Lee Skeet to bring Cardiff restaurant Cora to London in July

The Staff Canteen

Editor

Lee Skeet, is bringing acclaimed Cardiff restaurant Cora to London in July for a two-day popup

The popup will run on the first and second of July and will be held at Uyen Luu’s Hackney studio. It will showcase dishes from the Cora menu with a set tasting menu of seasonal produce, which is heavily rooted in seafood and Lee's upbringing in the southwest.

The July popup will mark the first time that the restaurant has been on the road.

Lee said: “I’m so happy - after a tough few years - to finally have a permanent restaurant, and now the next logical step for me is to return to London to test myself in the place I trained, and see if I can still compete at that level, which I’m confident I can."

During his time, Lee has trained under Gordon Ramsay, Marcus Wareing and Tom Aikens. Then he became head chef at Hedone, which was, at the time, ranked in the world’s best restaurants and held a Michelin star. Following this, he held sold-out popups and supper clubs around London and in Cardiff, Bristol, Devon and Cornwall.

Grilled by The Staff Canteen · S2 Ep 49: Lee Skeet on hitting rock bottom

He said: "When I was in London doing popups before, I was just trying to cook the best I could. But it’s so much more now. We have a complete restaurant and dining experience. From the food, to the music, to our own identity, to world-class service from lily- who runs the restaurant. I can’t wait to be back and show how far we've come.”

Lee's restaurant Cora, which opened in January of this year, came after a rather interesting time in the chef's life. Following four years out of the kitchen, stemming from a serious accident, Lee began cooking the Bones Supper Club in his living room in Cardiff Bay during the pandemic.

This living room supper club was named the best new restaurant in the capital and, after getting a temporary site, was fully booked for the entire six-month project. This quickly led to a permanent site, which has been fully booked every night since Cora opened.

Despite being just six months old Cora is already named in Wales’ best restaurants and has gained notoriety for only opening Monday to Thursday.

Tickets for the tasting menu are priced at £75pp, with dinner service on Friday, July 1st, and lunch service on Saturday, July 2nd. Alongside the tasting menu, there will also be optional extras like otoro tuna sashimi, Cornish oysters, a lobster course and a choice of specially selected wine pairings.

Tickets are on sale now, exclusively here

In these challenging times…

The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.

Over the last 16 years, The Staff Canteen has built what has become the go-to platform for chefs and hospitality professionals. As members and visitors, your daily support has made The Staff Canteen what it is today. Our features and videos from the world’s biggest name chefs are something we are proud of. We have over 560,000 followers across Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and other social channels, each connecting with chefs across the world. Our editorial and social media team are creating and delivering engaging content every day, to support you and the whole sector - we want to do more for you.

A single coffee is more than £2, a beer is £4.50 and a large glass of wine can be £6 or more.

Support The Staff Canteen from as little as £1 today. Thank you.