25 of the best food and drink pop-ups happening in London throughout May (2024)

Craving pasta? Reserve a spot at Leytonstone’s Dina, where former Burro e Salvia chef Fabrizio Ricotta will be serving up expertly crafted fresh pasta dishes — think tagliatelle Bolognese and slabs of indulgent lasagna — for a five whole days.

Wed 1 May - Sun 5 May. A la carte menu. 289 High Rd, E11 (dinawines.com)

Every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday throughout May, Mezcal expert Alan Uresti will be hosting tastings of The Lost Explorer’s lauded Espadín, Tobalá and Salmiana expressions within Silverleaf’s hidden tasting room, Alba. Vamos!

Until Fri 31 May. Tickets £30. 3rd Floor, Devonshire House, 3 Bishopsgate Plaza, EC2 (sevenrooms.com)

Do you like martinis? Do you like oysters? Then get yourself to the Library Bar at The Ned. Usually member’s only, Fords gin is opening it up to the public to showcase how the two staples sing when paired together. Plus, every Thursday from 6pm to 9pm throughout May, if you buy 2 Fords gin martinis, you get 2 oysters free. Bottom’s up!

Ahead of the opening of his debut restaurant, Wildflowers, later this summer, former Trinity and Elystan Street chef Aaron Potter is taking up a six week residency at Brixton’s favourite natty wine institution. Inspired by the flavours of the Mediterranean, roll up for modern European dishes such as wild garlic moules farci and grilled sweetbreads with tzatziki and cuttlefish rice.

If you find yourself in the Covent Garden area, pop to The Uncommon’s foliage-adorned bar in the East Piazza for a taste of the winery’s English sparkling rosé, made from Pinot Noir grapes grown and handpicked in the Kent Downs.

As the editor of Finger Food Magazine, The Gram Ounce and his own Substack, how chef Barney Pau has time to host a supper club we’ll never know — which is all the more reason to snap up tickets to this evening hosted in collaboration with the pop-up maestros at Come Together. Showcasing Pau’s trademark plant-based, ferment-heavy goodness, rock up for a taste of intriguing digestibles including Japanese knotweed champagne and ‘sprouted weeds’ served on ‘lentil soil.’

A full stomach and a shiny halo? Don’t mind if we do. In honour of her newly released book, Britain’s Best Bakeries, Milly Kenny-Ryder is hosting a bake sale in aid of children’s charity, Magic Breakfast. Hosted from 9am to 12pm at the Bourne & Hollingsworth Buildings, line up for signature bakes from heavy hitters Layla, Tarn, Jolene, Arome, Fortitude, Kossoffs, Margot, Toklas and more.

Sat 4 May. Entry free. Bourne & Hollingsworth Buildings, 42 Northampton Road, EC1 (@millykr)

Musician Professor Green is the fourth food fanatic to take part in Fowl’s ‘icons’ series, which will see him rustling up a Mexican-inspired ‘Crunch-Rap Supreme’, containing fried chicken tenders,koji hot sauce,house ranch and moltencheese sauce, served with a birria-style dip. We can hear you humming I Need You Tonight already.

Mon 6 May - 31 May. A la carte menu. 3 Norris St, SW1 (@fowlrestaurant)

Herne Hill’s gorgeously romantic wine nook is running a series of evenings hosted by renowned wine producers. First up? Adam Michocki of Central Wines, who’ll be showcasing four of the very best vinos Poland has to offer paired with an array of delicious snacks.

Jesse Jenkins — the skateboarder and food obsessive behind A Day In Paradise (otherwise known as ADIP) — is taking over the kitchen at La Cave for three whole days. Expect edgy veggie fare with an Americana twist, designed to be enjoyed alongside copious glassed from the subterranean restaurant’s vast natural wine collection.

Thurs 9 - Sat 11 May. Tickets £35. 199-206 High Holborn, WC1 (lacavelondon.com)

From gut-friendly pop to tiger milk iced coffee and Korean-Irish hot sauce, this latest iteration of Raye The Store is the place to go for your weird, wonderful, ethical and wholly inventive store cupboard essentials.

Thurs 9 May - Wed 5 Jun. 96 Berwick Street, W1 (weareraye.com)

Nothing says summer like hanging out on the Southbank, and what better way to do so than with a pint-sized co*cktail? That and a fiery Pakistani naan bread wrap from Baba Dhaba, the Chicken Bandits buttermilk chicken thigh burger and multiple scoops of Hackney Gelato, which will be available as part of the Kerb market residency at the National Theatre this summer.

Thurs 9 May - Sun 22 Sept. Entry free. National Theatre, SE1 (@kerbnationaltheatre)

Rejoice! Sandia Chang’s glorious ode to posh hot dogs and champagne is returning for the summer. Make a beeline for 45 Park Lane’s sun dappled terrace for the crispy native lobster tempura roll with Marie rose sauce and beluga caviar; or the more classic Franconian sausage with spicy BBQ sauce, coleslaw and crispy bacon — both designed to be devoured with the very finest fizz.

Head to Counter 71 where Colombian-born chef Angelo Gonzalez and British-Caribbean chef Liam Barker will be hosting a mere 16 diners for an evening in celebration of their Colombian and Caribbean roots. The 10 course omakase-style menu will see the duo serve modern takes on staple dishes such as frijoles and arepas, paired with selections from fine wine purveyors Justerini and Brooks.

After something to put a pep in your step on a plain old Tuesday? Head to Hackney, where Papi founders Charlie Carr and Matthew Scott are putting on an evening of delectable exploration, pairing succulent fried chicken with deliciously fizzy, tangy pet nats for one night only.

Tues 14 May. A la carte menu. 373 Mentmore Terrace, E8 (resy.com)

American writer and photographer Austin Bush is in town to launch his new cookbook, The Food of Southern Thailand. To celebrate, he’s taking over London’s hottest new restaurant to rustle up a menu of Thai-Muslim dishes featured within the tome, including kabu pujopaku(a Malay-style Long bean salad),kaeng kurumaa nuea(coconut beef curry with Malay-Indian influence) andhoi gawlae(marinated co*ckle skewers).

Tues 14 May. Tickets £48. 6 Park St, SE1(kolae.com)

Not a member of Sera yet? Hop to it, because you’re not going to want to miss Richard CorriganandShaun Searley’s collaboration dinner at Bentley’s. Titled ‘The Magic of Surf and Turf’ the pair will combining their expertise to dish up delights including an oyster croque monsieur,sweetbread stuffed morelsanda crab thermidor.Oof.

Beloved Palermo institution Trattoria Corona is popping-up at Mitshel Ibrahim’s Bethnal Green eatery for two nights to introduce hungry Londoners to their lauded Sicilian seafood dishes. On the menu, you’ll find their legendary caponata, as well as a cuttlefish, datterini and bottarga pasta. Plus, there are rumours the team might smuggle over cannoli from a tiny bakery in Piana degli Albanesi. Basically: do not miss this.

Sun 19 & Mon 20 May. Tickets £65. 1 Vyner St, E2 (resy.com)

Chefs Yagmur Foster and Panos Mattheou of Manteca are taking over the kitchen at Kentish Town go-to Half Cut for a wildly inventive Cypriot-inspired Sunday feast. On the menu? Deep fried lamb bao with wild garlic, Galaktoboureko (custard tart) fritters, and lots, lots more.

19 May. A la carte menu. 396 York Way, N7 (halfcut.world)

Acclaimed chefs Theo Randall, Francesco Mazzei and Jacob Kenedy are joining forces to host a one-off charity supper in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital, where they’ll each be showcasing their distinctive cooking styles and plenty of delicious Italian wine. The highlights? Mazzei’s brown butter tortelli with ‘nduja, burrata, broad beans and peas, and Randall’s Genovese sponge cake with maraschino cherries, zabaglione cream and dark chocolate sorbet.

Pals Joshua Bratt of Carousel and Jake Norman of Trullo have been running pop-ups as Close Ties since 2021. This month they’re hosting a bank holiday Sunday ‘wine rave’ in collaboration with chef Diarmuid Goodwin of Sager + Wilde, who’ll be resulting up jazzy snacks while they pour natural wines and ramp up the volume.

Sun 26 May. £5 entry on the door. 19 - 23 Charlotte St, W1 (carousel-london.com)

Brush off your inevitable bank holiday weekend hangover at Root’s latest pop-up, where you’ll find Rogue Sarnies and Dinner for One Hundred creating one-off wood fired sandwiches, and the bar manager from Sune creating a frozen co*cktail list — all of which will be served on the tune of several DJs on the sunny terrace.

Mon 27 May. Tickets £10 entry. 1 Vyner St, E2 (eventbrite.com)

Behold: a reason to visit The Hippodrome casino that isn’t seeing Magic Mike or continuing a night out that should have ended several hours previously. For two weeks, Chop Chop by Four Seasons will be hosting a love letter to the noodle, serving over 40 different dishes from bowls of udon and ho-fun through to vermicelli and glass varieties, designed to be customised with char sui BBQ pork, crispy pork belly, soya chicken or the renowned Four Season Hong Kong roast duck.

Mon 27 May – Sun 9 Jun. Entry free. Cranbourn St, Leicester Square, WC2 (hippodromecasino.com)

Next up in Boundary’s dinner party series is former Great British Bake Off contestant, Crystelle Pereira, who will be serving up her trademark ‘fusion’ (her words) fare, much of which is taken straight from her cookbook, Flavour Kitchen. Expect four courses featuring inventive, sharing-style dishes such as gochujang garlic bread, butter chicken mac n cheese and tahini and brown butter blondies with chai.

Wed 29 May. Tickets £65. 2-4 Boundary St, E2(eventbrite.com)

Pawel Glodowski (who goes by Pav) has been making stomachs rumble with Polska Kitchen since 2018. Now, he’s teaming up with Bracia for a unique supper club revolving around a single, secret, plant-based dish which will be revealed on the night. We wait with bated breath...

Fri 31 May. Tickets to be released. 6 Redchurch St, E2(@braciabracia)

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