Dev Biswal to open third Ambrette restaurant
Chef and restaurateur Dev Biswal is to open his third Ambrette restaurant, this time in Canterbury in Kent.
Biswal, who is already chef-patron of two Ambrette restaurants in Margate and Rye, plans to open his new venture on the site of the former Beer Cart Arms pub in Beer Cart Lane.
The chef, who champions a ‘curry-free menu' of south Indian-style dishes using locally sourced seasonal ingredients with a modern twist, expects to open the new site in July, following a refurbishment.
Biswal, who still spends several days each week in the kitchens, has also moved from Ramsgate to Canterbury as a more central location to his growing business.
"Canterbury is a fantastic historic town with a great food heritage and perfect demographics for my style of cooking," said Biswal. "We have over 2,000 people on our customer database with a Canterbury postcode who have already made the trip to the restaurants in Margate or Rye."
Biswal has been looking for suitable premises to open a restaurant in the city after three successful pop-up restaurant events held at the Kent & Canterbury Club in October in 2012.
Canterbury will also serve as a training and development site, with centralised production of marinades and sauces, as operations expand.
Biswal hopes to open a fourth restaurant, somewhere between Canterbury and Margate, specialising in seafood and vegetarian cooking, with the emphasis on gluten- and allergen-free foods. The chef has also set his sights on locations in Sevenoaks, Tunbridge Wells, Brighton and London, as part of his planned expansion.
The Ambrette @ Canterbury site, with seating for around 100, will be larger than the existing the restaurants in Margate and Rye.
"We plan to explore all-day dining with an Indian accent and offer breakfast and afternoon teas," said Biswal.
Biswal trained at the Dubai Sheraton, before moving to London in 2003, aged 26, for spells at Mangoes and Eriki. He has appeared regularly on the Channel Four TV series Superscrimpers, where he shows viewers how to prepare gourmet meals on a budget using cheap ingredients, leftovers and foraged plants.