It’s all change on Wilton Way
Pidgin, the small Hackney restaurant that served a different tasting menu each week, famously never repeated a dish and even won a Michelin star when Elizabeth Haigh was heading up the kitchen, is shutting up shop this August, just shy of a decade in business.
Founders James Ramsden and Sam Herlihy announced the closure on Instagram, writing, “There are inevitably too many people to thank, too many highlights to mention, too many dishes to recall, so for now we will say a huge thank you to the current team, who have made Pidgin as good as it’s ever been, and to you, for all of your support over the years. Many people dream of opening a restaurant. Not many dream of closing one. So while we’re sad to put a full-stop on this chapter, we are excited and reassured that two brilliant people will be realising their own dream.”
So though Pidgin is flying the nest, the site will be taken over by the restaurant’s current head chef Drew Snaith and ex-manager Hannah Kowalski and relaunched as Sesta. Drew’s menu will feature seasonal British ingredients, many of which will come from Shrub, with dishes set to include:
- devilled egg with wind sausage emulsion, trout roe and chive
- Doddington cheese scone topped with Braybrooke rarebit
- braised beetroot with blackcurrant molasses and sunflower seed cream
- smoked eel & lovage quiche with parmesan soubise
- cider flambee mussels with caramelised cream, lemon verbena and bottarga toast
- Cornish brill with hard herb pil-pil and aggressive aioli
- mutton bacon ribs with fermented garlic and Thai chilli honey & coriander mustard
- slow grilled stuffed duck with morteau sausage, beer braised spinach, duck fat potatoes, liver parfait and mirabelle & tamarind chutney
- chilled rice pudding brulee with blackberry ripple and lime leaf ice cream
Hannah is curating the wine list, which’ll feature a rotating selection of French and European natural wines, with plenty available by the glass. Cocktails are coming from GM Majalis Lundstrom Celedon and will include Mezcal Negronis, Blackberry Juice (made with gin) and homemade Elderberry Mead. Sesta will be opening its doors in September and if you want to say goodbye to Pidgin before then, the final service will be on Sunday 18th August.
Key Information
Opening date | Weds 11th September 2024
Address | 52 Wilton Way, London E8 1BG
For more information | @sesta.dining