Set to open on the 9 October, the announcement follows the group’s acquisition of the site from Gary Usher earlier this month.
Led by Open Restaurant Group co-founder’s chef Andrew Sheridan and Sam and Emma Morgan, the concept will comprise a 45-cover restaurant, bar and grill upstairs, followed later this year by a cocktail bar on the lower ground floor.
Seel & Slater will operate from 8am seven days a week, serving breakfast and brunch through to lunch, dinner and late-night drinks. The menu will focus on prime cuts from the grill, handmade pasta, sharing plates and New York-inspired dishes, ‘inspired by Italian-American dining rooms in Manhattan’s Flatiron and Gramercy neighbourhoods’.
Early dishes include a pastrami doughnut, a dry-aged ribeye called The Don, lobster lasagne, and New York cheesecake brûlée. The menu will change seasonally, using produce sourced through Open Restaurant Group’s supplier network.
The menu has been developed by Sheridan, who also leads Restaurant 8, which holds three AA Rosettes and is listed in the Michelin Guide.
The lower ground floor will later become a low-lit cocktail bar inspired by 1940s New York jazz clubs and late-night bars. Further details on the drinks programme and entertainment are due to be announced ahead of its opening.
Open Restaurant Group has retained the existing Wreck Bistro team following the acquisition, with staff moving across to the new Seel & Slater operation.
“Liverpool is a city we’re proud to trade in, so we’re pleased to be adding Seel & Slater to the portfolio,” says Sam Morgan.
“Wreck was an established restaurant with a strong team and a loyal following, so it was important to us that we approached the site with real care and gave the team the opportunity to be part of what comes next.
“Seel & Slater is a completely new direction, but it builds on what we know works across the group - strong teams, great food and restaurants with their own identity.
“We’re looking forward to seeing the two sides of the concept come to life and establishing Seel & Slater as a new destination in Ropewalks.”
The concept takes its name from Seel Street and Slater Street, between which the Grade II-listed building is located.
The opening will be Open Restaurant Group’s ninth site and its second restaurant in Liverpool, following Restaurant 8 on Cook Street.