The world's 18 coolest food openings in 2019

Photo: Under/Facebook

Stack up your foodie bucket list: these are the world’s most exciting restaurant launches this year

Ever had dinner underwater? How about halfway up the Eiffel Tower, or in a Michelin star chef’s village pub? In 2019, you can – thanks to a clutch of incredible new restaurants, markets and other food destinations opening around the world. Unbuckle that belt: 2019 is looking like a tasty year for travellers.

By James Manning and Time Out contributors

The Eiffel Tower’s high-end eatery

Photo: Zinneke/Wikimedia Commons

How’s this for a battle of chefs? In August 2018, Alain Ducasse lost the tender on the restaurant on the second level of Paris’ most famous landmark. New chef Frédéric Anton is known (among other things) for having won three Michelin stars for Le Pré Catelan. His relaunch of the 410-foot-high Le Jules Verne should be spectacular. 

Opens spring.

Norway’s subaquatic super-restaurant

Photo: Under/Facebook

Situated 16 feet below the surface of the North Atlantic, Under is the world’s largest underwater restaurant. Its huge main window reveals the submerged ecosystem at Norway’s southernmost tip – so you can tuck into an 18-course tasting menu, featuring local delicacies such as seafood and wild mountain sheep, while eyeballing shoals of fish and battling lobsters. 

Open now.

Italian seafood on a Dubai island

Photo: Alici

From the team behind Time Out Dubai’s Restaurant of the Year 2018, Il Borro Tuscan Bistro, Alici Dubai promises Italian coastal dishes like mamma wishes she used to make. Stroll over to the newly reclaimed Bluewaters Island for Amalfi-inspired cuisine paired with a chilled limoncello and eye-popping views of Dubai’s bustling beaches.

Open now.

Māori dining in Auckland

Photo: The Maori Kitchen/Facebook

Because of the slow nature of hāngi food – meat and vegetables baked in a pit of heated rocks – it’s never been easy to get your hands on this traditional and delicious Māori speciality. With their new venture in Auckland, The Māori Kitchen's hāngi master Rewi Spraggon and restaurateur Ganesh Raj are changing all that and sharing hāngi with the world.

Open now.

LA’s 40,000-square-foot foodie wonderland

Photo: Jakob N Layman

San Francisco bread behemoth Tartine has launched a bakery and restaurant in LA called The Manufactory – and that’s just the start. By the end of 2019, the massive complex in the downtown Arts District will include a market, a wine bar, a coffee roastery, a pastry window, an Italian-leaning restaurant and a coffee lab.

Openings throughout 2019.

A chef takeover at Singapore’s historic hotel

Photo: Raffles/Facebook

The 132-year-old Raffles Hotel is a Singapore landmark with one of the world’s most illustrious guest lists – and it’s about to get even better. After a restoration, the Raffles reopens in 2019 with a world-beating chef line-up: Anne-Sophie Pic is opening a sophisticated restaurant paying homage to her Rhône Valley roots, and Alain Ducasse is taking over the splendid Bar & Billiard Room.

Opens August.

A fiery celebration of meat in Lisbon

Photo: Fogo

A 13-foot-long open fire for spit-roasting whole beasts is the centrepiece of Fogo, the new back-to-basics Lisbon joint from star Portuguese chef Alexandre Silva. A two-tonne wood-fired oven and 220-pound iron pans take care of the remaining cooking duties, and the wooden décor channels rustic chic. Not one for vegans.

Opens May.

A village pub by a Scottish superchef

Photo: Bonnie Badger/Facebook

Multi-award-winning chef Tom Kitchin has escaped from Edinburgh to set up his latest venture in the golfing village of Gullane. Using only seasonal, local Scottish fare and housed in a converted stable block, The Bonnie Badger is not your regular village boozer. Order the wine-tenderised steak pie with bone marrow and sit next to a roaring open fire. 

Open now.

Six floors of French food in San Francisco

Photo: ONE65 San Francisco/Facebook

Lauded chef Claude Le Tohic is at the helm of the massive One65 project, taking over a historic building in San Francisco’s Union Square with a patisserie, a bistro, a luxurious lounge bar and a high-end restaurant called O’. Hop off on the second floor to watch chocolatiers make more than 24 types of bonbons.

Opens spring.

Sri Lanka’s most famous restaurant comes to Mumbai

Photo: Ministry Of Crab (Mumbai)/Facebook

Darshan Munidasa’s Ministry of Crab has been called one of the world's best restaurants, and now it has landed in Mumbai, with all the spices being flown in from Colombo to retain the original’s world-famous flavours. Grab a crew of friends, put on your bibs, and get your hands messy as you make your way through a five-pound pepper Crabzilla.

Open now.

The Hong Kong debut from a top Brit chef

Photo: Aulis

Simon Rogan’s two Aulis restaurants in London and Cumbria function as experimental kitchens for the British culinary star and his team. Now there’s a brand new Hong Kong version, with an intimate chef’s table seating just 12. Aulis’ exceptional tasting menus showcase local ingredients and the kitchen’s boundless creativity.

Open now.

An old-school diner by a Detroit star

Photo: Brittany Greeson

Detroit is having a culinary renaissance, with some of the city’s standout eateries housed in the Siren Hotel. Now Detroit darling Kate Williams (chef-patron of Lady of the House) is bringing the food that put her in the national spotlight to the hotel’s latest project: an old-school luncheonette called Karl’s with a Wurlitzer jukebox, deco-inspired bar and in-house bakery.

Opens spring.

A towering east London hangout

Photo: thestratford/Instagram

There’s been a lot of architectural buzz about Manhattan Loft Gardens, a hotel/apartment combo overlooking London’s Olympic Park. Now there’s something for foodies to get excited about too. Patrick Powell, last seen at celebrity hotspot Chiltern Firehouse, will be shaking the pans at Allegra, a mega dining room with a view. Best bit? It’ll open on to its very own seventh-floor ‘sky garden’. 

Opens April.

A legendary Sydney club is reborn – with burgers

Photo: Mary's Group

After rebooting Sydney’s burger scene, the local heroes behind Mary’s are now bringing much-missed music venue The Basement back to life. There’s a simple bar and burger joint at street level while, downstairs, a proper restaurant and wine bar called Mary’s Underground will host free live entertainment on every day that ends in a 'Y'.

Opens May.

A Parisian temple to Italian food

Photo: Annika Berglund

After a number of hold-ups, Italian food hall Eataly is finally opening in Paris’ chic Marais district this spring – and the numbers are dizzying. The enormous hall holds seven dining points serving 2,500 diners per day, a cellar with 800 varieties of Italian wines, a huge grocery store and an open-air fruit and veg market. Benissimo!

Opens April.

A top chef brings Peru to a Chicago rooftop

Photo: Lucy Hewitt

Stephanie Izard, famous for TV appearances on Iron Chef and Top Chef, opens her fourth restaurant in Chicago this year on the roof of the new Hoxton Hotel. Cabra will specialise in Peruvian food and cocktails, with Izard travelling to Peru to research a border-pushing menu that also incorporates Japanese, Chinese, Spanish and Italian influences. We can’t wait.

Opens spring.

A self-sufficient English farm-restaurant

Photo: Brian Doherty

Dan Cox, former chef of Fera at Claridge’s, has spent two years building an organic restaurant and brewery on a farm in Cornwall. Everything grown, reared or foraged at Crocadon, from native sheep breeds to Japanese artichoke, stocks the kitchen. There’s even an on-site pottery to make the plates and dishes on which the food is served. 

Opens summer.

Time Out curates the best of Miami

Photo: Time Out Miami

The first of five Time Out Markets to open in 2019 will be just off Miami’s South Beach. A curated line-up of the city’s best chefs will serve incredible local cuisine – from ceviche to Cuban sandwiches – across 17 kitchens. Who cares about being beach body ready, anyway? Stay tuned for more Time Out Markets in New York, Boston, Chicago and Montreal.

Opens spring.

For great restaurants to try in Beijing, hit 'Read more' below. 

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