Amy Corbin and Patrick Williams to head west with Chelsea cocktail bar

Amy-Corbin-and-Patrick-Williams-to-head-west-with-Chelsea-cocktail-bar-Smokey-Kudu.jpg

The duo behind highly-rated Peckham restaurant Kudu will bring their bar concept Smokey Kudu to Chelsea next month.

Amy Corbin and Patrick Williams have taken a 30-cover space within fashion brand RIXO’s new flagship store on King’s Road and will offer South African-inspired cocktails including the Kudu Pear (pear Cognac, ginger liqueur, green apple, cardamom bitters); and Kudu Colada (pineapple juice, Amarula, creme of coconut, Supasuwa). 

Design details will include a central circular bar, terracotta clay flooring, soft lighting and palm trees. 

The pair’s inaugural Smokey Kudu - which opened just ahead of the pandemic and is located moments from their Kudu flagship on Queen’s Road (which is also inspired by South Africa) - will close in April to make way for a new restaurant called Little Kudu. 

Billed as ‘tapas-inspired’, the new concept will offer small plates priced from £4 to £23 including the Little Kudu loaf with Cape Malay butter; Smoked peri-peri mussels; braaibroodjie (South African grilled cheese sandwich) with smoked tomato chutney; and ham hock terrine with biltong scratchings. 

The kitchen will be helmed by current Kudu sous chef Chace Wagenhauser, who like Williams is South African-born. 

A concise 30-bin wine list will ‘showcase the most sought after wines from South Africa’.

Corbin and Williams launched Kudu in 2018 and followed up with the South African barbecue-focused Kudu Grill in 2021, which is located on the other side of Peckham on Nunhead Lane.