Located on the site of a former bank on Brushfield Street, which runs alongside London’s Old Spitalfields Market, Blixen will offer all-day dining from breakfast and brunch through to lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.
The restaurant interior will be ‘informal with a classic, old world twist’, with tiled floors, mid-century furniture, brass fittings and leather banquettes. On the ground floor, a dining room and bar will lead out to a covered terrace, while the lower ground floor - previously the bank’s vault - will host a cocktail bar and 18-cover private dining room.
The brunch and breakfast menu will include dishes such as toasted banana bread with whipped butter, almond milk porridge and blueberry pancakes with cinnamon mascarpone and cumquat, served with coffee from UK roaster Fresh Coffee Company and an extensive range of juices and smoothies.
Lunch options will include salads, soups and sandwiches, while the European-style dinner menu will be split into starters such as crumbed ox tongue salad, with celeriac remoulade & mâché, mains such as monkfish tail, cauliflower, salsify, lardons & mussel broth and desserts such as rhubarb meringue roulade with pistachio ice cream.
A bar menu will be served throughout the venue, with ‘drinking snacks’ such as beetroot hummus and lavosh and bitterballen with mustard mayo.
The cocktail list will consist of old hotel classics given an up-to-date twist, such as the Mariachi Manhattan made with Tapitio Anejo, sweet vermouth, maraschino and anise. A paired back wine list will also be available.
Space for all occasions
Blixen is Watson’s first independent venture outside the Village London group, which operates The Garrison, Village East and The Riding House Café. He is opening the restaurant with friend and business associate Justin Gilbert.
“Our aim is for Blixen to be a place where you want to be all day and all evening. We have put just as much emphasis on our tea and coffee as we have our dinner menu; as much thought into the music as to the lighting; and will treat our staff with as much care as our guests,” said Watson.
“Hopefully this will be a space that people can use for all occasions – quick ‘coffee and a chat’ work meetings, dates, birthday celebrations, mid-‐week suppers.”
Blixen will open at 65a Brushfield Street, London, E1 6AA on 9 February