Company of Cooks to open Topolski on South Bank

Company of Cooks is to open Topolski, a new bar and café on London's Southbank on 1 November.

The new project is launched in collaboration with the Topolski family, and with the support of the Southbank Centre. It will be a café by day and bar by night.

The new venue will replace the former Topolski Century art bunker. It is named after Feliks Topolski, a Polish-born expressionist painter who moved to Britain in 1935 at the age of 28, and was an official war artist during the Second World War.

The new bar and café will continue to exhibit Topolski's work, which has been created by B3 Designers (Bubbledogs, Paesan, Trishna, Le Gavroche). It promises to evoke "an industrial and handmade feel", forming the backdrop to Topolski's paintings and illustrations.

The concise all-day menu, composed by Company of Cooks chef Bruce Wilson and Claire Clark, takes its cue from a range of European cuisines. Eastern European staples such as Zurek, a sour rye and sausage broth, and Borsch, a beetroot and horseradish soup are available for lunch. Sharing plates include beetroot cured salmon and with pickled red cabbage, Cracovian smoked hunter sausage with sauerkraut, blinis with mushroom and salt baked beetroot with beetroot tops and goats curd.

British designers Wayne and Jack Hemingway will curate a regular programme of events taking place at the bar in the evening. The initial line-up will showcase an mix of musicians, featuring cabaret artists, DJs and world music. On Thursdays, creatives such as Bob Stanley (St Etienne), Jonny Trunk and Kenny Clayton (musical director for Shirley Bassey, Petula Clark and Robin Gibb) will provide lounge music. A livelier offering will follow on Fridays, with a weekly game show club night hosted by the colourful Count Indigo.

Saturdays will draw on the heritage of the gallery and tie in with Chronicles to explore musical genres from around the world.