Chef Tom Shepherd to open first restaurant in Lichfield

Chef and 2018 Acorn Award winner Tom Shepherd is to open his first solo restaurant on 8 October.

Named Upstairs by Tom Shepherd, the dining room will be located above his father’s jewellery shop in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

The restaurant will serve tasting menus priced at £62 for five courses and £77 for seven, with dishes set to include Orkney scallop with dashi, celeriac and apple; and poached Atlantic cod with wild mussel, caviar and champagne.

A £35 three-course lunch menu will be available Thursday to Saturday, serving dishes such as Creedy Carver chicken with sweetcorn, Israeli couscous and leek, while a £35 three-course Sunday lunch will offer the chef’s take on British comfort foods.

The first-floor restaurant will seat 28 covers with banquette seating, a central chef’s table and bar area showcasing local beers, wines and spirits. A roof terrace is planned to open in 2022.

Shepherd was formerly head chef at Adam’s in Birmingham, where he retained the restaurant’s Michelin star and three-AA-rosettes.

He has also worked as development chef at two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottingham, with Michael Wignall at two-starred the Latymer restaurant at Pennyhill Park hotel in Bagshot, Surrey and as sous chef at the Samling hotel in Windermere.

After leaving Adam’s in 2019 he ran Dine at Home with Tom Shepherd during lockdown, selling a weekly-changing three-course meal kit delivered to customers’ doors.