Rising from the ashes of Electric Brasserie, which suffered a fire earlier this year, Soho House has announced the launch of its newly overhauled Electric clubhouse, restaurant and cinema.
The new outfit will consist of a completely refurbished Electric House members club, a re-upholstered Electric Cinema, London’s oldest cinema, and two completely new concepts, Electric Donuts and the Diner –which sit in the former Electric site. Fronting the new concepts will be 33 year-old American Chef, Brendan Sodikoff from legendary Chicago restaurant Au Cheval whom Soho House have partnered with to develop the concepts and oversee the kitchen team at the revived site.
Soho House founder Nick Jones first discovered Sodikoff whilst researching locations for the new Soho House Chicago. “I was really impressed with Au Cheval as a whole and thought The Electric would suit perfectly” says Jones.
Staff at Electric Diner have already been inducted at Au Cheval over the past few months and are set to start service at the new 75 cover restaurant, which will feature an all-day French-American menu. Electric Diner will recreate some of the signature dishes from Au Cheval, which is widely regarded as having one of the best Burgers in the USA. In September, US magazine Bon Appetit said it 'might be our favourite in the country. We liked this burger so much that we dropped by the restaurant two nights in a row post-dinner...to sample it.'
Dishes will include that cheeseburger (£11), House-made bologna sandwich (£10), Roasted bone marrow with beef cheek marmalade (£12). Desserts will include Toffee date cake (£6) and Mille-Feuille (£8).
The second and more eccentric concept also due to be launched simultaneously is called Electric Donuts, a take on the popular ‘Doughnut Vault’ at Sodikoff’s Au Cheval. This outlet will serve will serve donuts and coffee throughout the day starting at 8am from the foyer of the Electric Cinema.
Freshly made every morning, doughnuts will alternate in flavour each week, priced at 1.50 per doughnut. Flavours on rotation include: Maple Bourbon, Bergamot Orange, Ginger Chew, Mexican Chocolate and Berry Trifle.
The global members club, hotel and restaurant group has already made itself the talk of the London dining scene this year thanks to the combined opening of Dirty Burger, Chicken Shop and Pizza East in Kentish Town. Electric Diner and Electric Donuts look to build upon this new outlook from the group which is holding the baton for some of the more quirky, fun and accessible concepts the capital currently has to offer.
Electric Diner/ Donuts opens 3 December 2012 at 191 Portobello Road, London W11 2ED. Follow @electricdiner and @electricdonuts on twitter for more information.
Follow Louis Fernando on twitter at @tuckandvine and on his blog Tuck & Vine.
