Niall Keating to oversee Staffordshire restaurant Lunar

Niall Keating is to oversee a new restaurant, named Lunar, at the World of Wedgwood visitor attraction in Barlaston, near Stoke-on-Trent.

The chef has partnered with events firm the Great British Experience Company for the project, which will open on 25 November.

The 120-cover Lunar is described as a ‘modern dining experience’ with design inspired by the history of the area and the Lunar Society, a supper club for the Midlands enlightenment movement started in 1775 whose members included entrepreneurs, scientists, poets and inventors.

Keating has been executive chef of two-Michelin-starred Whatley Manor in Wiltshire for the past five years and will continue in his role there, with head chef Craig Lunn running the Lunar kitchen day-to-day.

The pair have known each other for over a decade and Lunn has worked as a sous chef at Whatley manor and as chef de partie at the three-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London.

The launch menu will include a mix of smaller (from £8) and larger (from £22) plates and sharing dishes (from £30 per person). Dishes will include grilled langoustine with wasabi and cucumber; glazed beef brisket with crispy shrimp and pomme puree; Staffordshire clay-baked chicken with treasured rice; and toasted nori doughnuts.

Lunar will be split into an 80-seat restaurant area, four-metre chef’s table for up to 12 customers, an informal Bubble Room space for drinks and light snacks, and a 20-cover private dining room with a secret bookcase entrance.

The Great British Experience Company was founded during the pandemic by friends Craig Wilkinson and Ed Myhill, who have worked in events across the world.

Wilkinson said: “We are immensely proud to have Niall on board, and feel that with his influence, Lunar is destined to be a great success. We want Lunar to be something that Staffordshire is proud of - with a reputation and reach across the country and beyond.”