Salon Brixton team to open new Leven restaurant in Peckham

Chef Nicholas Balfe and his team behind Salon in Brixton are set to open a new restaurant called Leven in Peckham.

The restaurant says it is “inspired by the new wave of bistronomy that began in the quartiers of Paris and has spread through the neighbourhoods of Copenhagen and Barcelona”. It will be an all-day dining operation unlike Balfe’s other projects serving contemporary European dishes and natural wines.

The restaurant will offer seasonal pastries for breakfast, lunch dishes that “take their cue from bistro culture on the continent” and a series of small plates for dinner.

Balfe said: “We picked the name because we’re all huge fans of Larry Levan, an iconic music producer and DJ who essentially tore up the rulebook and wrote the blueprint for what dance music would become.

“It’s this sense of freedom of expression that ties the work of Larry to the work of our favourite left-field wine-makers today, which will be a huge focus at the new restaurant. He changed the way people thought about music, and we’re seeing the beginning of a shift in the way that people think about wine.”

The restaurant will aim to ensure that 90% of waste is repurposed or recycled, “with food waste such as herb stalks incorporated into ferments and infusions, and using spent milk from making coffees to make fresh curd cheese”.

The restaurant is set to open in Autumn this year.