New York restaurant Llama Inn to open London outpost
The opening is a partnership with Carte Blanched, Ennismore’s in-house restaurant studio responsible for the food and beverage concepts in the company’s global portfolio of hotels, which includes The Hoxton.
Led by Juan Correa and Chef Erik Ramirez, Llama Inn is described as a ‘cult favourite’ on New York’s restaurant scene, picking up several awards along the way including a Michelin Bib Gourmand.
The original restaurant opened in Brooklyn in 2015 and established its first international outpost last year in Madrid.
Launching on 1 September, Llama Inn London will initially open for lunch and dinner, with a weekend brunch offering to be launched later in the year.
The kitchen will be headed up by Marcin Maliczowski, who previously worked at famed Peruvian chef Gastón Acurio’s Barcelona restaurant Yakumanaka.
Dishes set to feature on the London menu include a pork shoulder bun with sweet potato, salsa criolla and spicy mayonnaise; crispy squid and yuca with rocoto, chocolo and cancha; arroz con mariscos with tortillas, huacaina and chalaca; and pavlova with muna ice cream and lemon verbena.
The drinks menu will be overseen by Llama Inn’s bar director Natasha Bermudez, and include ‘signature’ serves such as the chupetini (one shot martini) with Japanese gin, dry vermouth, umami bomb and blue cheese olives; and the ‘Llama Del Rey’ made from pisco quebranta, dark rum, red wine, chicha morada and pineapple.
Wines will be chosen by Llama Inn’s hospitality director Daniella Lauricella and include bottles from small, independent growers across the world with a focus on low-intervention and biodynamic producers.
Llama Inn London will occupy the space that previously housed Mexican restaurant Maya.
With its own entrance on Willow Street, the dining room will be defined by bright colours and green foliage and feature both a glass ceiling and a long bank of windows.
Alongside the main dining room, there will also be an outdoor terrace area looking out over the London skyline.
