Top chef to open new fine dining restaurant
ONE of Birmingham’s most renowned ‘pop-up’ chefs is to finally put down roots with a new fine dining restaurant.
Ben Tesh will serve “modern British dishes in a relaxed and informal atmosphere” when he opens the doors of Folium, in the Jewellery Quarter on November 22.
Mr Tesh has established a big foodie following in the city after successful pop-up residencies at Urban Coffee Company.
The new 28-cover restaurant will be housed in a former printed works – called Folium – in Caroline Street.
Mr Tesh’s partner Lucy Hanlon will run the front of house.
The couple decided to keep the Folium name and also the sparse look of the interior.
Mr Tesh previously worked at what was once voted the “best restaurant in the world”, Noma in Denmark.
More recently he worked as chef de partie at Turner’s, in Harborne.
Mr Tesh said: “The reaction to my pop-up nights has been so amazing, so about a year ago I started looking around at venues to open a permanent place.
“I love how pop-ups break down that barrier that separates the chef and customer in most restaurants, so allowing me to be really interactive with my customers.
“That is definitely something I want to keep in the new restaurant. That’s why it’s only 28 covers. We want to create an intimate setting.
“We’re really trying to bring a restaurant to Birmingham that serves food at the quality of a high-end establishment but in a more casual and relaxed environment.”
The new restaurant will feature a lunch menu and three dinner menus where diners can choose from five, seven or nine courses.
Mr Tesh added: “We will be working extremely closely with local and British suppliers where possible, offering up plates of food that are really what the UK is about.”
Dishes on the sample menu include BBQ artichoke, cultured cream, cured pork fat, English wagyu, dill pickle vinegar, wild onion, turbot, anchovy cream, elderberry caper, wild duck, lavender Honey and fennel pollen.
Folium will open Wednesdays to Sundays for lunch and dinner.