Located on Great Titchfield Street, the Riding House Café will take the form of a brasserie, serving an all-day modern European menu to 180 covers.
Dishes will include Sea Bass Ceviche with Lime and Chilli; Slow Roasted and Barbequed Leg of Lamb with Caponata; The Riding House Burger; Chermoula Spiced Poussin; and Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni.
The venue, which has been designed by Louise Davies of Box 9 Architects and Village London managing director Adam White, will consist of a restaurant area, split into a formal dining room and a casual bar space, with a downstairs private dining room for up to 16 covers.
It will be the third business for Village London co-owners White and Clive Watson, who also operate The Garrison gastropub and Village East restaurant in Bermondsey.
Steady growth
Operations director Watson told BigHospitality the new venue was part of plans to grow steadily whilst remaining independent.
“We’re a very independent group and are all about a steady, smooth growth without inviting shareholders in to help us expand,” he said.
“We want to be proud of our restaurants in terms of what’s delivered and the experience the customers are having, and if we aren’t we’ve obviously grown too quickly. Longevity is something we consider in very decision we make. We want to create local institutions on a nice steady path. Whatever the rate of growth is, so long as we can operate well and deliver well, we’ll keep expanding.”
Darryl Healy, executive chef for Village London will oversee the kitchen team, while Nick Levantis, who has run both the Garrison and Village East, will head the operation as general manager.