Callooh Callay team reveal Beard to Tail restaurant details
The 70-cover restaurant will open in a 2,500sq.ft former warehouse and storage facility at 77 Curtain Road in Shoreditch.
Richard Wynne and Kate Crutchley, who opened Callooh Callay in nearby Rivington Street in 2008, chose the venue after learning the landlord was looking to apply for a change of use and turn the building into a restaurant.
Nose-to-tail trend
The meat-dominated menu is inspired by the trend for using less popular cuts of meat driven by street food and pop-up operators and the rise of nose-to-tail cookery.
"It might be a trend, it might not," Wynne said of the concept. Speaking to BigHospitality, Wynne, who worked for Pitcher and Piano, Lounge Lovers and Les Trois Garcons before going it on his own, said the restaurant was designed to showcase produce rather than reflect a fad.
"Grilling and roasting meat has been around forever - it is becoming popular again because people have been scared of using different cuts of meat but they are a bit more open to that now."
Among the dishes likely to feature in the permanent restaurant after a four-day pop-up in Hoxton last week is the slow roasted pork rump or 'Rumpie Pumpie'. "It is not a very common cut of meat but cooked well, and it was cooked very well, it is very good. The fat on the outside isn't as thick as something like belly but it still gives really good crackling and a succulent taste."
More sophisticated
Pig cheeks, Ox tail, shin and marrow bone will all also be showcased on the mains menu with dishes expected to start at £8.
Following the huge success of Callooh Callay, the team will also be designing a cocktail menu dominated by American whisky-based drinks. A 30-35 cover bar and deli area will dominate the front of the new venue.
"It is a restaurant bar and the drinks have to act as pre and post-dinner cocktails so they will have to be a little bit more classically-inspired and sophisticated," Wynne revealed.
Presentation looks set to be almost as pioneering as Callooh Callay however with the flagship Andy Warhol cocktail served to drinkers in a Campbell's soup can. Meanwhile a Jack Daniels bottle will double up as a bowl for one of the desserts on the menu.
Delays
Although the menu will be largely the same as for the pop-up, lessons have been learnt from the trial period - the team have decided to take reservations as opposed to operating a 'first come, first served' operation.
Although the second week in September has been slated for the opening of Beard to Tail, Wynne explained there had been delays in dealing with the local authority.
"One department of Hackney Council are arguing with the other department about the number of tables we should allocate to the restaurant compared to the deli area," he explained.
Mark Hix also came up against difficulties in negotiations for the late license for his Shoreditch restaurant Tramshed and Wynne said restaurateurs often faced big problems when dealing with local councils.
"If you are trying to encourage a more cosmopolitan, European lifestyle where people don't go out as soon as they finish work you are not going to be able to finish serving at 10:30pm. There are some very difficult hurdles to jump but once you have done it the first time you know if you make the right noises and approach the right people the public think this isn't going to be such of a bad deal for the area."
You can watch a video filmed at the Beard to Tail pop-up below:
