A new neighbourhood restaurant and natural wine shop called Ogof will open on Thursday 18th December on Kings Road, Cardiff.
Following months of work behind the scenes, the team has transformed the space (formerly Poca / La Cuina) – which is now almost unrecognisable. The downstairs of the two-story restaurant now boasts a central bar area with counter seating lit by a beautiful, low hanging Bocci light fixture, and an internal window which looks directly into the bright kitchen, connecting it to the dining room for a fluid, lively service.
Sanded back floors and a simple, pared-back design scheme are complemented by bespoke furniture, artwork and carefully chosen vintage pieces – a theme which continues up onto the first-floor dining room.
Open from midday, Ogof’s lunch offer will centre on daily specials and a concise selection of sandwiches made with bread baked in-house. As the day moves into evening, the restaurant shifts into a fuller chalkboard menu of seasonal dishes to share, from snacks to larger plates.
Sample dishes from the winter menu include:
- Swede rarebit croquettes and brown sauce
- Celeriac, cep and buckwheat stuffed cabbage leaves
- Picanha steak, Jerusalem artichoke, chestnuts and trompettes
- Steamed hake, purple sprouting broccoli and elderflower hollandaise
- Apple and hazelnut custard slice
- Chocolate mousse with new season’s olive oil and poached quince
Ogof will champion natural wines made from grapes alone (with no additives and nothing removed – resulting in expressive, varied wines with distinct character). The team will guide guests through the ‘wall of wine’ on the ground floor – which acts as both a visual wine list, and a bottle shop for guests to take bottles away to enjoy at home.
There’ll be a dynamic selection of wines available by the glass every day, including rarer cellar bottles, and jewels from Burgundy; customers’ will also be able to buy refillable, competitively priced options (influenced by the traditional European idea of taking an empty jug to the local winery) which can be bottled and sealed to order with the in-house capping machine.
The wine shop will offer the perfect opportunity to stock up on a delicious and varied selection of wine to celebrate the festive season; e-gift cards are also available via the website – to treat someone (or yourself!) to seasonal food and natural wines at Cardiff’s newest independent neighbourhood restaurant and wine bar.
Ogof is led by Chef Alex Vines, who is opening his first restaurant after more than a decade cooking in acclaimed London kitchens including 40 Maltby Street and Rochelle Canteen, before running his much-loved ‘Vines’ pop-up across Cardiff.
He’s joined by Siôn Iorwerth, a Carmarthenshire-born wine specialist whose experience includes running one of Vancouver’s first natural wine bars, and Zanna Clarke, bringing leadership and customer experience from the arts and charity sector.
Siôn said, “It’s been a long road getting the restaurant ready in time for the festive period – and we’ve just about made it! We’ve had fun along the way, decorating the space, fine tuning the menus, meeting with suppliers and changing up the restaurant’s layout to make it flow as we want it to. All that’s left is to open the doors, and invite everyone to see what Ogof is all about.”
