A Parisian-style bistro opens next week in Covent Garden from the team behind Levan in Peckham Rye – with specials that include an hommage to Pierre Koffmann’s stuffed pig’s trotter (pictured), for which the great chef was famous long before Koffmann’s fries.
Named Cassette, the new venture has taken over the former premises of Grind on Maiden Lane, and marks a central London debut for Mark Gurney and Matt Bushnell, whose Levan imported the idea of ‘bistronomy’ – a relaxed take on haute cuisine – when it opened in 2018.
Mark says: “I’ve grown up travelling to France every year for family holidays, and over the last ten years both Matt and I have built lasting friendships with so many people in its hospitality scene. Cassette is, in many ways, a homage to that journey and those people.”
The name Cassette is derived from Mark’s playlists, which will be piped through some rare 1970s Grundig Audiorama 8000 speakers. The two-story restaurant has a terrace and a downstairs dining room with an open kitchen led by head chef Essa Fakhry, who founded Note in Dublin and was most recently seen at Planque.
Classic Gallic dishes on the launch menu include Fromage de tête, Pigeon choux farci, foie gras & mirepoix and Coq au vin jaune pie for two to share, along with desserts like Île flottante, roast peach & basil and Black fig clafoutis