Tel Aviv-inspired restaurant Bala Baya to open in London

The new venture, which takes inspiration from Tel Aviv’s all-day restaurant culture, will open in Union Street Arches in January, with a grab-and-go setting on the ground floor and a 76-cover restaurant upstairs. 

Israeli-born Tibi, who also worked at Made in Camden and Zest@JW3, has designed a daytime menu based around pitta bread, made on-site in a custom-made pitta oven. 

Stews and slow-cooked meats, salads and homemade sauces will be served from an open kitchen alongside the flat breads, with options to include Tibi’s take on a fish finger sandwich and braised lamb neck fillets with quince, shaved pecorino, lamb jus and salad. 

An evening menu will include dishes designed to be shared, such as salmon and tahini and aubergine and harissa date glaze and desserts such as chocolate and hazelnut babka.

Ali Reynolds, winner of 2015’s Diageo Reserve World Class UK Bartender of the Year, has curated Bala Baya’s cocktail list which uses produce from Israel and the Mediterranean such as a tomato and cucumber Negroni, the truffle sour and a pink grapefruit julep and the restaurant will also feature a Gazoz Bar, serving daily blends of the fruity sparkling botanical drink. 

The restaurant's interior has been designed by Afroditi Krassa who has chosen a look to 'emulate Tel Aviv’s heady, sun-soaked early evenings' using breeze blocks and plants from Israel to create the right look.