Our latest monthly recap of the hottest new food and beverage openings from around the world on trendhub is live, spotlighting six highlight openings from July here on the blog.
In no particular order, six highlights from the comprehensive foodwatching and drinkswatching new opening reports are:
Iron Gate Kitchen, Pokolbin
Found on Iron Gate Estate, Iron Gate Kitchen is headed up by Executive Chef Joey Ingram. The food is based on Iberian flavours, and the cooking is over fire, adding levels of smokiness.
The restaurant uses local produce and celebrates the Mediterranean way of life. The menu is made up of sharing dishes, starting with gildas, salt cod croquettes and anchovy tomato toast. Flatbreads are wood-fired along with different proteins from chorizo, to fish and meats. Desserts include the legendary Basque cheesecake, along with caramelised rice pudding, churros and crema Catalana with orange and lavender.
Madara, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
This new cocktail bar seats a limited number of ten guests and has a theme of 'Blossoms Attract Butterflies'.
Cocktails are designed by Rayven Leung, who serves an artisanal and immersive cocktail experience. The cocktails are based around Japanese seasonal ingredients, including fruits, floral notes and Japanese teas.
The Chalk, Chelsea, London
Owned by Tom Kerridge and headed up by Tom De Keyser, ex The Hand and Flowers, The Chalk is said to be the sister pub of The Hand and Flowers; they are serving food to "commemorate the beauty of traditional British gastropub dining".
The pub will serve a three-course menu for both lunch and dinner and will include "refined, yet humble" dishes. There will also be a range of snacks on offer. Menu items include spiced chicken thighs with tarragon and caper mayonnaise and crushed Jersey Royal potato salad with brown crab aioli. The front of house will be led by Lourdes Dooley who is general manager of three of Kerridge's Marlow venues.
Bastardo Wine Bar, Hackney, London
Owned by Lardo and situated next door, Bastardo is a new wine bar.
The wine bar will serve a range of low-intervention wines, with a list of 70 wines and twenty available by the glass. These wines will be focused on Europe and the UK from mainly from independent producers.
There are snacks to complement the wines and larger dishes, including stracciatella with anchovies on toast and pizza fritti, as well as 'trough plates' of pasta for 2 to 6 people to share.
Salt Harvest, Populus Hotel, Seattle
The restaurant is inspired by the Pacific Northwest and is found in the carbon-positive hotel, Populus.
The cooking is inspired by fire and local, seasonal, responsibly sourced ingredients. To keep in line with the ethics of the hotel, all food waste is turned into compost. The kitchen is overseen by Executive Chef Conny Andersson and Chef de Cuisine Jonathan De Paz, both with impressive CVs. Food is served all day including bar snacks in Firn bar (see Drinkswatching New Openings).
Quarterhouse, Southern Cross Station, Melbourne
Quarterhouse is a new oversized venue found across three floors with a capacity for 1400 people. The ground floor is a pub with a four metre LED screen playing sport. On the first floor is a private function area for up to 240 people. The rooftop bar has a wrap around terrace where they serve cocktails and food in the form of sharing plates.
The Quarterhouse is designed to be an entertainment venue and offers free pool on some days, acoustic sets and DJs.
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Every month we compile more comprehensive lists of the most noteworthy openings across both food and drink from around the world over on the tfp trendhub. Subscribers can see these lists for July 2025 in full over on our foodwatching and drinkswatching reports. If you're not yet subscribed but are interested in receiving our regular reporting service, please get in touch.
Image credit – Iron Gate Kitchen, Pokolbin