Bryn Williams to open new veg-centric restaurant at Somerset House
Celebrated Welsh chef Bryn Williams is set to open his first London restaurant in a decade.
Located in the renowned arts and cultural centre on The Strand, Bryn Williams at Somerset House will offer modern British dining, serving seasonal dishes where – although not necessarily vegetarian – the fruit and vegetable components will always take centre stage.
With a relaxed and contemporary environment, Somerset House’s creative community will be at the restaurant’s core – reflected through the food, service and design.
The restaurant, which opens in Spring 2018, will be Williams’ second London opening, adding to a portfolio that includes Odette’s in Primrose Hill, where he has held the position of Chef Patron since 2008.
In addition, Bryn Williams at Porth Eirias, a beach-front restaurant, café and bar on the North Wales coast, opened in 2015.
Coming from a strong chef pedigree working under the likes of Marco Pierre White and Michel Roux, Williams shot to fame as a sous chef in 2006 by beating several established chefs to cook the fish course for the Queen’s 80th birthday celebrations on the BBC’s Great British Menu.
Williams’ Somerset House menu will have a strong focus on sustainability, seasonality and provenance.
Fruits and vegetables will be the stars of the show, with small plates including the likes of Rainbow carrots, hand-dived scallop, sauterne, and pickled mooli, black garlic, raw apple, sage and Cumbrian beef.
Seasonal mains are to include: roast young broccoli, olive tapenade, sage beignet, scorched Cornish mackerel, and chargrilled leeks, Burford Brown egg and morel mushroom.
Dishes will also be available ‘from the grill’, such as grilled cauliflower, golden raisin, capers, soft polenta.
In a continuation of the veg-centric theme, a range of salads will also be on offer, such as charred chicory, sour onions, smoked ricotta, rapeseed oil dressing. Signature, fruit-heavy desserts include bay leaf pannacotta, blackberry, lime curd and poached rhubarb and blood orange trifle.
Williams said: “I’m a firm believer that a piece of fruit or veg should be treated with the same amount of care and respect as a cut of meat or fillet of fish – if not more.
“I’m thrilled to be opening a new restaurant that’s not only in a stunning location, but where fresh, locally sourced produce is the focus and fruit and veg take centre stage.”
Bryn Williams at Somerset House joins other onsite eating and dining establishments at Somerset House – a Fernandez & Wells outpost, a recently launched Hej coffee shop, Pennethorne’s café and bar and Spring by Skye Gyngell in the New Wing.
