One of Cardiff’s most popular restaurants will operate an outdoor pop-up on the banks of the River Taff this Spring.
Whilst hospitality is limited to ‘outdoor opening only’ restrictions in Wales, Victoria Park’s Nook will move into a 12 x 10m stretch tent situated alongside Llandaff rowing club.
With enough room for up to 35 socially distanced guests, ‘Nook by the River’ will allow customers to dine and drink next to the water; table bookings will be available from Thursday to Sunday each week.
Before and / or after their reservations, customers will also be able to enjoy a drink on the rowing club’s terrace next door.
Nook is a cosy ‘small plates restaurant’ on Cowbridge Road, with no outdoor seating. It specialises in showcasing the best of seasonal, local produce and also offers a wide selection of natural and low intervention wines.
When it first opened back in August 2019, the coronavirus pandemic was just a few short months away. But Nook quickly built a cult following, and when the pandemic did eventually hit, an adapted offer of ‘call and collect’ takeaways proved popular with the local community and kept loyal customers coming back for more.
Despite extremely challenging circumstances, earlier this year Nook was also recognised amongst the world’s best restaurants, earning a recommendation from the Michelin Guide.
Nook founders Phill & Deb Lewis (who also operate four Dusty’s Pizza restaurants across Cardiff and Barry) said that like most in their industry, they are excited to get back to running a restaurant, rather than a takeaway.
Phill said, “It’s been an incredibly tough year for everyone in hospitality; none of us expected this to go on for so long or thought that we would have to find so many ways to adapt. When we opened Nook, never did I think that it would operate as a takeaway!
That being said, we are really excited to be working with Llandaff Rowing Club to bring this pop up to life; the location is not just about working within the restrictions, it’s also the perfect setting for the style of food we love to serve at Nook.”
The #NookByTheRiver pop-up will open on 29th April 2021.
