Damian Clisby, former chef director of Petersham Nurseries, and Nick Gibson, owner of Islington gastropub The Drapers Arms, will open their first joint venture, Emile, in Shoreditch.
The restaurant and wine bar will open at 26 Curtain Road for six months from on October 10, with Mediterranean-inspired food and a refined wine list.
The 40-cover restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner from Tuesday to Saturday. From Sunday October 27, Emile will also be open every other Sunday for a series of feasting lunches, with a set menu served family-style at a single sitting.
Damian’s menu will change daily and include such dishes as:
- Pecorino, pear, pumpkin, speck
- Celeriac, cavolo nero, apple, toasted rye bread
- Potato and butter ravioli, porcini
- Venison loin, Kalibos cabbage, plum and thyme
- Paddock Farm pork rib, anchovy, capers, for two-three
- Chocolate, hazelnuts and olive oil
Gibson will pick the wine, about which he says: “[It will be] short, interesting and competitively priced; predominantly Old World, from accessible classics to wine-geek curiosities.”
A single-bottle list of by-the-glass vintages using Coravin will also be available so that diners can “drink well without having to drink heavily.”
Gibson adds: “We’ve been chatting for a while about doing something that would combine Damian’s love of cooking with my passion for wine, and our shared love of hospitality. Emile is exactly that and we’re looking forward to seeing how it evolves.”
Clisby says: “I’ve been wanting to get back to doing what I love – hands-on cooking, actually creating, rather than overseeing large kitchens and brigades – for some time and Emile gives me the perfect opportunity to do just that.”
