Smoking Lobster partners with Foresters Hall hotel to open new brasserie

The Brasserie by Smoking Lobster is due to open on 7 April at Foresters Hall hotel, previously known as North House, on the Isle of Wight.

North House, which opened in May last year, was renamed Foresters Hall last September after owners Sara Curran and Peter Sussman discovered that part of the boutique hotel dated to 1865 and was used as a meeting hall for 2,000 foresters on the island.

The original name was also often confused with the nearby English Heritage site Northwood House, which prompted the rebrand.

Curran and Sussman have teamed up with siblings Giancarlo (GC) Giancovich and Cinzia Reckitt of Smoking Lobster group for the launch of the 80-cover restaurant, 25-cover bar and 15-cover private dining room.

Preparations for the new restaurant started at the end of December, following the departure of North House’s former chef patron, Robert Thompson.

Smoking Lobster operates three restaurants across the island, including Smoking Lobster Cowes, where the friendship – and later restaurant partnership – between the four of them began.

Curran told The Caterer: “Peter and I are known to be [at Smoking Lobster] three or four times a week. We loved their food and just got to know them. When the opportunity came about for us to open a new restaurant, they were absolutely our first choice.”

Giancovich added: “The timing was right because we were looking to expand. It just worked; it’s such a beautiful venue.”

The Brasserie will be rooted in casual fine dining, serving freshly made pasta using locally sourced produce. The restaurant has its own licensed fishing boat that will go out to sea five days a week, giving guests the option to order catch of the day from a daily specials board.

Reckitt, who is also a sake specialist, has selected a series of “recognisable drinks with a bespoke touch” to go alongside Curran’s “fantastic wine list”, which predominantly showcases European wines, ranging from Sussex to Hungary, sourced from local wine shop Wine Therapy.

She expressed her excitement that the Brasserie will attract a different clientele to Smoking Lobster’s other restaurants, which specialise in seafood: “One thing that our customers ask for is more meat dishes. I think this will hit the other market that we have at Smoking Lobster so I’m really looking forward to having a little bit for everybody.”

Giancovich added: “I was traditionally trained in French-Italian cuisine, and then I spent a lot of time in Asia and went to the Asian side for the last seven years. It’s quite nice to go back to what I was originally trained in, so it will be a contrast.”

Curran said her guests have always asked for a brasserie menu, so she is pleased to be launching a the restaurant.

She added: “I’m looking forward to having a lot of fun with these guys. We all work really hard, [but] we’ve all got families and my feeling is that family is also really important to GC and Cinz. [It’s about] having a nice balance and serving really good food in the restaurant.”