Former Murano Chef Pip Lacey’s New Restaurant Will Be Called Hicce [Updated]

Pip Lacey, who in August announced her departure from Angela Hartnett’s Michelin-starred Mayfair restaurant Murano — where she was head chef — has given details of her first solo restaurant. She said that it will be a “wood-fired dining experience in central London called Hicce.”

The restaurant will launch in spring 2018. Lacey and long time friend and business partner Gordy McIntyre will open hicce (pronounced ee-che) in either March or April next year. The restaurant in a “central London” location will “serve modern dishes, using traditional techniques such as marinating, curing, pickling, as well as fish, meat and vegetables cooked over a wood fire.”

Lacey was the winner of TV show, Great British Menu this year. In an announcement today, she said: “17 years ago Gordy and I talked about running our own place together, and we’re almost there! We’ve chosen the name hicce, because it means ‘current, of the moment’ in Latin and that’s exactly how we see our restaurant, constantly evolving.”

In August, Lacey told Eater London: “We’ve only just started looking for investment and we’re still looking at property — hopefully that and the investment will go hand in hand. We’d love to have something in Soho. We’ll be opening asap with a bit of luck.”

The restaurant has been described as “a fast-paced 40-cover restaurant with a refined, healthy and inventive menu,” with an open kitchen and wood-fired cooking. It will fuse British ingredients with Scandinavian and Japanese influences — among them voguish techniques like curing, smoking and pickling; rye bread will be made in-house.

McIntyre, who will run front-of-house, has spent the past five years at Greene King pub group as an opening and operations manager. He also formerly worked for D&D Group restaurants, Floridita in Soho and Bluebird in Chelsea.

Twitter @piplacey

Lacey had worked at Murano with Angela Hartnett for seven years — her departure was announced last month. She first moved to London at 19 to start a career as a graphic designer. Eight years later a love of food and cooking forced the career change — her first professional chef position was under Angela Hartnett at the then new York & Albany in Camden. In 2014 she was appointed Murano’s head chef, only the second person to hold the position, which, at the time, she described as “the highlight of [her] career.”

Until she opens Hicce, she is continuing to work part-time for Angela Hartnett — “I’ve been covering the head chefs at the Cafe Murano sites [Hartnett’s more casual dining brand.]”

Lacey told The Caterer: “It’s always been a goal of ours to have our own place. We are currently meeting with potential investors, and looking at sites. We’ve had the menu done a while; it consists of food we love. We’re super excited about Hicce and its concept.”

@hiccelondon