Riding House to expand to Bloomsbury next year

Adam White (pictured, left) is set to open another Riding House restaurant in Bloomsbury’s Brunswick Centre in London next spring, 10 years after the first opened in Fitzrovia.

Having opened Riding House Café in 2011 and Rail House Café in Victoria in 2017, both of which were preceded by the Garrison and Village East in Bermondsey, Riding House Bloomsbury will also operate as a modern neighbourhood brasserie.

The restaurant's interiors will be designed by White in partnership with Lou Davies of Box 9. The site will be approximately 6,000 square foot with 165 covers indoors and 65 on an outdoor terrace.

Executive chef Henry Omereye (pictured right), who has run the Riding House Café kitchen for four years, will be leading the brigade, with front of house and the bar to be overseen respectively by GianMarco Carla and Harry Hughes.

Dishes will include coconut and cardamom dhal with aubergine pickle, or black quinoa and mango with corn, black beans and cashews which can be paired with skewers of beef flank suya with yaji spice mayo, or octopus with ‘nduja lime yogurt.

There will also be lobster lasagne, crab claw and garlic sourdough, or red miso chicken, chestnut bisque, wild mushrooms and crème fraiche. Brunch dishes will include Cajun pepper stew with egg, avocado, christophine and okra and pancakes with toasted marshmallows, coconut clotted cream, white chocolate and banana maple syrup.

White said: “We had such an enjoyable experience seeing the impact that the Garrison and Village East had on Bermondsey, then Riding House in Fitzrovia, that our focus became only opening a restaurant that can make a difference. London has so many restaurants now, it becomes difficult to open one that is actually needed and enjoys a close relationship with its guests.

"We operate like a club without membership, bringing the surrounding village together with a broad, accessible, lively brasserie that works for any occasion. It needs to feel relaxed, and effortless - which takes a lot of effort!

“This next journey is an opportunity to try new things, though within the confines of what we are known for. We learned this at Rail House, serving green tea waffles instead of our pancakes had quite a backlash. Our guests are regular, so we need a broad, versatile offering with a lot of healthy options.

"Henry has a Caribbean background, and through lockdown we had fun launching ‘Soul Ride’ delivery and boxes. We were blown away tasting ingredients for the first time – his yam mash is incredible, we have ackee and callaloo in our burger now and beef flank skewers. Though the menu will remain international it will see more Bajan influences.”