Gastronomic entrepreneur Cris Cohen is set to launch his new dining experience next month.
Hidden, which is based in the same studio kitchen on the Spode site in Stoke as Cris’s previous restaurant Feasted, will open its doors for the first time on Thursday, 6 November, and will see just 10 diners seated around the Chef’s Table.
Booking is currently open for selected dates in November and December, with a couple of nights already sold out.
Described as ‘a fully immersive experience’, Hidden will feature either a five-course lunchtime tasting menu for £55 per person or a nine-course dinner tasting menu for £100, with optional paired wines and drinks for an additional £29 or £48 respectively.
Dishes on the launch menu include truffle and cheese shallot tart, salmon belly with fig, lavender and cucumber, beef cheek with celeriac and onion and ‘pumpkin de nata’ with blackberry and elder.
Hidden will operate with a small team of three, including Cris, and the studio kitchen is being re-decorated to give it a new feel before its launch.
Daily Focus reported on the decision to close Feasted in January this year. Cris’s other venture, Stock, based on Newcastle’s High Street, closed in autumn last year.
He said: “After I closed Feasted, I took some time to do some other things, have a refresh and have a think. I received a lot of supportive and encouraging messages and I realised that I did still want to do this.
“At Feasted the storytelling was around Stoke-on-Trent’s history and heritage, and gastronomically we created a sense of identity for local cuisine. We will still be telling stories but it will be about what hospitality can be.
“With Hidden we plan to operate more exclusively and offer a more exciting experience. I don’t want to give away any surprises but there will be some quirky bits.
“I feel that a dining experience should be about trust – people trust us to deliver a great experience which is consistent and a high standard. Once you have that trust you can be more playful with that certainty.”
Diners can also sign up to four tiers of membership online until Friday, 31 October, with rewards including a cocktail on arrival at every visit for 12 months, a Christmas hamper, an invitation to an exclusive event in the New Year and a two-course dinner for four delivered to your home every week for five weeks.
Cris is also planning to hold ‘soup, steak and cake’ nights in the New Year, in conjunction with Griffins of Stone Butchery, as well as launching a podcast.
He said: “When you have lost a business, you learn who your supporters are and who really loved what you did. It reminded me how much I got from it and how much it meant to me.
“I love welcoming people into a space that is mine and lets me do what I do. It will be a great thing to get back to and I’m excited to get started.”
