Having previously rattled the pans to great effect at the Michelin-starred L’Enclume and Forest Side, chef Kevin Tickle has launched Heft with his partner Nicola. Located in High Newton, Cumbria, the property, a 17th century coaching inn, has been completely revamped over the last year and turned into a welcoming restaurant and bar with six rooms. Kevin has foraged in the local area since he was a boy while Nicola’s ancestors have farmed the Lake District since the 1600s. As a result, diners can expect menus that dig deep into local ingredients. Bookings have just opened.
Shopping centres have not always been the best places to eat well. Or at all, if you want to play it safe. In Edinburgh, the Bonnie and Wild food hall, part of the £1 billion St James Quarter, aims to change such perceptions. The new venture has attracted some of Scotland’s most respected culinary talent including the country’s first national chef and MasterChef winner Gary Mclean as well as the debut Edinburgh outing for The Gannet, a modern Scottish restaurant which has been wowing Glaswegians since 2013. Elsewhere in the development, Ka Pao is another hit Glasgow restaurant which is venturing East. Edinburgh fans will be keen to get their chopsticks into dishes like the stir-fried venison and pork with chilli, lime leaf and lemongrass without having to brave the M8.
Rockwater will make waves on Hove’s seafront at the beginning of August as the venue celebrates Pride by the sea. Saturday 7th August will see the Pride Drag Brunch Club take over the roof terrace while events on Sunday 8th include a comedy picnic on the lawns. The weekender is in support of Switchboard LGBTQ+ charity in Brighton & Hove.
Manchester’s Ramona is about to welcome a sibling operation. The Firehouse is preparing to open officially on Swan Street, just next door to Ramona. Inspired by trips to Ibiza and California, the owners promise ‘slow fires and wild spirits’. Which translates to small plates cooked over open flames and a drinks menu that likes to stick a straw into anything mixed with Latin American hooch such as mezcal, tequila, rum and our old friend cachaca.
This Williamsburg hotspot has expanded from NYC and set up shop on London’s Westbourne Grove. As the name suggests, brunch looms large here and you know where to go if you fancy pancakes dripping in brown butter, a cheddar scramble or even a Don Ruben omelette loaded with mole sauce, goat cheese, roasted mushrooms, feta and butter lettuce salad. The dinner menu is just as appealing with cauliflower patty melts rubbing shoulders with smoked chicken, ricotta-stuffed pasta shells and beef tartare punched up with a Worcestershire-cured egg yolk. Made with Japanese gin, bergamot rosolio, pomegranate, lemon, cava and cucumber bitters, the Kyoto Yacht Club cocktail should sharpen the appetite nicely.
by: Jonathan Trew
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