It's been in the planning stages for quite a while, but now ex-Kiln chef Meedu Saad has lined up his solo restaurant.
Called Impala, named after the car he drove around during summers in Egypt, it's a restaurant with a menu that centres around the charcoal grill, itself right in the middle of the dining room. That space has been designed together with Kiln's Ben Chapman and Dan Preston, the latter who's the man behind the design of Kiln, Smoking Goat and Brat. Expect lots of "concrete pillars juxtaposed with polished veneers" in a room that they say they're aiming will have a mix of the energy of Friday markets in Cairo with a Soho bar.
As for the food, the menu is led by the charcoal grill with Saad taking influences from the grills in Egypt, his time at Kiln and cooking traditional French cuisine. An example from the menu is a dry-aged Devon duck, stuffed with black lime and chillies from Aswan, roasted over wood embers with molasses. There will also be skewers cooked close to white coals for a smoky char, while a wood oven is used to bake rice with ghee in clay pots and they'll be using the waning heat of the ovens to set yoghurt overnight.
As for seafood, plans are to prepare dishes like ike jime prepared seabass and bream, grilled to crisp the skin, then rested above the fire to slowly finish the cooking.
The team have worked with a farm in Exmoor to rear their own lambs, mutton and ewes for use in the kitchen, which will be slow-roasted in the wood oven. Overall, going from a press release which goes into a lot of detail about where the food comes from (a bit too much to report here), sourcing is important to the restaurant, and it seems clear that they've established many connections with a view to transform the restaurant's menu through the seasons
Kiln was a huge hit and Saad himself is a hugely respected chef - this will clearly be one of the key openings of next year.
More about Impala
Where is it? 14 Dean St, London W1D 3RS
When does it open? Spring 2026
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @impala.soho.
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