Former Mangal II chef Sertaç Dirik is opening a new restaurant in Soho next week called Kid, in partnership with David Carter, the restaurateur behind a string of hits from Smokestak and Manteca in Shoreditch to Oma and Agora in Borough.
Sertaç started out in the kitchen at his family’s Turkish grill in Dalston and established himself as a chef when he introduced modern refinements after a stint working in Copenhagen. He left Mangal II three years ago, and has published a book in the interim.
He says, “It’s with massive excitement we’re opening the doors to Kid in Soho. At its core, Kid is a restaurant that aims to show the vastness of Turkish cooking, expressed with the warmth you’d come to expect from someone’s home. Utilising the techniques I grew up learning from my parents, I feel it is an absolute privilege to serve you this summer in London’s most distinctive neighbourhood.”
David added: “I have been a long-term supporter of Mangal II, both in its OG days and then in its reincarnation in 2020 when Sertaç boldly reinvented what Turkish cooking meant for London. What started off as a friendship, has now grown into a partnership and I’m super excited to be joining Sertaç in developing and unravelling Kid. Soho represents a new challenge for us and very much looking to be bringing this project to fruition.”
Kid’s menu is inspired by the flavours of central Anatolia, where Sertaç’s family come from, and include braised kid goat cooked overnight in a wood oven. Starters include içli köfte of aged ex-dairy beef, onions and grape molasses wrapped in a bulgur shell as well as XL scallops from Cornwall shucked, grilled over coals and served on a bed of wood-roasted horoz beans. Larger sharing dishes will be cooked over charcoal and include rolled Cornish lamb saddle with garlic and sivri peppers.