Sanja and Ana Morris will open the 45-cover restaurant on St Paul’s Road on 27 August. LeCoq will offer a weekly-changing, two or three-course set menu, with rotisserie-cooked free-range chicken the only permanent menu item.
With the recent flurry of new chicken-led restaurants showing no signs of abating, Ana insists her new concept is unique enough to stand out from the crowd.
“We came up with this idea before the chicken trend hit London,” she said. “There’s the likes of Chicken Shop and Clockjack Oven which are both rotisserie restaurants, but they’re a lot more fast-foodie than we are and their menu’s not going to change.
“We’re a bit more bespoke in our offering and we’ll do any meat on the rotisserie for our Sunday Roast. There’s a lot of battery chicken and water-pumped chicken out there which doesn’t taste of anything - ours gives a real depth of flavour.”
On the menu
Ana and Sanja are joined by Max Halley (formerly Salt Yard Group) as manager and Ben Benton (formerly Dock Kitchen) as head chef.
LeCoq’s chickens are sourced from Sutton Hoo in Suffolk. The dedicated poultry farm breeds slow-growing traditional chickens in a free-range environment and feeds them on a completely additive-free diet without antibiotics or drugs of any kind.
The menu’s not all about poultry, though, with the opening menu featuring the likes of charred whole broad bean pods with dill crème fraiche and jasmine tea-cured char with beetroot remoulade. A selection of artisanal ice cream and homemade tart will feature among the desserts. The set menu is priced at £16 for two courses and £20 for three.
Le Coq also has a private dining room with space for an additional 16 people, in which bespoke menus will be created using the rotisserie for any cuts of meats of fish. The restaurant’s wine list comprises of around 10 world wines, with a house white, red and prosecco available on-tap.
More restaurants
The rotisserie will form a visual focus to the dining room, along with an open kitchen. Décor makes use of wood, tiles, copper and stained glass, with the colour palette dictated to by these natural materials.
As a Leith’s-trained chef who worked at Salt Yard, La Trompette, Bocca di Lupo and Rochelle Canteen, Ana said that she and her sister Sanja – who founded Salt Yard in 2005 – have more concepts up their sleeve.
“We have plans for other restaurants,” she said. “But I wouldn’t want to expand LeCoq - I don’t think London needs more chains. We may do other single-dish concepts; neighbourhood-type places. Not burgers though - something that people haven’t done yet.”
LeCoq will open at 292-294 St Paul’s Road on Tuesday 22 August.