Ben Orpwood to host Avenue residency ahead of Issho Leeds opening
From 31 March to 30 April, Orpwood will cook modern Japanese-style dishes at Avenue, which is in London’s St James’s.
Dishes will include smoked steak tartare with nashi pear and sweet potato crisps, roast diver scallop, with pickled apple and jalapeño. Main courses will include half or whole native lobster with ponzu and wild garlic butter, and whole soy glazed baby chicken with fries and slaw.
Opened in 2014, Avenue’s usual menu is described as “New American”, and features plates such as cod with New England clam chowder, mushroom risotto with truffle, Aberdeen Angus rib-eye, grilled USDA New York strip, and sides such as sweet potato mash, and creamed corn with pickled jalapeño.
Orpwood ‒ who was previously executive chef at Caprice Holdings’ Sexy Fish and executive chef at Knightsbridge restaurant Zuma, is then set to relocate to Leeds this spring ‒ to take charge at Issho, a new Japanese-style concept also from D&D London.
The chef originally joined Zuma as a chef de partie in 2005, before working on the brand’s launches in Dubai and Istanbul. He then worked for five years across kitchens in Sydney, before returning to London to join Sexy Fish.
Avenue is part of D&D London’s restaurant portfolio across the capital, which also features the just-opened Aster, Bluebird Chelsea, Coq d’Argent, Quaglino’s, Sartoria, Skylon, the German Gymnasium, Kensington Place, Le Pont de la Tour, Orrery, and the Paternoster Chop House.
As well as the imminent Issho, the group’s Leeds sites include Angelica and Crafthouse, and it also operates restaurants in Paris, Tokyo, and New York.
The group, which also operates the South Place Hotel in London, was founded by Des Gunewardena and David Loewi in 2006 following their buyout of Conran Restaurants.
