The Team Behind Lyle’s Are Opening A New Borough Market Bakery & Wine Bar
By Something CuratedThe team behind Shoreditch’s acclaimed modern British restaurant Lyle’s, chef James Lowe and general manager John Ogier, are set to launch a second site this June. A wine bar and bakery called Flor will open at 1 Bedale Street, on the edge of Borough Market, near London Bridge. Lowe notes that all the produce used at Flor, including the wine, will come from “agriculturally responsible locations,” with many of the same producers and suppliers as at Lyle’s.
Lyle’s launched in 2014 as a venture between two ex-St John Bread and Wine colleagues. It was Lowe’s first independent project, and followed a collaboration with The Clove Club’s Isaac McHale. The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in 2016 and this year ranked at number 38 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list. Its distinctive union of unapologetic British heritage, Nordic sensibilities, and the bringing together of diverse culinary traditions, including American and Japanese cooking, has cemented its place in the hearts of both diners and critics alike.
The new eatery, Flor, will serve lunch daily, including a brunch offering on Saturday, and dinner Monday to Saturday. “Flor is a wine bar and bakery, and we like to think of her as the little sister of Lyle’s — a place we would want to go after work or on a day off. It will be a small place with a big personality,” Lowe told Eater. “It’s inspired by the buvettes of Paris and pintxos bars in San Sebastian, with bread being an integral part of the offering — baked goods in the morning, sandwiches at lunch and flatbreads at dinner. All bread and viennoiserie is made in-house, from British wheat which is milled at Lyle’s.”
As well as sourdough loaves milled in-house at Lyle’s, the bakery counter at Flor will offer pastries such as brioche filled with sourdough caramel, birch syrup Kouign-amann, seasonal Danishes and a raw cream bun. Lunches are likely to feature dishes like a cured Mangalitsa and Comté sandwich in fermented potato bread, or raw scallops with preserved gooseberry and green tomato. For dinner, expect the likes of burrata, grilled bread and salted tomatoes, lamb ribs with yoghurt and black lime and possibly chocolate sabayon tarts or loganberry fools for pudding.
Flor, like Lyle’s, is backed by JKS Restaurants, who have already had a prolific year. Super popular Taiwanese spot Bao just opened their third site, backed by the restaurant group, also in Borough. Last year, the company opened Indian sports bar and grill Brigadiers at the Bloomberg Arcade in the City, Iranian street food-inspired Berenjak in Soho, and the now-Michelin-starred Sabor, by Nieves Barragàn Mohacho on Heddon Street.
Flor – 1 Bedale St, London SE1 9AL
Feature image via Lyle’s