With a CV that also includes Nobu, Pied à Terre and Fifteen, Alt joins from The Barbary’s recently launched Notting Hill restaurant, where he was head chef.
Owned by brothers Ozgur and Sidar Akyuz, Nora will be inspired by the culinary diversity of the country’s capital, Istanbul, referencing everything from street food carts and local mangal (grill) restaurants to fine dining establishments.
Smaller plates will include spiced lamb börek with sivri pepper yoghurt; hellim, smoked olive oil and Epping honey; crab rice dolma, preserved tomato and white carrot foam; and leek manti with hen of the woods and aged Kaşar cheese.
Larger options will include robata grill-cooked Adana köfte kebabs; 1kg ex-dairy beef rib; and 1kg line-caught turbot.
Desserts will include künefe with orange blossom, and walnut baklava with pistachio and fig leaf cream.
Nora’s wine and cocktail lists will ‘reflect the terroir and flavours of the region, with wines from Turkey and its surroundings’.
The Akyuz brothers are behind London’s Café Beam, which operates four Middle Eastern-inspired coffee shops in Crouch End, Muswell Hill, Notting Hill and Highbury.
Designed by Ola Jachymiak Studio, interiors will echo the style of Café Beam, featuring mid-century modern furnishings and combining minimalist design elements and bespoke carpentry with Anatolian textiles and upholstery.
Soft curves and earthy, warm tones will be used throughout, with wooden modular furniture and soft lighting completing the look.
Natural light from floor-to-ceiling windows will be complemented by standing and hanging lamps.
Nora is set to launch in November.