Chicken Kiev resto to open in London

A restaurant shining a light on the humble chicken Kiev and retro cocktails like the Snowball is to open in London’s Clerkenwell this July.

Coin Laundry is the brainchild of Urban Leisure Group, owners of kooky cocktail bar Ask for Janice and restaurants Central & Co and Alice House.

Located at the corner of Exmouth Market, 1970s favourite, the chicken Kiev will be given the gourmet treatment via “hand foraged” wild garlic and a “secret” bread-crumb blend.

A Kiev Counter will count down the number of birds left in the kitchen, while snacks will include homemade crisps served with parcels of seasoning.

Cocktails will be distinctly retro in character, with after dinner drinks like the Snowball, made with Advocaat and lemonade, and the Grasshopper (a blend of Crème de Menthe and Crème de Cacao) given a contemporary twist.

To hammer the retro theme home, sparkling cocktails and fizzy soft drinks will be made with a soda stream.

Spread across two floors, the design of Coin Laundry takes inspiration from ‘70s British home décor with its wooden floors, comfy sofas and kitsch tableware.

The basement is decked out like a common room, offering a selection of board games and regular events from book clubs to pop-up shops.

While the chicken Kiev is thought to originate from the Ukraine due to its name, Russian food historian William Pokhlebkin claims that the dish was invented at the St. Petersburg Merchants’ Club in the early 20th century as the Novo-Mikhailovsky cutlet, and was renamed the chicken Kiev by a Soviet restaurant.