Kibou to open in Cambridge
KIBOU Japanese Kitchen & Bar is to open its fifth and largest restaurant in the city of Cambridge this summer. The launch will bring the group's portfolio of premium casual dining Japanese restaurants, with venues already operating in Cheltenham, Battersea, Clifton and Solihull.
Located in the heart of Cambridge within the Grade II listed building at 7a Jesus Lane, home to the Pitt Club, KIBOU will reside in the former Pizza Express site.
The 150-cover restaurant and bar will undergo a full redesign and refurbishment by Q&A Interior Design Ltd, complete with KIBOU’s trademark murals and digital animations.
Guests enter an impressive cocktail lounge and dining area that also features an open sushi and hot kitchen, and a marble-topped cocktail and spirit bar. This leads to a large, light and airy dining room, with tables arranged around the building’s existing ‘roman’ pillars, a central Japanese acer installation beneath a skylight, and bespoke artwork featured on an array of mirrors throughout the room. A second dining room, also accessed off the central cocktail lounge, offers a more opulent finish, with rich, plush fabrics, deep tones and dramatic low-lighting.
The menu will centre on the group’s sushi and sashimi sharing platters, including a 20-piece luxury ‘tokujo moriawase’, alongside signature sushi rolls, hand-pressed nigiri and a range of other classic and contemporary Japanese dishes. Expect to find A5 grade seared wagyu served as a marinated tataki or a truffle-topped nigiri, crisp ebi (prawn) or vegetable tempura, steaming bowls of ramen, made with pork, chicken or vegan broth, traditional donburi rice bowls, and a selection of pillowy bao buns or handmade spiced pork gyoza.
Catering to all Japanese food lovers and those eager to try Japanese cuisine for the first time, KIBOU’s menu includes an extended vegan offering, a generous range of sharing plates and Japanese-inspired desserts.
To complement the restaurant offering, KIBOU also features a standalone bar serving signature Japanese-inspired cocktails, including no-and-low options, as well as a selection of Japanese whisky, sake and umeshu, and Japanese-brewed beers.
Commenting on the new site, Sam Horswill, joint managing director at KIBOU Restaurants Ltd, says: "We’re so excited to bring our brand to Cambridge and to open what will be our largest site in such an iconic and impressive building. We’ve long set our hearts on operating here, it’s spot on to our core demographic, so when the right site came along, we knew it was time.
"Recruitment for key positions is going well. We’ve been fortunate to attract some incredible new talent for the restaurant, plus a number of existing team members are joining the team. We’ll also be creating many more front and back-of-house job opportunities for the local area.
"Following the successful opening of KIBOU Solihull last year, we remain firmly focussed on expanding the brand over the next 5 years, with a further site already in the pipeline for 2023."
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