The new venue will be divided across three spaces: a 40-cover ground-floor restaurant, including eight seats at an open kitchen counter; an 18-cover lower-ground-floor lounge; and an 18-cover wine cellar and private dining room. The cellar will offer a dedicated tasting menu presenting a more refined interpretation of Georgian cuisine.
The menu will draw on traditional Georgian dishes and cooking techniques, with freshly baked khachapuri, the country’s cheese-filled bread, served in smaller formats with cheese, meat and vegetable fillings. Handmade khinkali dumplings, soups served in clay pots beneath freshly baked bread, and meat skewers cooked over an open charcoal grill will also feature.
Wine will be a central part of the offering, with a collection spanning Georgian producers, indigenous grape varieties and vintages.
The collection will showcase Georgia’s qvevri winemaking tradition, which uses clay vessels for fermentation and ageing, as well as the country’s regional diversity. A specialist sommelier recruited from Georgia will guide guests through the wines and their origins.
Walsh has developed the interiors in collaboration with Dtwo Design, using natural materials including clay and black rock alongside minimalist architectural features. Georgian artist Giorgi Sisauri has been commissioned to create bespoke artwork for the restaurant, drawing on the country’s script, calligraphy, manuscripts and artistic traditions.
“For the past 25 years, my family and I have dedicated ourselves to sharing Georgian food, wine and hospitality with London,” says Walsh.
“Aba-Ra Soho is something we have dreamed of creating for a very long time, and it represents everything we love about our country.
“Georgia has such an extraordinary culinary and winemaking heritage, and we want to give people the opportunity to experience that in a way they may never have before.
“We’re not trying to reinvent Georgian cuisine; we want to show just how incredible it already is, from the food we cook to the wines we pour and the traditions behind them.
“For us, this is about creating something that celebrates Georgia properly, somewhere that feels beautiful and contemporary but remains completely authentic to who we are and where we come from.”
The new restaurant will join Walsh’s original Aba-Ra site on Brick Lane, which opened in 2023.