Following the success of Primeur, Jeremie Cometto-Lingenheim and David Gingell are to open their second restaurant in Lower Holloway this April.
Sheltered behind a feather blade fence and an entry code gate, Westerns Laundry will be subtly hidden by a calming forecourt, planted with Himalayan Birch trees, punctuated with handmade benches designed and made by Jeremie.
Cobbles, which once lined the gangway at King’s Cross Station, will lead to the floor to ceiling crittall doors, which will be pulled open for the warmer months onto the courtyard. The restaurant itself, centred around a chalk board showing the daily changing menu, will be a continuation of Jeremie’s love of bespoke, hand crafted interiors or, as he puts it ‘beautiful things made by obscure people’.
The dining room will be lined with communal tables and banquettes made from Shou Sugi Ban charred larch and covered in electric blue British velvet, lit by incandescent strip lights, now discontinued worldwide.
1940s Michael Thonet Chairs will sit alongside kiln fired crockery from the Miami Valley Pottery in Ohio and Bristol based artisan potter, Carmel Eskell.
Two centrepiece paintings by Katie Boxer will hang in the dining room, one depicting American poet and playwright James Baldwin, the other, a hungry lion in denial entitled ‘I won’t eat you’. An open kitchen will allow 10 counter seats and a 14 cover private dining room will be at the heart of the action of the kitchen, encased by Victorian bay windows.
“Westerns Laundry will be lighter and more delicate than Primeur, rooted in British flavours but influenced by our favourite aspects of Southern Europe with the occasional nod to Asia, with raw fish, shellfish and smoky flavours from a Robata grill,” says David.
“Working so closely with our suppliers means that we can create dishes that let the ingredients shine, without over complicating the cooking.”
An exposed cellar, housing Westerns Laundry’s wine offering will sit within the restaurant, containing a vast wine selection of over 200 bottles, with a focus on low intervention, small scale international producers who farm their parcels with care and hand harvest their grapes.
