The restaurant will have just eight seats arranged around a kitchen counter and will open at The Goodsyard in Birmingham this August.
Sael promises an intimate dining experience that is ‘immersive and deeply rooted in the seasons’. It will run a single sitting per service and serve a tasting menu that ‘evolves in step with the landscape, driven by hyper-seasonal produce and the finest local suppliers’
Mills announced his plans for the restaurant in April last year, with intentions to open it in the summer.
He says that despite the delay, nothing has changed and the restaurant remains focused on low-waste cooking and a drinks list that uses waste from the kitchen preparations.
The drinks programme - and the front-of-house - will be led by Asher Beardsmore, whose CV includes time at Couch, Opheem, and more recently as bar manager at Tropea.
The opening of Sael follows a successful run of pop-ups across South Birmingham, and marks return to permanent bricks-and-mortar for Mills following the closure of his Leamington Spa restaurant The Tame Hare after the pandemic.
His previous experience includes kitchens such as The Cross at Kenilworth and Mallory Court.