Stephen Tozer and Ed Brunet, founders of Soho’s Le Bab, have confirmed they will open new modern kebab restaurant - Maison Bab - in Covent Garden on Monday 17 September.
Located in the Mercer Walk development on Seven Dials (opposite Neil Rankin’s new Temper site), Maison Bab comprises a new style modern kebab house, bar and a hidden 10-seater fine dining restaurant - Kebab Queen.
The new venture is a collaboration between Tozer, Brunet and Le Bab executive chef Manu Canales (previously sous chef at the two Michelin-starred Le Gavroche) who will personally head up the kitchen at Kebab Queen.
The vibe in the main restaurant at Maison Bab will be relaxed and super-casual. The menu sees the introduction of a new style of kebab for the trio, with more rustic, bolder flavours than its Soho sister site.
The eight-strong kebab menu (priced under £10) will sit alongside a selection of starter dishes, manoushe, sides and dessert options, with ingredients retaining Le Bab’s hallmark focus on quality, seasonality and provenance.
There’s a particular focus on vegan dishes alongside the meatier fare. The kebabs, as ever, will be handmade from scratch with flatbreads made in-house in a custom-designed oven, using focaccia-style dough.
Starters at Maison Bab include doner beignet and an Indo-Iranian mutton curry, with the only familiar dish in an all new menu being Le Bab’s now-famous fondue fries - with the optional addition of a signature Iskender sauce.
Kebabs include a ‘Raclette shawarma’, ‘Drunken Iskender chicken shish’ and vegan options such as ‘Miso celeriac shish with pickled crispy onions & toum’. A collection of house-made manoushe - Lebanese pizza - with toppings such as Yorkshire lamb, Sussex labneh, chilli & zataar, will also be available.
Maison Bab extends its ingredient-driven philosophy into its drinks, treating select spirits and liqueurs delicately to allow them to shine. Healthy herbal tinctures, infusions and seasonal fruit syrups, all made in-house, will also be deployed in the cocktails. Try the ‘Tea for summer’, with muddled peach, hibiscus and gin, or the ‘Grapsico’, which brings together South America and Italy using pisco and dry vermouth.
These sit alongside a selection of unusual wines by the glass, such as an orange Czech Pinot Noir and Moroccan Syrah. There’s also a list of local craft beer, including London Beer Factory’s Bohemia on tap.
Hidden downstairs behind the kitchen will be the new site’s crown jewel. Launching later this year, Kebab Queen is the culmination of Tozer, Brunet & Canales’ project to explore modern culinary approaches to the kebab.
Acting as Manu’s own chef’s table, the intimate restaurant will seat up to 10 guests around its open kitchen; serving a six-course kebab-centric tasting menu at £55 per person. Manu and his kitchen team will focus on intense flavour and creativity, with a marked focus on bringing fun to the dining experience. There will be the option of an accompanying drinks flight alongside a carefully created list of fine wines.
Maison Bab offers 45-covers at ground level, with a further 30 seats in the basement space (available for private hire). Kebab Queen will sat 10 (also available for private hire). Both restaurants will offer reservations, with Maison Bab also offering delivery to the Covent Garden and Soho area.
Maison Bab and Kebab Queen follow the success of Le Bab, which opened in Soho’s Kingly Court in April 2016 to critical acclaim.