XIRINGUITO, the moveable restaurant which has been wowing the trendy Margate crowd all this summer, is upping sticks to Liverpool, hometown of its founders.
Conor Sheehan and Jackson Berg will open in a disused warehouse at the Cains Brewery on November 15, despite rumours that the two would head to Manchester for the winter months.
The pair - Sheehan on front of house and Berg in the kitchen - started in Rodney Street’s Puschka before moving to London and cutting their teeth at Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen and St John Bread & Wine. They then ran the East London restaurant Bistrotheque.
However, summer 2016 saw them south coast bound to embark on the ambitious, go-it-alone venture Xiringuito (pronounced chi-rin-gito) which quickly became the toast of newly fashionable Margate with its "exciting, modern British cuisine in a casual and unusual environment".
Xiringuito has been designed to travel from location to location in a transferrable structure. But this is no Outdoor World camping job. No, an award winning architect is involved, Asif Khan, who is continuing to work with Xiringuito on a more wintry structure for Liverpool. Even the bespoke Liverpool menu artwork has been created by an international fashion illustrator, John Booth.
The restaurant will be seen as a coup for the new Northern Lights development in the Baltic area.
"This interesting location presented a perfect opportunity for Conor and Jackson to return to their hometown and be part of the city’s thriving creative hub," it says.
The name, Xiringuito (pronounced chi-rin-gito), is taken from the Catalan name for the provisional, seasonal bars that open up on beaches during the summer months and references the transitional nature of the restaurant. New for Liverpool will be a separate bar area and a weekend brunch menu.
Sheehan said: “We wanted to move Xiringuito to a city for the winter months and Liverpool, being our hometown, seemed the natural choice. The bar and restaurant scene there has been burgeoning more and more over the last few years so it seems a really exciting scene to get involved in.”
Berg, son of Merseyside Moviola and FACT founder Eddie Berg who went on to be big cheese at the British Film Institute, has created a menu featuring modern, seasonal British dishes with an international influence. It will feature some Xiringuito classics along with new, daily changing dishes. For example: chicken liver parfait bun, pickles and chicken skin; curried soft shell burger; salt hake brandade, fried pickled onion rings; onglet, beetroot, chicory and castelfranco.
Desserts, created by pastry chef Julia Howe, will specialise in ice cream with ice cream sandwiches, tacos and donuts in seasonal flavours as well as alcoholic granitas. Expect the likes of peanut butter and jelly doughnut and dulce de leche ice cream sandwiches along with some new autumnal flavours and some warm dishes for the colder months.
Mercifully, some might say, there will be only a short cocktail list which will focus on quality, classic cocktails and some seasonal variations. Likewise, the wine list will be "concise, interesting and accessible with some boxed wines".
The interior of award winning architect Asif Khan's Xiringuito in Margate
All the fun of the fair. The Margate restaurantAward-winning architect Asif Khan - winner of a Cannes Lion Grand Prix for Innovation for the MegaFaces Pavillion at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and a D&AD Award for his West Beach Café - designed the original restaurant structure and is continuing to work with Xiringuito on the structure for Liverpool.
With travel in mind, Khan and his team designed an outside framework manufactured from scaffolding poles allowing a quick and easy build at each new location. The team have re-sourced the scaffolding from a local firm and will rebuild the restaurant in a design adapted for the colder weather and warehouse space.
The commissioned Liverpool artwork by fashion illustrator John Booth known for his work with fashion designers such as Christopher Shannon, Zandra Jones, John Galliano and FendiThe restaurant tables, bar, colourful chairs and kitchen equipment, are being brought from Margate to Liverpool in a shipping container. A new addition for the Liverpool location will be a separate bar space with standing tables and benches, located at the entrance to the warehouse and separate from the restaurant’s scaffolding structure.
The restaurant’s menu will offer internationally influenced British dishes brought to you on specially commissioned artwork by illustrator John Booth, known for his work with fashion designers such as Christopher Shannon, Zandra Jones, John Galliano and Fendi. He has created an abstract take on Liverpool landmarks in his signature collage style.
