Kurt Zdesar replaces Bouillabaisse with Pacific Rim-inspired Black Roe Poke Bar
By Carol Millett
Restaurateur Kurt Zdesar is closing down his Mayfair restaurant Bouillabaisse to open a new restaurant on the site offering Pacific Rim-inspired cuisine.
Dubbed Black Roe Poke Bar, the 60-seat restaurant, located at 4 Mill Street, will open on 29 March with a menu created by group executive chef Jordan Sclare.
Black Roe diners will be met with a Hawaiian-style Poke bar at the entrance of the restaurant, where chefs will serve up raw fish dishes as well as fresh seafood and oysters.
The Grill will serve sustainable meats cooked on a Kiawe wood grill, with dishes including bison rib eye steak, fennel-tomato confit & yuzu soy hollandaise and smokey lamb rack, coconut and piquillo reduction.
Cocktails and a selection of wines by the glass, including the Chateau Leoube, La Londe Rose, an exclusive to the UK, will also be served at the bar.
The site, which is just off Oxford Street, has had a succession of restaurants over the past few years. In December 2012 Alvin Leung opened Bo London, closing the Michelin-starred restaurant in March 2014. In June last year, Zdesar, who played a key role in establishing Nobu before developing the global brand Ping Pong, opened Bouillabaisse on the site.
Explaining the decision to close Bouillabaisse, a spokeswoman told The Caterer Black Roe was "a totally new concept," adding: "This is a passion project for Kurt, allowing him to follow his obsession with Pacific Rim food."
The restaurant's décor will feature grey walls and distressed elements including worn wood and leather, with an ambience that will be "less clubby and bar-like" than Zdesar's Chotto Matte restaurant in Soho. The spokeswoman added: "It will still have amazing music but will have a more laid-back feel."
Downstairs will feature a large chef's table for up to 20 guests, which can be booked for private events or used for communal dining. The room will lead into an open kitchen with the walls lined with tanks of fresh live seafood and portraits of the farmers and fishermen who supply the restaurant.
"We want this to be a destination restaurant for people who will travel to it for the amazing food, which will be of the highest quality," the spokeswoman said.