Updated 10/9/14 with booking details
The restaurant and bar at the new Mondrian Hotel in the iconic Sea Containers building on the South Bank both promise to be among the biggest openings of Autumn. We reported on the announcement earlier this year and now more details about Seamus Mullen's restaurant, which is to be called Sea Containers, have been released.
Working with Executive chef Luke Rayment, they're really pushing the "farm to table" sustainable nature of the restaurant with food sourced from organic farmers and Fair Trade cooperatives from around the UK and the Continent.
The menu will be split into Small Plates, Raw, Vegetables, Large Plates, Family Style and include:
- House-made ricotta, sugar snap peas & leaves, chillies, mint, grilled country bread
- Oven roasted lamb meatballs, soft sheep’s milk cheese, cucumber, Moroccan spiced vinaigrette
- Whole grain flat bread, sobrassada sausage, Mahon cheese, confit onions, quail eggs
- Whole grain flat bread, roasted squash, Valdeon cheese, candied pecans, sage
- Crudo of wild salmon, fennel & dill yoghurt, golden shallots, fennel pollen
- Tuna crudo, artichoke, nicoise olive, cucumber
- Shaved mushroom salad, toasted pine nuts, Idiazábal cheese, brown butter vinaigrette
- Kale, apple, pecans, yoghurt & dill vinaigrette
- Farro ‘risotto’, morel mushrooms, cucumber, barberries
- Double cut heritage pork chop, grilled peach vinaigrette
- Whole roasted chicken, charred lemon vinaigrette
As for private dining rooms - there are two of them and the one by the kitchen with its own private terrace sounds like the one to grab.
And then there are the drinks, created by the man behind the award-winning White Lyan, Ryan Chetiyawardana. As well as his own bar in the hotel, he's creating cocktails to match the Sea Containers menu including:
- Sea Co Spritz: peach brandy, white wine, pea shoots, soda
- Spotless Martini: Mr Lyan gin, vermouth, distilled lemon, distilled olive.
Plus - all about Dandelyan
Over at Lyan's main bar in the hotel, Dandelyan, they'll "use carefully sourced fruits, vegetables, and fresh herbs combined with modern tools and proprietary techniques to elevate classic drinks and re-imagine flavour combinations." In practice that means drinks like the following:
- Puffed Grains and Chocolate - Mr Lyan x Dewar’s 12 Scotch, toasted grain soda, chocolate, curacao, pink peppercorn
- Patchouli Fizz - Beefeater London Garden, basil, apricot, green tea, lemon, quinine
- South Bank - Bacardi Heritage Edition, lemon verbena, lemon, grapefruit and honey bitters, pink salt soda
- Crystal Lyan - Sparkling Grey Goose vodka, crystal peach nectar, tilia blossom, vanilla
On top of that, Dandelyan will have its own food menu, which has been created by the Sea Containers gang. That features
- Savoury Lavosh with a range of toppings:
- Butternut squash & thyme; Stilton & rosemary; Curry & caraway seed
- Crispy cod cheeks – citrus aioli
- Borough Market’s vegetable crudite – grilled spring onion dressing
- Blistered Padron peppers & smoked sea salt
Talking to Seamus Mullen
Hot Dinners caught up with Seamus Mullen where we pumped him for more information on Sea Containers.
What made you want to open in London now?
I’m a New Yorker through and through and there are very few cities in the world that compare to the energy and vibrancy of New York and London is certainly one of them. I'm completely enamored with London, there are so many things about the city that I love.
What do you think of the current London dining scene when compared with New York?
It’s a tremendous dining city, with so many options. The food in London is flourishing right now and I’m extremely excited to be a part of it.
What can you tell us about the kind of food and experience to expect at Sea Containers?
Convivial, welcoming, fun, unpretentious, celebratory. I really want the experience to be about sharing and enjoying good company. At Sea Containers my cooking will be informed by the Mediterranean and 'New American' cuisines with the best ingredients of Britain.
And finally - when eating out in London, where are your first go-to places?
So many places! I’m a huge fan of Japanese food and I love Koya and Koya Bar and I’m a big fan of Nopi.
Dandelyan and Sea Containers open at the Mondrian London 20 Upper Ground, London SE1 9PD on 30th September. They'll open for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and brunch will be served at the weekends. For more information, follow them on Twitter @MondrianLDN.
Booking lines are now open for Sea Containers on 020 3747 1000. Lines will be open from 9am - 7pm daily until opening when lines will be manned 24hrs. Online reservations via OpenTable will open on 30 September.
