Wilding, the restaurant, wine bar and wine shop concept from Kent Barker, is set to open a second site in Salisbury on 4 August.
Situated on the main high street in the beautiful historic city centre, the elegantly-designed space will offer a relaxed spot to eat and drink unlike anything else Salisbury has to offer.
The Salisbury site will join the original Wilding restaurant that opened in Oxford’s Jericho district in May, and will have a 90-cover space inside, and an expansive, restaurant-front window overlooking the 50-cover al fresco terrace on Salisbury’s pedestrianised highstreet.
Based on the concept of ‘wilding’ - the practice of regenerating overworked land to return it to nature - and a commitment to make as little impact on the environment as possible, the Salisbury site will share the same locally-sourced menu that prioritises seasonality and local provenance as its predecessor.
Being Wiltshire-based, the Salisbury site will naturally enjoy different suppliers to Oxford, with ingredients foraged by Executive Chef Dominique Goltinger and sourced locally from environmentally-responsible businesses that support Founder Kent Barker’s Wilding ethos, such as The Real Cure, Fussels Fine Foods and The Wasabi Company.
A short distance from founder Kent Barker’s award-winning Eight Stony Street in Frome, Somerset, Wilding Salisbury will share suppliers with its sister restaurant, offering the likes of an expertly-curated charcuterie board that combines local cured meats from Westcombe Dairy and Tempus Charcuterie with pâté and rillettes made in-house.
Having worked in the industry for over 30 years, Barker has come to pair his two restaurants creatively to champion sustainability and local provenance, while serving wine and seasonal foods in both Wilding and Eight Stony Street in a casual and unassuming way.
The menu, created by Executive Chef Dominique Goltinger (from kitchens such as Bistrot Bruno Loubet and most recently Maremma in Brixton), will uphold its provincial values with standout dishes that espouse local West country products.
These will include Potato gnocchi with aubergine, Westcombe ricotta and basil pesto; Stuffed young vegetable with quinoa and Rosary goats cheese, tomato sauce; and Chalk stream trout tartare with Hampshire wasabi and watercress.
Much like Oxford, wines come courtesy of Barker and Head of Wine, Sarah Helliwell, who celebrate sustainability and minimal intervention through their specially selected list of wines that originate from local, sustainable and passionate producers.
Salisbury boasts a refined wine list, carefully curated by Helliwell who has chosen 40 wines by the glass and 10 on tap, and a choice of 8 fine wines on Wilding’s enomatic dispense system.
Wines by the bottle include Bride Valley Cremant sourced from Dorst,, an Organic Austrian Zweigelt and five low-intervention orange wines (also available by the glass), with over 200 selected bottles available to purchase from the wine shop.
The restaurant intends to provide a platform for as many local products and producers as possible, and as such serves locally-roasted coffee and luxury ecologically-friendly skincare brand La Eva.