The new French bistrot opens on Maiden Lane on 23 September, serving coq au vin jaune pie, stuffed pig’s trotter and a spirited celebration of Calvados.
The team behind Peckham favourite Levan is heading into central London with Cassette, a modern French bistrot opening in Covent Garden on Wednesday 23 September.
Inspired by Parisian bistrots, neighbourhood wine bars and the sort of countryside auberges deemed worthy of a lengthy detour, Cassette promises classical French cooking without too much ceremony. It occupies a restored nineteenth-century workshop on Maiden Lane, complete with soaring ceilings, original Gothic windows and a serious sound system.
Head chef Essa Fakhry, formerly of Dublin’s Note and London wine bar Planque, has created a menu rooted in French technique but shaped by British seasonal produce.
Smaller dishes include raw beef croustade with Comté, pickled mussels with panisse and aioli, and a petit maison aioli served with vegetables from Shrub and Flourish Farm. Starters range from raw scallop with cucumber and basil to endive with walnut, celery and Bleu d’Auvergne.
Larger plates offer rather more heft. A coq au vin jaune pie is designed for sharing, while cep and smoked egg-yolk vol-au-vent comes with sauce Parisienne. Sea trout is paired with fennel and sauce au petit-lait.
A regularly changing blackboard will give the kitchen space to flex its classical muscles, with specials such as grilled sweetbread Grenobloise and stuffed pig’s trotter à la Koffmann. Sundays are simpler: diners can book throughout the day for moules or steak frites.
Desserts continue the French theme with îles flottantes and peach, alongside black fig clafoutis with vanilla ice cream. Both will change with the seasons.
Cassette will open from midday until 10pm, with lunch followed by an afternoon bar menu of charcuterie, frites and selected snacks before dinner begins at 5.30pm. This should make it equally suitable for a full meal or the increasingly underrated pleasure of sitting at a bar in the middle of the afternoon with wine and something salty.
Calvados is the star of the cocktail list. Beyond a straightforward Calvados and tonic, the menu includes a rather more dangerous-sounding Jet Fuel shot made with Calvados, minty Get 27 and coffee liqueur. There is also the Green Goblin, essentially Jet Fuel shaken over ice, and Café Calvo: espresso served with a shot of the apple brandy.
Wine will follow Levan’s exploratory approach, with the list changing quarterly to spotlight individual regions, small allocations and winemakers doing something distinctive. Levan previously received the Star Wine List of the Year Jury Prize, so expectations are understandably high.
The 46-cover dining room has been designed by Gundry + Ducker, with aubergine leather, sapele wood and a theatrical curtain framing the space. Ten further seats overlook the semi-open kitchen downstairs, while a 24-cover terrace provides room for lunches and mid-afternoon sundowners.
Music is integral rather than decorative. Co-founder and record-label owner Mark Gurney will curate the playlists, played through rare 1970s Grundig Audiorama 8000 speakers. The name Cassette was chosen to evoke a simpler, more analogue age – although thankfully the food sounds rather more ambitious than anything you would usually eat beside a tape deck.
Cassette
42 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2
Opens Wednesday 23 September 2026
cassettelondon.co.uk