[title]
Francophiles, listen up, because a new brasserie oozing with je ne sais quoi is coming to the Big Smoke.
When La Nouvelle Garde launched in Paris in 2019, its raison d'être was as French as it gets, promising to offer ‘drinking and eating the French way’. Since then it’s expanded into other corners of L’Hexagone and, as of this summer, crossed the Channel into Blighty. Brasserie Olivia, its first venture outside of the motherland, opened in Sloane Square in July, serving up French culinary classics (think comté-oozing onion soup and bœuf bourguignon).
Now, the group behind the brasseries is launching its second export. La Nouvelle Garde has applied for a premises licence at The M Building, a development which will take over part of the former Debenhams flagship at 334 Oxford Street.
According to Restaurant, the new French eatery has secured a 6,391 square foot unit, meaning it will be the biggest of the building’s food vendors. The as-yet-unnamed resto will join Bancone, which has already secured a section of the development for its seventh London site.
The new diner is due to open in spring 2027, according to a recruitment ad for a general manager posted on Job Today. It forms part of La Nouvelle Garde’s expansion plan in the UK, with other sites already in the pipeline.
If Time Out’s take on Brasserie Olivia is anything to go by, an evening at the new eatery will be ‘transportive’, with ‘an energetic crowd, Euro-disco on the speakers, and a tastefully eclectic mishmash of gold picture frames and gleaming light fittings’ convincing you that you’ve somehow landed yourself in the heart of Gaule.
Reviewing the restaurant following its launch this summer, Time Out news and features editor Ed Cunningham described Brasserie Olivia as ‘the sort of place that doesn’t want you to think it’s put an exceptional amount of effort into curating a vibe, but has’, offering a ‘superb’ French wine list and a dessert menu which is reason enough to visit.
Did you see that Gennaro Contaldo is opening a new restaurant in Soho?
Plus: Dishoom is launching its first-ever set menu for London office workers.
Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.