Smoking Lobster Group partners with Foresters Hall for fourth restaurant

The Brasserie by Smoking Lobster will open on 7 April serving a menu of Mediterranean food with a focus on locally sourced seafood and freshly made pasta.

Smoking Lobster was founded by Giancarlo Giancovich (GC) on Ventnor Beach on the Isle of Wight serving pan-Asian food using local island produce. In 2020 he was joined by his sister Cinzia Reckitt and the pair launched Drunken Lobster, an izakaya style serving a concise Japanese food menu.

The group then launched Smoking Lobster Cowes in July 2021.

“It’s been a great journey so far, going in an additional direction by introducing a brasserie menu at Foresters Hall that is distinct from the Asian menus at our current locations is a very exciting opportunity for our group” says Reckitt. “Foresters Hall couldn’t be a more beautiful venue, so we are delighted that Sara and Peter want to launch a new restaurant with us.”

“Having our fourth restaurant as part of a hotel adds an exciting dimension to our Group and takes our hospitality footprint to another level.”

Hotel rebrand

Husband-and-wife duo Sara Curran and Peter Sussman bought Foresters Hall (then called North House) in April, 2022, rebranding it in October. The new name references the building’s history as a monthly meeting place for the Cowes branch of the Ancient Order of Foresters.

The hotel closed for the winter season in mid December 2022 and recently re-opened in anticipation of The Brasserie opening in April.

“We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Cinz and GC” says Sara. “Our families became friends over the past few years, simply through attending each other’s establishments and chatting on the High Street without a business agenda of any kind.”

“Cinz and GC are top-of-class so when the idea for The Brasserie by Smoking Lobster at Foresters Hall presented itself, we jumped at the opportunity. We know from experience that a brasserie menu at Foresters Hall presented in a laid-back manner hits the bull’s-eye.”