Making Lokal a Must-Visit From Opening Week
Lokal
Lokal is a modern Turkish restaurant on Market Place in Fitzrovia, from the team behind Fred Bakery and Faros. It opened on 1 May 2026 with 110 covers and a terrace. MeMo ran its press and influencer from April through the summer.
A must-visit from opening week
Lokal wanted to be one of the openings central London talked about. That meant getting young professionals, office groups and London’s food crowd through the door.
And showing off the food, the room and the terrace.
A site with a history
Hot Dinners asked whether Lokal could break the Market Place curse. The last restaurant there closed inside a year.
Lokal also had no name of its own yet. Most people knew the team from Fred Bakery.
Before, during and after opening
Pre-launch
We announced Lokal to London and trade press in April. Hot Dinners, Restaurant Online and FACT ran the news.
From 28 April we booked press and creators in ahead of opening, including editors from Esquire, olive and Forbes.
Launch
Opening month brought 56 pieces of coverage, from Time Out, SheerLuxe and The Handbook to The Infatuation.
Paid partnerships with @prettylittlelondon and @russogioacchino put the room in front of London’s food crowd in the first weeks.
After launch
We rebuilt the creator list around the people Lokal wanted: young professionals, office groups and food lovers. July’s creator visits reached more than a million followers.
We’re putting co-founder Burak Demirelli forward for profile pieces.
Hot Dinners, Time Out and The Infatuation
Hot Dinners broke the news in April, and Restaurant Online and FACT followed. Time Out added Lokal to its restaurant guide. SheerLuxe put it in its weekend picks, The Handbook covered the opening, and The Infatuation reviewed it.
Four months in
118 pieces of coverage, and a restaurant London’s food press now knows by its own name.
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