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London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is already pretty cool. It stages cracking contemporary art shows, has a trendy cocktail bar, and hosts gigs for some of the most exciting and left-field music artists around. And it’s about to get even cooler, because in the New Year the ICA is getting a brand new restaurant and wine bar.
Mirrors will launch in January 2027. The new spot has quite the team behind it, as it’s founded by Jimmy Stephenson (owner of De Beauvoir natural wine bar Hector’s), Emily Masters (formerly of Hill & Szrok and The Eagle) and chef Cavan Power O’Keeffe (formerly Planque and Brawn).
Appropriately for the setting, Mirrors plans to celebrate the connection between food and art (and wine). By day it will serve a café menu focussing on house baked goods, sandwiches and seasonal salads. By night, it will offer a full dinner service, with a modern European menu thought up by Power O’Keeffe. Some of the specialities on offer will include tuna fricassé, prawn cappelletti and condensed milk and almond crêpe.
For drinks, Stevenson is curating a menu of European natural wines, alongside cocktails including a ‘Mirrors Manhattan’ and the popular ‘Hector’s Negroni’.
To get ready for the restaurant, the ICA’s mezzanine has been restored by architect Gaël Camu, who is going for a mid-century modern appearance and has polished up many of the venue’s original 1968 features.
‘I’m so excited to be opening Mirrors at the ICA with two people who are not only friends but whom I deeply respect and have complete confidence in,’ Stevenson said.
‘Hector’s has surpassed everything I imagined a small wine bar in a residential neighbourhood could achieve but I’ve always dreamed of opening a restaurant in town, with brilliant food to complement the wines I love and obsess over. I’m honoured that the ICA has welcomed us to realise that dream together.’
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Plus: A new pub will open on top of a brewery on the Blackhorse Beer Mile.
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