Scott Hallsworth fails to get his Freak on

By Joe Lutrario

- Last updated on GMT

Scott Hallsworth fails to get his Freak on

Related tags Mexico Chef

Chef Scott Hallsworth’s crowdfunding campaign to take his Asian concept Freak Scene from a pop-up to a permanent London site has failed to hit its target.

The former Nobu head chef hoped to raise £22,000 on Kickstarter​ but had only managed £6,831 when the campaign closed.

The Farringdon pop-up finished last year but it looks to be coming back later this month. 

Freak Scene launched in July​after the sale of his Kurobuta restaurant group, which followed what can safely be described as a messy split with his backers.

It was initially only intended as a three-month residency in Farringdon, but ended up extending its run until the end of last year. Hallsworth had hoped to turn the casual but relatively expensive brand into an international chain and had found a site near the pop-up's location that would have allowed Freak Scene to double its capacity to around 60 covers.

It is currently unclear what the unsuccessful crowdfunding bid means for Freak Scene's expansion prospects.

On the site of short-lived sous vide grab-and-go brand Suchef, the restaurant served an eclectic Asian menu that included chilli, crab and avocado wonton bombs; Thai pork meatballs with dill, chilli, shallots and tamarind sauce; and miso-grilled black cod tacos with sushi rice and scorched red chilli and tomato salsa. 

There are also a handful of dishes that were on the menu at Kurobuta, including Hallsworth’s famous sashimi pizza with truffle ponzu as well as miso grilled aubergine with caramelised walnuts.

Prior to launching Kurobuta Hallsworth worked at Nobu for six years until 2007 and helped launch the high-end Japanese group in Melbourne. 

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