Old Street’s White Collar Factory Gets Ex-Chiltern Firehouse Chef’s First Solo Restaurant [Updated]

Niall Davidson has confirmed that he will join the ranks in Old Street’s new White Collar Factory development when he opens Nuala later this month, report Hot Dinners and Big Hospitality. While Davidson’s CV is extensive — including St. John Bread and Wine, The Lockhart (now closed), and Chiltern Firehouse — Nuala is his debut venture, a 75-cover venue centred around a wood fire, which will feature heavily in menus influenced by his Scottish and Northern Irish heritage. The operators found the site at the end of last year after a three year search.

The kitchen will be led by head chef Colin McSherry (Fat Duck, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal), and will focus on preparing produce sourced from within the UK, using techniques and flavours from around the world. Expect seafood dishes like flamed clams in cider or clay-baked spider crab with Indian spices to play off against heartier dishes like bone marrow doughnuts and suckling pig with fireplace (nay grilled) cabbage.

Front of house operations will be managed by Charlie Sims and John O’Dowd (formerly of Noma and Bistrotheque respectively), while Honey Spencer (of both Noma Mexico and Sager + Wilde) will curate Nuala’s wine offering. More details are set to follow regarding the restaurant’s basement bar which will apparently also feature live music.

Honey Spencer told Eater London that the capital is one of the most exciting places to be right now. “We are in incredible company in the restaurant business. In terms of what we can bring to London, for us it’s simple. To take our skill set and fashion it into something for everyone. An all day bistro that is warm, generous and disarming with bold flavours and dishes that are in equal part familiar yet something new.”

And the wine? “We want to offer the very best of the classics for guests who just want their favourites but also encourage them to try a something different, whether that be a variety they haven’t tried or a wine from an emerging region such as the Czech Republic or the Adelaide Hills. For wine drinkers, there has never been a more exciting time to try something new and London has the best of it all,” she said.

White Collar Factory is fast becoming a new hotspot for dining in east London, with Nuala’s neighbour Passo slated to open later this month, while rumours continue to circulate about Nuno Mendes’s potential venture in the development.

Monday — Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus Sunday brunch and lunch. But, in the period from opening until the new year the restaurant will only be running lunch and dinner Monday to Saturday. Breakfast, weekend brunch and our Sunday offering will begin in the new year.