Set to open in October 2022, Cycene - meaning kitchen in Old English - marks the next chapter for Blue Mountain School founders James and Christie Brown who will open the restaurant within their alchemic cultural space which corners Chance Street and Redchurch Street. Cycene will take over two floors of the restored townhouse which was opened by the Browns in 2018, incorporating its very own bar on the ground floor. This follows extensive remodelling to include the first-floor rooms which were previously Mãos restaurant, the Brown’s previous culinary project.
Reflecting the domestic-style, intimate environment of Blue Mountain School itself, which by day exhibits one-of-a-kind collections of garments, ceramics, art and furniture, a visit to Cycene will emulate the feeling of dinner in a private home. Theo Clench, formerly both Executive Chef of Akoko and Head Chef of Portland, will head up the Cycene kitchen sharing in his ethos of extracting optimum flavour from the simplest of ingredients. Theo’s 10-course menu will marry classic techniques with subtle influences from his travels, namely Eastern Asia and Australasia whilst drawing on his passion for seafood. As opposed to changing in entirety every few weeks, dishes on Theo’s menu will be adapted regularly and continuously evolve whilst using ingredients at their peak.
Every guest will begin their evening at Cycene within the ground floor bar, open to diners only, which will offer a succinct list of cocktails, minimal intervention wines and kombuchas. A selection of bites will be served alongside the aperitifs, whether it be charcuterie made in-house, a selection of ingredients used from the pantry or more delicate snacks such as a Devon crab, white kombu and green tartlet. As a nod to the restaurant’s namesake, guests will then be led upstairs to the main restaurant space and straight behind the pass, where the second course will be served amongst the chefs at work.
Cycene’s state-of-the-art kitchen, double the size of its previous incarnation, will make room for specialist ageing chambers allowing for meat and fish to be aged in-house as well as fermentation lockers for the development of the bespoke soft pairings of drinking vinegars and elixirs, to be offered alongside the meal itself. From the dining room, parts of the kitchen will be visible to guests through new openings, as Old English cycenes were once the heart of any resplendent home.
Guests will then move through to Cycene’s 16-cover, first-floor dining room - accommodating tables of up to four covers. The remainder of the menu will follow; dishes such as Carlingford oyster with cucumber and Kaluga caviar, Mackerel with plum, shisho and dashi as well as Slow cooked Turbot, lettuce sauce, sake and oscietra caviar. A bread course, accompanied with three house-made butters - seaweed, fermented shiitake and salted cultured butter - will be served part-way through the meal as a standalone dish, highlighting what Theo considers as the often under-appreciated craftsmanship of producing the perfect loaf. Private dining will be offered in an adjoining hearth room designed in collaboration with artist Tyler Hays of the acclaimed New York-based BDDW, which will seat up to six guests around a bronze wishbone dining table in claro walnut.
The wine list at Cycene will be curated by James Brown, working with coveted estates practising minimalist, terroir-driven winemaking practices. The list itself will change regularly with rare and unique bottles rotated from the offsite cellar. Guests will be able to order from a short list of cocktails or opt for a flight of soft drink pairings, which will be made in-house.
BMS Studio, Blue Mountain School’s in-house interior design arm are behind the restaurant aesthetic and will feature elements from existing collaborators 6a Architects, Tyler Hays and Steve Harrison. A bespoke stainless steel kitchen will be installed with solid stone countertops alongside a continuation of hand-painted tiles by 6a Architects from Galeria Ratton Ceramica. The dining room will feature solid oak panels hand-made at the Brown’s woodshop along with hand-upholstered benches using Kvadrat fabric. Artworks by Frank Auerbach and Lucian Freud will adorn the existing plastered walls.
Booking will be live from noon on Wednesday, August 10th
Newsletter subscribers will have access to book 24hrs beforehand.
9 Chance St, London E2 7JB
