Critically acclaimed Portuguese chef Nuno Mendes has unveiled details of his forthcoming restaurant Viajante, which will open east in London this year.
The former Bacchus chef, who is known for his experimental cuisine, will launch Viajante (meaning traveller in Portuguese) at the new Town Hall Hotel & Apartments development in Bethnal Green in March.
The 40-cover restaurant, designed by Rare Architects, will include a bar and 12-seat private dining room as well as a 20-seat private dining suite with its own kitchen. Managed by Jeff Stuit, Viajante will be open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, serving a selection of tasting menus of six, nine and 12 courses, while a three-course menu priced £25 will be available at lunch.
Typical dishes will include charred sea bass and green apple, black olive and crispy ponzu; cold crab dumpling and fake shark’s fin soup; and aged beef and vegetable ashes, cauliflower and burnt bread jus.
Mendes, who has worked with Ferran Adrià at his three-Michelin-starred El Bulli restaurant in Spain as well as Wolfgang Puck and Jean Georges Vongerichten in the USA, set up Bacchus in Hoxton in 2006.
After the restaurant closed in 2008, he started underground eatery the Loft at his home in east London, where he invited a dozen customers two nights a week to help cover bills and try out new ideas while searching for the new restaurant site.
Due to open in April, the Town Hall Hotel & Apartments will offer a selection of hotel bedrooms, apartments, leisure facilities, a cocktail bar and extensive conference and banqueting facilities.
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By Kerstin Kühn
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