Norwich’s plant-based Erpingham House, the UK’s largest vegan restaurant, is to make its debut in the capital next week with a Veganuary residency at Cloud Twelve wellness and lifestyle club in Notting Hill, opening on Monday 11 January.

The flagship venue, which has a café, restaurant and bar over three floors of a listed building in Norwich’s city centre, opened in 2018 with a mission to challenge the hair-shirt perception of veggie cuisine with bring a dash of Instagram-friendly style and delicious flavours. Branches have followed in Brighton and Edinburgh.

Founder Loui Blake is an entrepreneur and marketer working in sports and hospitality, who stumbled on a plant-based diet while suffering from burnout in his mid-twenties. Norwich-born, he teamed up to open Erpingham House with backing from former Norwich City footballers Russell Martin – a Scotland international who is now coach of Swansea City –  and Declan Rudd, now Preston North End’s goalkeeper.

Blake reports happily that only 10% of Erpingham House customers are committed vegans. The rest are his target audience of “flexitarians” – people who don’t follow strict rules but want to eat more healthily and ethically. And while no further announcement has been made, the Notting Hill pop up is clearly intended as a step towards a permanent London perch.