JKS Restaurants has announced that it will open a second Hoppers, the award-winning restaurant inspired by the roadside shacks of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, on 77 Wigmore Street, St. Christopher’s Place in Marylebone, this autumn, offering reservations for lunch and dinner for the first time.
Hoppers St Christopher’s Place follows the runaway success of the inaugural Soho site, and will be considerably larger than the original, accommodating 85 guests across two floors with an additional 16 seats available on an outside terrace.
The menu will feature a number of dishes created exclusively for the opening with a focus on traditional Sri Lankan spicing and flavour to include Short Eats of ‘Jaffna Beef Rib Fry’ and ‘Tuna & Tapioca Cutlets with Avocado Sambol’, as well as new larger sharing dishes of ‘Claypot Baby Chicken Kukul Maas’, ‘String Hopper Seafood Kothu’, ‘Kalupol Black Pork Ribs with Fennel and Turmeric Sambol’, and a daily changing lunchtime Rice and Kari plate. The signature dishes that led Hoppers Soho to receive critical acclaim in its first year of opening will also remain.
Sitting alongside the menu will be a new drinks list including cocktails that will take inspiration from the exotic flora, vegetation and fruits of Sri Lanka focusing on Genever and the Sri Lankan spirit, Arrack.
Late Sri Lankan celebrated architect Geoffrey Bawa and his early works on “tropical monochromatic modernism” will inspire the interior, breaking down the barrier between inside and outside space.
Of the opening Karam Sethi says… “Following the success of the first Hoppers in Soho back in 2015, an increase in travel to Sri Lanka and subsequently the popularity of the country’s food and culture in the capital, opening a second, larger Hoppers site seemed like a natural step. We’re thrilled to expose even more Londoners to the bold flavours of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu.”
Karam, Sunaina, and Jyotin Sethi opened Hoppers in Soho to much critical acclaim in October 2015 with accolades including a five-star review from the Evening Standard’s restaurant critic Fay Maschler. In 2016 they received the BMW Square Meal Restaurant of the Year title and Restaurant of the Year Award at the Tatler Restaurant Awards, rounding off 2016 with a coveted Michelin Bib-Gourmand.