Opening in Spitalfields, Blixen is an all-day restaurant coming from Clive Watson, one of the people responsible for opening the very popular Riding House Cafe.
What you need to know about Blixen
The new restaurant has some interesting people behind it. One is Clive Watson, who has previously opened Village East and Riding House Cafe with Village Group. This new venture sees him going out on his own, partnering up with long-time friend and business associate Justin Gilbert of Coriander Buildings Ltd. He says; "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. We wanted to create a restaurant our friends and family will enjoy spending time in.”
It'll be an all-day restaurant running from morning coffee to nightcaps and everything in between.
For breakfast, there's:
- Toasted Banana Bread with Whipped Butter
- Almond Milk Porridge
- Blueberry Pancakes, Cinnamon Mascarpone and Cumquat.
For lunch, there's
- Croque Madame – Jamon, Raclette, Duck Egg
- Salad of Kale, Beetroot, Pickled Courgette & Walnut.
And for dinner:
- Crumbed Ox Tongue Salad, with Celeriac Remoulade & Mâché
- Monkfish Tail, Cauliflower, Salsify, Lardons & Mussel Broth
- Rhubarb Meringue Roulade with Pistachio Ice cream.
- Plus "drinking snacks" including Beetroot hummus and lavosh and Bitterballen with Mustard Mayo.
As for drinks, there will be fresh juices in the day and cocktails at night. Expect a regularly changing juice and smoothie menu including green apple, celery, fennel, parsley, lemon. Cocktails include a Mariachi Manhattan (Tapitio Anejo, sweet vermouth, maraschino, anise) and there will be a pared-down wine list.
The restaurant will be "informal with a classic, old world twist". It's taken over a building that used to be a bank, so expect high ceilings and plenty of light. There's a ground floor dining room and bar with open kitchen and an outdoor undercover terrace, plus a lower ground cocktail bar and private dining room. That private room sounds pretty impressive too, as it's where the bank used to have its safe. They will be taking reservations too, so no queuing needed. Which sounds pretty good to us.
Blixen is at 65a Brushfield Street, London E1 6AA. Opening times are 8am – 11pm, Mon – Fri 9am – 11pm, Saturday 9am – 10pm, Sunday.
They'll be having a soft launch from 3-8 February and Hot Dinners readers can be first to sign up for that here. The restaurant officially opens on 9 February. For more information, follow them on Twitter @blixenlondon or look at their website www.bllxen.co.uk
