Hawksmoor opens second site in Covent Garden

London steak restaurant and cocktail bar Hawksmoor is today opening a second site in the West End.

Owners Will Beckett and Huw Gott are launching the sister restaurant in the former Watney Combe brewery in Covent Garden. Hawksmoor Seven Dials is a 128-seat restaurant which also includes a 50-cover cocktail bar and a 14-seat private dining room.

The food offer at Seven Dials is similar to the original Hawksmoor, which opened in Spitalfields in 2006, with head chef Richard Turner overseeing the kitchen. General manager Tim Gould is overseeing front of house, with Steffin Oghene managing the bar.

The menu at Hawksmoor Seven Dials includes steaks from the charcoal grill as well as a selection of burgers served with triple-cooked chips or beef dripping chips. Other dishes on the menu include a daily-changing fish special as well as marrow and slow-cooked onions; grilled Poole clams in bacon bone broth; and hand-dived king scallop with champ or potted mackerel. Puddings include lemon curd with shortbread, custard tart and a selection of mini-sundaes - cornflake, chocolate or sticky toffee.

The interior at Hawksmoor Seven Dials, which has been designed by Macaulay Sinclair, includes original features such as a vaulted brick ceiling and a series of Victorian cast iron columns joined by a reclaimed parquet and oak panelling as well as tiles sourced from London Underground restoration suppliers.

Beckett said the Hawksmoor expansion had been organic. "The idea behind this is that we are dramatically overbooked and have a lot of staff who are ready to be promoted," he said. "If we can carry on doing what we are doing and demand continues then we would look to go further."

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By Kerstin Kühn

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