Nepalese pop-up to open at Cinnamon Kitchen

Santosh Shah – who appeared on MasterChef: The Professionals 2020 – has announced the launch of a Nepalese pop-up series at Vivek Singh’s Cinnamon Kitchen City, where he was formerly head chef. 

The residency will run Wednesdays through to Saturdays evenings between 20 September and 30 October 2021, showcasing fine-dining Nepalese dishes, rarely seen in London.

Dishes are inspired by the food and heritage of Shah's birth town Siraha in regional Nepal, but have been modernised and elevated to offer a new take on the traditional cuisine of southern Asia. 

Serving 15 courses to 15 guests per sitting (ensuring an intimate and interactive experience at the restaurant’s open-plan kitchen counter), the tasting menu will take diners on a culinary journey through the Himalayas.

On arrival, guests will be served an Ayla cocktail, an authentic Nepalese serve made with fermented rice wine alongside canapés such as miniature lamb brain donuts and duck breast salad. 

The menu features innovative dishes of chicken momo – steamed Nepalese dumplings with added pickled cucumber and caviar – and traditional dishes of market-style fried fish with burnt tomato chutney, and cannon of lamb with akoru rice, bone marrow sauce and mustard greens. 

Desserts of Nepalese yamari – sweet dumplings filled with chocolate, chilli, cinnamon and orange – and the kodo ko kheer and mango snowball, with mango leather, Sichuan biscuit, caramelised mango and a flourish of gold leaf finish the menu.

'Coming home' to Cinnamon Kitchen City

“Having spent many happy years as head chef at Cinnamon Kitchen City, there was only one that I place wanted to run this pop-up, at the restaurant where I learnt so much," says Shah. 

"It was Vivek and his team who gave me the confidence to start celebrating and developing my own signature style of modern Nepalese cuisine, and cooking at Cinnamon Kitchen City feels like coming home. Vivek has been so kind in giving me the opportunity to showcase my Nepalese cuisine to diners and I can’t wait to welcome guests to our pop up later in the year.”

"Seeing talented chefs grow within the Cinnamon family is a pride and a privilege, and to have alumni like Santosh go on to flourish and carve their own path is one of the greatest pleasures I take from my work," adds Singh.

"Since we opened The Cinnamon Club in 2001, we have been determined to create a nursery for ideas and talent, and we truly believe in creating opportunities for those who join our family.

"We are so excited to welcome Santosh’s modern Nepalese concept to Cinnamon Kitchen City, and know it will be a resounding success."

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