New restaurants to watch - spring 2013

First of all, the trends that are still going strong. Global street food is one, with Brazilian Galeto and Middle Eastern Koshari Street opening soon. Galeto will specialise in grilled meats; their signature dish will be half a chicken marinated and grilled with a variety of sauces. Koshari Street, launching this spring on St. Martin’s Lane, will serve Egyptian-inspired food. The eatery is named after the popular dish of rice, lentils, pasta, tomato, garlic and spices (pictured), so expect flavoursome and filling food here.

Former street food vendors Homeslice are setting up a permanent venue in Covent Garden’s Neal’s Yard. Their MO remains unchanged: a daily selection of pizzas available to take away or eat in and Prosecco on tap.

Two Masterchef winners are opening restaurants this season. Tim Anderson, who won the competition in 2011, is opening Nanban this spring with a highly original menu that will offer food from the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, where Anderson has previously lived. The cuisine from this region is heavier than most Japanese food, with meaty hotpots and chicken casseroles, as well as raw horsemeat, although it’s unlikely the latter will be appearing on the menu.

Ash Mair, the 2011 winner of Masterchef: the Professionals is behind Bilbao Berria, a Basque restaurant that already counts five sites in Spain. The plan is for there to be two very different levels, one with a formal restaurant and the more casual eatery offering pintxos, i.e. tapas on sticks.

London’s most talked about building, the Shard, will see Oblix from the Zuma team and a new Aqua unveiled in May. And while we’re on the subject of expansions, Tom Aikens, Nobu, Chabrot and Koya are all adding new sites, even if in the case of Koya it's just the tiny site next door. La Bodega Negra will open sister restaurant Casa Negra in May, and Jason Atherton continues to grow his empire with Little Social, situated directly opposite his flagship Pollen Street Social, and the Social Eating House in Soho.

Last but not least, Rene Redzepi disciple Tom Seller’s Story is still hotly anticipated, now expected to open in April on the site of Tooley Street's public toilets. Equally exciting is the upcoming Five Fields in Chelsea, which will be run by a superstar team. With an ex-Marcus Wareing head chef, an ex-Tom Aikens pastry chef, and management from Bluebird and triple Michelin starred Eleven Madison Park in New York, will this be an over-ambitious concept or utterly brilliant?