MCA rounds up this week’s biggest openings stories, featuring new venues from Mowgli, Island Poké, Whelan’s and more
Mowgli, Brighton
Nisha Katona’s Indian street food restaurant group will open its most southernly restaurant to date in Brighton later this month.
Opening on Dukes Lane in the heart of the city, the restaurant’s menu will include its tiffin boxes for one alongside favourites such as yoghurt chat bombs; treacle tamarind fries; and the Mowgli chip butty.
Island Poké, Portobello Road
Island Poké will open its 15th site in the capital on 4 March, on Portobello Road. The menu will offer its fresh poké bowls, poké bao and brand-new warm broth pots, as well as a limited-edition Portobello poké bowl. Inspired the by brightly coloured houses in the area, the plant-based bowl will feature a teriyaki portobello mushroom mix, ginger pickled carrots, sweetcorn salsa, red cabbage and charred broccoli, and finished with sriracha mayo.
The site is being opened by Hemanth Bollini – its largest franchise partner, with four locations.
Diecast, Manchester
The venue Ramona and the Firehouse will open a 5,000-capacity entertainment destination later this year. Called DieCast, will occupy Manchester’s largest city centre factory, which is over 250,000sq ft and which is located between Store Street and Ducie Street in the Piccadilly area of the city.
When complete, it will be home to a Night Market, Brewing Co., Warehouse Restaurant, and a Festival Stage as well as what is said to be Manchester’s biggest beer garden and a creative hub.
Chickpea Group, Broad Chalken
Pub and pizzeria business Chickpea Group is to open its sixth site next month in the village of Broad Chalken in Wiltshire. The Queen’s Head will reopen following a two-phase refurbishment that will involve opening up the bar and restaurant to create a new space.
Work will also be carried out on the kitchen, communal areas and outside space while the existing four bedrooms, which are housed in an annexe building to the rear of the pub, will be refurbished and restyled to be more in keeping with the group’s style.
Whelan’s, Palmers Green
Whelan’s Pub Company is to open The Fox at Palmers Green this week, following a joint £1.35 million refurbishment with Star Pubs & Bars. It will be Whelan’s sixth pub with Star and ninth overall.
The landmark pub – which is an Asset of Community Value and featured in the film Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban – has been closed since 2018. It has been revamped to feature a traditional bar for drinks and socialising, large dining area and a lounge which converts into a private function room with its own bar and space for 120 people.
Josie’s
All-day cafe and restaurant group Josie’s is to open a fifth site in Chandler’s Ford, Hampshire. The family-run group of independent coffee shops and restaurants will open in a corner unit in the Hampshire town, located in the Borough of Eastleigh, in March.
Josie’s serves an all-day menu with a focus on coffee, breakfast, toasties and pancakes. Menu items include Kim Jong Bun - a buttermilk chicken burger with gouchajeng sauce; bubble and squeak cakes; breakfast tacos; and a toasted club sandwich. It also serves extra thick pancakes, with both savoury and sweet options, such as banoffee and Mars bar pancakes or pancakes topped with fried chicken; bacon and maple syrup.
