Kirk and Keeley Haworth announce new restaurant opening

Siblings Kirk and Keeley Haworth have announced the launch of their latest restaurant venture.

Following Kirk's recent crowning as 'Champion of Champions' on BBC 2's Great British Menu, along with a successful residency in Dalston, the duo have opened their first bricks-and-mortar site – Plates – in Shoreditch. 

The brother-sister duo have dreamt of opening a restaurant together since 2017. Head chef and co-founder Kirk will lead the kitchen, bringing with him years of experience working in Michelin-starred restaurants such as The French Laundry and Restaurant Sat Bains. Following his tenure at these sites, the chef was diagnosed with Lyme disease and went through a transformative health and culinary journey. Driven by a desire to alleviate his symptoms, Kirk experimented with ingredients to work out which nutritional qualities aided his recovery. 

Keeley joins Kirk in leading the business as a fellow founder, with her passion for design, food and drink matched to make sustainability and equality a central part of the ethos at Plates. 

The power of plants

The venue offers a 25-cover dining room with an additional 14 seats available on the outdoor terrace for walk-ins. As a concept, Plates aims to change the perception of fruit, vegetables and plants, transforming them into seven- and eight-course tasting menus. 

Kirk offers an ever-changing menu, starting with hibiscus and white tea granita served with poached peaches and soy custard and English tomatoes served with house ricotta, raspberry and white kombu jam, frozen strawberries and a beetroot and buckwheat truffle. 

Fans of Great British Menu will also get the chance to try some of the chef's top-scoring dishes, including his 'Feast of Farah', a charcoal lasagne with layers of mung and urad bean, served with baby turnip, morel, rainbow chard and a miso and chive sauce. 

Dessert includes 'Ice Green Energy', a vivid, herbaceous green ice cream layered over the top of fermented aloe vera, chewy beetroot and mulberries; and 'A Taste of Unity', a raw cacao gateaux with sour cherry, coconut blossom ice cream, African pepper, toasted macadamias and raw caramel sauce. 

You may also be interested in…