Goat in Boots to re-launch as GOAT restaurant & cocktail bar
The traditional Chelsea pub was taken over by business partners Tim Cunliffe and Steve and Katia Manktelow in July of last year. It was then closed before Christmas for a three-month refurbishment and is set to re-open at the end of March as a restaurant, cocktail bar and all-day lounge.
“It was always our intention to close renovate and re-launch the Goat in Boots,” Steve Manktelow told BigHospitality. “We were looking for a venue to apply our new concept to - this place just ticks all the boxes.
“It’s given us the opportunity to regenerate a site that’s been a part of the local community for over 350 years - we want this to be a New York-Italian food concept spread over a few floors, providing a really solid food and drink offering.”
Pizza East inspiration
Steve Manktelow worked for the London-based restaurant and bar operator Ignite Group for over 12 years, before leaving the business in August 2012 to focus on this project. He revealed that part of his inspiration behind the style and theming of the new restaurant has been taken from the Soho House Group’s London-based pizzeria concept, Pizza East.
“I absolutely love what they do there at Pizza East,” he said. “I love the design, the energy, the lighting and the food concept. And we want to do something similar down here in South West London where I think there’s a real gap in the market for it.”
The new-look GOAT restaurant will be headed up by chef Marco Muselli who has previously worked in Italy, the US and the UK at restaurants including Mirabelle, Malmaison and Alba.
The brunch menu will feature ‘classics’ such as eggs benedict or florentine and pancakes with maple syrup and bacon. Mains include wood-fired pizzas, steaks and lobster from the grill alongside a variety of salads; and the menu is rounded off with New York cheesecake or Italian ice cream.
GOAT's new look
Steve Manktelow and business partner Cunliffe have devised the menu of innovative cocktails for GOAT’s bar, while Steve’s wife Katia Manktelow will be drawing on her experience in all aspects of events management for the venue.
The venue has been redesigned by Finch Interiors; with classic tiles, layered textures and reverse graffiti giving the venue a more contemporary feel. An atrium space will also feature at the front of the building, spreading over all three tiers.
Speaking of the potential to expand this new GOAT concept, Steve added: “The most important thing for us over the next year or so is to just get this site up and running as best we can.
“At some stage I would like to open more than one venue but it’s just not something I’m looking into at this stage.”
GOAT restaurant, cocktail bar and all-day lounge is expected to open at the end of March or in early April, at 333 Fulham Road, London.
