Opening in east London on 1 May, Ara is described as offering ‘a melting pot of global flavours without borders’ and will join Kilic’s other restaurant Amber, located closed by.
The all-day restaurant, located in London’s Aldgate East area, will have 76 covers as well as 20 outside. Menu highlights will include grilled potato flatbread with homemade cultured butter; mussels skewers with roasted chicken wings in butter sauce; blackened leeks with muhammara and XO sauce; and slow-cooked short rib with date demi-glaze.
Ara’s wine list has been created by general manager Wade Mundford who previously launched The Melusine in 2019, which he co-owned with Theodore Kyriakou, having met the Greek chef when they worked together at The Greek Larder.
The restaurant has been designed with sustainability in mind, making use of materials to minimise waste such as pineapple leather from pineapple farm discards for upholstery, galvanised steel offcuts to create light installations, elm wood from diseased trees for banquette and booth seating and recycled plastic transformed into tables tops and a bar facade.
Self-taught Turkish chef Kilic moved to London to train as an electrical engineer before transferring to the restaurant industry, climbing the ranks from a pot washing job in a greasy spoon to multiple roles in back and front of house before he launched successful café/bistro, Route in Dalston in 2012 (now sold) and then Amber, also near Aldgate East, in 2018.