12th April 2013
Autumn 2009 - City Spice
Cinnamon Kitchen, which scooped this year’s Craft Guild of Chefs new restaurant award, has already made its mark in the City of London.
Cinnamon Kitchen, younger sibling of the renowned Cinnamon Club has made a big impression on the City suits. Since opening last October, it has exceeded expectations in challenging trading conditions, turning over in the region of £1m.
On the night it won the Craft Guild of Chefs’ New Restaurant of the Year, elated executive chef Vivek Singh said: “The award has been a great boost for our hard working staff.
“Now we would like to move this concept forward along the route of expansion. We feel there is room for more mid market, younger ‘fun places’ to be established in London. If all goes well we will start looking for new sites in 2010 with the aim of opening an outlet by the end of the year.”
The deal for the Cinnamon Kitchen, appropriately sited in the old East India spice warehouses in Devonshire Square near Liverpool Street Station, was signed in January 2008 with design work starting the following July and the opening taking place three months later after renovations costing £2m.
Offering a mix of modern and traditional Indian cuisine, it showcases theatre style cooking at its best. Its central tandoor bar and grill within the 110 cover restaurant offers 12 diners the opportunity to witness how authentic dishes are cooked, with space for a further 40 on the all weather al fresco terrace and an additional 150 in the adjoining Anise bar.
Abdul Yaseen, head chef at the Cinnamon Kitchen, who collected the Craft Guild award with Singh, along with his counterpart at the Club Hari Nagaraj have been working with Singh for more than 12 years since their time together with the well known Oberoi hotel group in India.
The trio source authentic ingredients such as spices from India. “Those from here in the UK are good quality but the freshness is just not there, which may seem strange, but often goods are stored by the wholesaler for a long time and an experienced chef can easily tell the difference,” says Singh.
“Cloves, for example, grown in South America are just not as good as the ones we get from southern India with its different climate and soil.”
Beef, pork and lamb, often organic varieties, come from Hampshire Foods while the Cinnamon Group is one of the few operators in the UK to source water buffalo. Red venison comes from Finnebrogue in Northern Ireland. Fish is caught off the British coast and delivered by companies such as Wickers and James Knight of Mayfair.
Looking back to the opening of Cinnamon Kitchen, Singh admits that it could not have been launched at a worse time – just as the first signs of the recession were beginning to emerge.
“It really hit us hard and various projects we had in mind went out of the window. But we kept sensible and kept our heads during the economic downturn and I think we have proved that this must be working right from the early turnover figures. It is a good restaurant concept and will survive although it is taking a little longer to get the word out and fill up with people which we are confident will happen as they hear more about the Kitchen’s reputation,” he says.
“For the menus at both the Club and Kitchen we encompass the varying flavours and assorted ingredients of different Indian regions, with dishes presented and designed to reflect the culinary traditions and depths of cooking in my homeland.
Cherry Valley, which sponsored the Craft Guild’s New Restaurant of the Year award, has been getting advice from Singh about the use of its duck in Indian cuisine, an ingredient that used to be popular in Indian menus but isn’t seen as much now, it says. One such dish is its duck balti zheera, a curry made using skinless diced duck fillet cooked in duck stock, tomato, coriander, onion and served with mandarin segments and chopped mint.
With a commitment to using only the freshest, most seasonal ingredients and spices, diners are taken on a refreshing culinary journey and challenged to try something new.
“Depending on the seasonality of ingredients, dishes might include starters such as tandoori breast of Anjou squab pigeon; loin of rabbit with cottage cheese and dried fruit; or carpaccio of cured organic salmon with onion seeds and horseradish raita,” says Singh.
Main courses might feature grilled loin of French veal with Kadhai sauce and masala mash; seared rump of Laverstoke Park water buffalo with Goan spices; and pan seared black cod with tomato and lemon sauce with a stir fry of lime and green mango.
Throughout the year, an à la carte menu runs alongside the Cinnamon Club’s festival menus. Each month Singh draws on India’s rich ethnic diversity and varying geographic regions to present dishes that specifically focus on the distinctive flavours and ingredients of a different area from the northern state of Rajasthan to Kerala in the southernmost tip of the country and, with every menu, sommelier Mike Worrall advises on ideal wine pairings from an impressive 200 strong list, boasting bins from around the world and rare vintages.
On the night it won the Craft Guild of Chefs’ New Restaurant of the Year, elated executive chef Vivek Singh said: “The award has been a great boost for our hard working staff.
“Now we would like to move this concept forward along the route of expansion. We feel there is room for more mid market, younger ‘fun places’ to be established in London. If all goes well we will start looking for new sites in 2010 with the aim of opening an outlet by the end of the year.”
The deal for the Cinnamon Kitchen, appropriately sited in the old East India spice warehouses in Devonshire Square near Liverpool Street Station, was signed in January 2008 with design work starting the following July and the opening taking place three months later after renovations costing £2m.
Offering a mix of modern and traditional Indian cuisine, it showcases theatre style cooking at its best. Its central tandoor bar and grill within the 110 cover restaurant offers 12 diners the opportunity to witness how authentic dishes are cooked, with space for a further 40 on the all weather al fresco terrace and an additional 150 in the adjoining Anise bar.
Abdul Yaseen, head chef at the Cinnamon Kitchen, who collected the Craft Guild award with Singh, along with his counterpart at the Club Hari Nagaraj have been working with Singh for more than 12 years since their time together with the well known Oberoi hotel group in India.
The trio source authentic ingredients such as spices from India. “Those from here in the UK are good quality but the freshness is just not there, which may seem strange, but often goods are stored by the wholesaler for a long time and an experienced chef can easily tell the difference,” says Singh.
“Cloves, for example, grown in South America are just not as good as the ones we get from southern India with its different climate and soil.”
Beef, pork and lamb, often organic varieties, come from Hampshire Foods while the Cinnamon Group is one of the few operators in the UK to source water buffalo. Red venison comes from Finnebrogue in Northern Ireland. Fish is caught off the British coast and delivered by companies such as Wickers and James Knight of Mayfair.
Looking back to the opening of Cinnamon Kitchen, Singh admits that it could not have been launched at a worse time – just as the first signs of the recession were beginning to emerge.
“It really hit us hard and various projects we had in mind went out of the window. But we kept sensible and kept our heads during the economic downturn and I think we have proved that this must be working right from the early turnover figures. It is a good restaurant concept and will survive although it is taking a little longer to get the word out and fill up with people which we are confident will happen as they hear more about the Kitchen’s reputation,” he says.
“For the menus at both the Club and Kitchen we encompass the varying flavours and assorted ingredients of different Indian regions, with dishes presented and designed to reflect the culinary traditions and depths of cooking in my homeland.
Cherry Valley, which sponsored the Craft Guild’s New Restaurant of the Year award, has been getting advice from Singh about the use of its duck in Indian cuisine, an ingredient that used to be popular in Indian menus but isn’t seen as much now, it says. One such dish is its duck balti zheera, a curry made using skinless diced duck fillet cooked in duck stock, tomato, coriander, onion and served with mandarin segments and chopped mint.
With a commitment to using only the freshest, most seasonal ingredients and spices, diners are taken on a refreshing culinary journey and challenged to try something new.
“Depending on the seasonality of ingredients, dishes might include starters such as tandoori breast of Anjou squab pigeon; loin of rabbit with cottage cheese and dried fruit; or carpaccio of cured organic salmon with onion seeds and horseradish raita,” says Singh.
Main courses might feature grilled loin of French veal with Kadhai sauce and masala mash; seared rump of Laverstoke Park water buffalo with Goan spices; and pan seared black cod with tomato and lemon sauce with a stir fry of lime and green mango.
Throughout the year, an à la carte menu runs alongside the Cinnamon Club’s festival menus. Each month Singh draws on India’s rich ethnic diversity and varying geographic regions to present dishes that specifically focus on the distinctive flavours and ingredients of a different area from the northern state of Rajasthan to Kerala in the southernmost tip of the country and, with every menu, sommelier Mike Worrall advises on ideal wine pairings from an impressive 200 strong list, boasting bins from around the world and rare vintages.