London Restaurant Festival 2019: Highlights to add to your diary

Celebrate London’s amazing and diverse food scene at this year’s London Restaurant Festival.

This month-long celebration is a city-wide tribute to excellent food in the capital and is the ideal excuse to try out some of the city’s world-class restaurants, and to meet the experts behind the dishes. You’ll get the chance to discover cuisines and ingredients from across the world, go restaurant touring, and attend special themed nights that partner food with a film.

You can even experience great-value one-off menus at some of London’s beloved restaurants, from neighbourhood joints to Michelin-star options.

Now in its 11th year, London Restaurant Festival in partnership with American Express takes place from October 1st to October 31st across different venues across the city, so look into our great London Hotels special offers which will put you right near the action.

The unique programme of more than 60 events comprises of Restaurant-Hopping Tours, Tasting Menus, Masterclasses, Gourmet Odysseys, Chef-Hosted events and Ultimate Gastronomic Weekends.

With its jam-packed schedule, it can be tough to know which events to check out. So we’ve rounded up some of the ultimate highlights to add to your diary during your stay at our Paddington Hotel.

Top Ten Cuisines

This event series, exclusive solely to American Express Cardmembers, honours the top cuisines that have moulded London’s food scene that we know and love today. Devour a four-course meal with the help of some of London’s greatest chefs. Tickets are subject to availability, so book quickly! They’re also limited to six per Cardmember.

Two personal favourites include Sabor by Michelin-starred chef Nieves Barragan – she will serve a five-course Galician influenced tasting menu paired with Estrella Galicia beers. And Texture by award-winning Michelin-starred Chef Aggi focuses on joining British produce that is sourced from both the earth and sea blended with ingredients from Sverrisson’s motherland Iceland. This tasting menu will display the very best of Icelandic gastronomy matched with Martin Miller’s Signature serves, learn more about this Tasting Menu with Martin Miller’s Meets.

Tasting Menus with featured Chefs

Here, some of the most favourite restaurants in London are showcased, and they feature some of London’s most intriguing chefs producing delectable tasting menus, ranging from four to six courses. Drinks are included – hoorah!

Our top two picks from this event? Five-course tapas restaurant collaboration for one night only, with renowned traditional Spanish tapas restaurant Brindisa, and Cardiff’s celebrated tapas eatery Bar44, displaying the best of Galician Gastronomy paired with Estrella Galicia beers.

And the event by the guys behind Kiln – their seafood menu is exclusively for London Restaurant Festival customers. For one evening only, from 5 pm, Ben Chapman, Head Chef Meedu Saad and Luke Pyper will share an exclusive menu showcasing the very best of Northern Thai cuisine. A thing to note: this is not a ticketed event and cannot be pre-booked.

Masterclasses

The best bit about this year’s festival is this new addition. LRF introduces two series of fun and informative Masterclasses. One for the cocktails and one for sushi. Shake, rattle and roll. The cocktail masterclass still has tickets left – hosted by Rémy Martin’s Brand Ambassador Jack Charlton, learn to make some of your favourite cocktails. With three dates to choose from, you will experience a taste of life as a master mixologist.

After all that drinking, you can be guaranteed a good night stay at our Paddington Hotel – the ideal place to serve as your base for all things LRF as it’s so well connected.

Head back to your room after your hectic masterclass for a night of rest and relaxation. Thoughtfully designed with calming, neutral tones and natural materials, each comes with effortless tech a sleek, marble bathroom with an invigorating, vitamin-infused rain shower for healthier hair, skin and nails.

On the grapevine

This is your unique opportunity to discover the very best Burgundy, Bordeaux or English wines, under the guidance of industry experts.

Book onto the Burgundy tour on Friday 4th October – led by Master of wine Anthony Hanson of Haynes, Hanson & Clark. In this exclusive tasting, you will be expertly guided through eight of the best wines from Burgundy.

Book onto the Bordeaux tour on Friday 11th October – an invigorating evening sampling five wines of Bordeaux, exploring this region that has become synonymous with wine across the globe.

Book onto the English tour on Friday 18th October – an introduction into British winemaking from some of our very own nations top producers. Taste five wines and examine how the British terroir is ideal for wine production.

Jerusalem Open Restaurants 

This year, the London Food Festival is partnering with Jerusalem Open Restaurants as its sister festival.

Jerusalem’s food scene is a true reflection of the city’s status as a melting pot for many societies at the convergence point of east and west – the old and the new, tradition and innovation. A blending of traditional Middle Eastern, North African and South American to exotic Asian flavours and continental European cuisine; from street eats to high-end dining, there are few many culinary ways that Jerusalem hasn’t explored and completely mastered.

To commemorate Jerusalem’s powerful and trailblazing food movement, the city’s restaurants open their doors and delightful food lovers and visitors heading to explore their restaurants in November during Jerusalem Open Restaurants. The festival promises a large assortment of gastronomic experiences, from the markets to the most refined of restaurants, as well as special workshops, events and talks.

One Night Only

London Restaurant Festival presents four new interesting culinary concepts; London’s longest lunch, High Flyers, a tasting menu on-board Lady Daphne at St Katharine Docks and an evening with celebrated author, and traveller, Bill Bryson.

A favourite for us is the latter – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend an evening in conversation with Bill Bryson hosted at Robin Gill’s new restaurant, Darby’s in the stunning surroundings of Embassy Gardens, in partnership with Penguin Live. Guests will relish a Champagne reception, a delectable three-course menu including wines followed by readings, stories and anecdotes from Bill himself, from his latest book.  To top it off, each guest will receive a signed copy of Bill’s latest book to take home.

Not interested in food festivals? Hang back at the hotel and enjoy a relaxing spa treatment instead or take a walking tour of Paddington. After all, it’s your holiday.