Andrew Clarke: 'Acme is a cult, it's not just a restaurant'

Acme Fire cult are set to join 40ft Brewery at their shared yard with The dusty knuckle bakery in Dalston, east London

While chefs Andrew Clarke and Daniel Watkins had no plans to open a bricks-and-mortar site this soon, when an opportunity presented itself last month, they decided to seize on it. They are now planning to open in April, with a soft launch set sometime in February.

“There’s a lot we need to figure out because we literally saw the sight in late December and last week we got the keys,” Andrew explained in an interview with The Staff Canteen.

The Site

With space to seat 60 covers, all outdoors, there is scope to add another 40 on the semi-covered decking and 50 indoors.

The site is reminiscent of where Acme hosted its first seven-week pop-up in the London Fields Court Yard last year, and will continue to be outdoor-dining focused in its new iteration.

“It’s only in severe weather that we might say ‘the decking’s shut, everyone indoors’ but that’ll be winter before that happens,” he explained.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Andrew Clarke (@chefandrewclarke)

Plans for the restaurant

The chef sees the potential the space has, though it is by no means perfect yet. He said: “It’s a simple site, it hasn’t got all the things we need, so we’re working with what we’ve got.”

In the absence of an equipped kitchen, they will use their own smokers, with trestle tables for their mise and pass, and the menu will reflect what little equipment they do have, working their way towards indoor tasting menus in the winter of 2022-2023.  

Looking ahead

While the imminent launch is an exciting time for both Andrew and Daniel, both are keeping their foundational goals at heart.

Acme, he said, “it’s a cult, it’s not just a restaurant. We can do many different things but we really quite like the thought of going down the path of being an outdoor lifestyle brand as well.”

In due course, the pair is hoping to host events series including guest chef pop-ups at the site, and even considering opening a fire-cooking cookery school.

“There’s so much we can explore,” Andrew said. “For us, it’s a case of having a project we can work on organically and not to do a restaurant that’s perfect in every way as a lot of places try to be when they open.”

Instead, he said, it will be something of a passion project, built over time.

“We’re not doing it with any budget - we’re just selling some t-shirts, selling some small bits of food and just continually reinvesting in it.”