Rök to open second Nordic smokehouse in Islington

By Sophie Witts

- Last updated on GMT

Rök Shoreditch
Rök Shoreditch

Related tags Pickling Lunch

Nordic smokehouse and bar Rök has announced plans to open its second restaurant in Islington on 1 July.

The 60-cover site will launch at a Grade II listed venue on Upper Street, opening for lunch and dinner seven days a week.

It follows the success of Rök’s debut restaurant, which opened in Shoreditch in August 2015.

Rök – which means ‘smoke’ in Swedish – specialises in smoked meats, cures, pickles and vegetables commonly found on the dinner tables of Northern Europe.

Executive chef Matt Young – formerly of Aveqia and Barnyard – will be heading up the Islington kitchen with a new seasonal summer menu.

Popular plates such as Duck with Lingonberry Bacon Jam will sit alongside new dishes including Mackerel with Mixed Pickled Onions and Flamed Crispbread; and Seaweed Sauerkraut.

The drinks menu will feature cocktails from Rök's Shoreditch basement bar Below the Smoke, including ‘Seasonal Bones’ and ‘Aquavit Sour’ which are made using the same smoking and fermentation techniques as the food.

Rök’s expansion follows a number of Nordic-inspired openings in the capital in the past year, including KuPP in Paddington,Lundenwick in Covent Garden​ and Sticks’n’Sushi in Canary Wharf.

They are set to be joined by a London outpost of the two Michelin-starred Nordic restaurant Aquavit, which is rumored to be opening at the St James’s Market development​ at 52 Haymarket.

Rök Smokehouse and bar Islington will open for a soft launch on 149 Upper Street from 27 – 29 June.

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