pendry West Hollywood
Los Angeles, CA
Austrian chef Wolfgang Puck will launch a number of F&B operations within Pendry West Hollywood this year, with the offer set to incorporate an all-day restaurant, a rooftop venue, a bar, a music venue, and an in-room menu. Interiors have been designed by Martin Brudnizki Studio, with early aesthetic details revealed for rooftop members lounge Britely promising playful touches like animal print upholstery and brass detailing amidst glass fronted architecture by Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney.
www.pendry.com
Montage Healdsburg
Sonoma County, CA
Sonoma County will welcome Montage Healdsburg to wine country in 2020 – a 258-acre resort with 130 bungalow style guestrooms and an impressive F&B programme. The signature terroir-to-table concept alone features an interactive kitchen, exhibit pantry, wine bar and al-fresco settings alongside a treehouse-esque dining room wrapped in glass and suspended above the ground. Serving French cuisine with Californian ingredients, it is joined by The Scout Field Bar – focusing on garden-to-bar cocktails served with herbs from the surrounding site – and poolside seafood venue Hudson Springs Bar & Grill.
www.montagehotels.com/healdsburg
Henry’s Palm Beach
Palm Beach, FL
It might be off-site from Palm Beach’s Breakers hotel, but a 10-minute walk to the Via Flagler retail and lifestyle district where the brand’s new alfresco plaza is set will be worth the wait. Henry’s will specialise in nostalgic comfort food with flair, and has been designed by Tihany Design, working as a consultant to Dailey Janssen Architects. Envisioned with touches of old world glamour. It marks the second off-site F&B extension to the Breakers Hotel, following sushi restaurant Echo on Sunrise Avenue.
www.thebreakers.com
