Old bank being converted into a restaurant
A FORMER bank, which has stood empty for more than three years, is being transformed into a new restaurant called Alora.
Work is under way to convert the TSB in Plains Road, Mapperley. The bank closed during the pandemic and has been vacant since February 2021.
Revised plans were approved by Gedling Borough Council after initial proposals for a pub/restaurant and a new ground floor shop with six apartments were rejected in 2022 for being ‘over intensive’.
Alora will focus on small plates with global influences. Snacks, flatbreads, cheese and charcuterie boards, and desserts will also be served. The menu has yet to be fully decided but ideas so far include barbecue lamb, mojo verde and feta flatbread, jamon Iberico croquettes, tandoori monkfish, Korean-style fried chicken, slow-cooked duck egg and braised spring cabbage in kombu.
Chef Kieran Haugh is co-owner along with Callum Wightman, of the Old Flower Shop in Mapperley. Kieran said: “I’m very excited. It’s quite nerve-wracking. I’m just looking forward to getting it open.”
“I want the kind of thing I’d like to go to when I’m off. It’ll be nice to have something different in Mapperley. I think this will tick a lot of boxes for a lot of people. We are planning small plates with local ingredients and global influences.
“Alora means a lot of things. In Spanish it means ‘at that hour’ but the final one we went with it breaks down to ‘my beautiful dream’ which translates from a girl’s name.”
The contemporary-style restaurant will have 76 covers.
Speculation about the building has been rife. “I’ve had people telling me it’s going to be it’s going to be a two-level steakhouse, or a sports bar,” said Kieran, who has been a chef for 26 years, with posts at World Service in Nottingham and the Railway in Lowdham.
Before heading to Nottinghamshire he worked at The Grove in Watford, a five-star luxury hotel. The aim is to open Alora in May. The kitchen was originally going to be in the centre but the ceiling height was too low so the layout has changed, giving Kieran an even bigger area to work in.