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CURRY
fans will be licking their lips in anticipation of a new Leeds
venture served up by the first Michelin-starred Indian chef. Vineet
Bhatia is to launch a restaurant in the £13m Alea Casino, which
is expected to open at Clarence Dock next month, its opening having
been delayed from last December.
With
restaurants around the globe, Bombay-born Vineet will not be in Leeds
every day, according to the casino's owner London Clubs
International. But he will be taking occasional hands-on shifts in
the kitchen as well as overseeing the menu at BIRD - British Indian
Design Restaurant.
Bhatia, 41,
won his Michelin star in 2001 and saw his London eatery Rasoi awarded
the prestigious accolade in 2006.
He said: "This
will be my first restaurant in the UK outside London. I am currently
working on the menu and will be including one or two surprises with
some Yorkshire culinary influences."
BIRD will
seat 90 and boasts a theatre kitchen plus a 16-seat private dining room.
Bhatia has
restaurants around the globe, including Mauritius, Geneva, Saudi
Arabia, Moscow and Dubai.
His presence
in the city follows in the footsteps of other notable names from the
culinary world.
Chef Raymond
Blanc opened Brasserie Blanc on Sovereign Street last year;
Michelin-starred Albert Roux will oversee menus at boutique hotel The
Ellington, due to open on York Place later this month; Marco Pierre
White will return to his home city this year with Frankie's; and
celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's Fifteen is expected to start serving in
the Dark Arches at the end of next year.
The doors of
Alea are finally expected to open next month with promises to
"host one of the biggest launch parties Leeds has ever seen".
London Clubs
International took four years to develop the four-storey building at
the £260million Clarence Dock scheme next to the Royal Armouries.
Italian
restaurant @Larocca opened at Clarence Dock earlier this year and the
100-cover Café Aagrah is due to open on August 18, followed by
Pizza Express and Bradford-based curry house Mumtaz.
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