Chef Tom Waters opens first permanent restaurant
Following a full refurbishment, the former coffee shop is being transformed into an ‘intimate’ dining room, an open plan kitchen which can cater for up to 24 guests at a time
Chef Tom Waters has unveiled his first permanent restaurant, Gorse, today 28 May 2024, in Cardiff.
Having earned his stripes in “prestigious” London kitchens, including stints at Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck, The Square and Bonhams, chef Waters returned to his Welsh roots with his pop-up concept Gorse, 18 months ago.
Over the last 18 months Waters has been bringing his Gorse to independent venues around the Welsh capital, including Ground Bakery in Pontcanna, Insole Court in Llandaff and Waterloo Tea in Roath.
Waters stated that the transition from pop-up sensation to permanent fixture marks a significant milestone for Gorse. Following a full refurbishment, the former coffee shop is being transformed into an “intimate” dining room, an open plan kitchen which can cater for up to 24 guests at a time.
The space has been designed by local design agency Karna, and draws on Tom’s passion for local sourcing; on the walls, Gorse flowers from Gower have been immortalised in plaster by a local artist, whilst the restaurant crockery has been sourced from local ceramicists, and vases of dried black oats nod to the recent revival of a crop once commonly found across Wales.
The menu at Gorse will offer multi-course tasting menus that will “embrace” micro-seasonality and short supply chains, utilising Waters’ relationships with a network of small-scale Welsh farmers, growers, fishermen and local artisans.
Waters said: “Gorse is about capturing local ingredients at the peak of their deliciousness and serving them in creative and sometimes unexpected ways. We have some of the best produce in the world in Wales – including an amazing coastline (which inspired our restaurant name) and is full of amazing seaweeds, fish and wild ingredients.
“A good example would be to look at laver, which is traditionally boiled down to make laverbread. Instead, we take it, we dry it, and we add it to some delicious cultured butter to serve with our buttermilk bread, or we make a broth with it – taking influence from Japanese cuisine. Gorse is all about dishes like that – putting a new spin on some classic, Welsh ingredients and framing them in a new light.”