Former Salt head chef Laura Kimber opens The Lloyd in Shropshire

Laura Kimber's CV includes Salt,  Lower Slaughter Manor and Michael Caines at Abode Chester
Laura Kimber's CV includes Salt, Lower Slaughter Manor and Michael Caines at Abode Chester (©The Lloyd)

Laura Kimber, the former head chef of Paul Foster’s now-closed Salt, has opened The Lloyd in the Shropshire market town of Shifnal.

The Lloyd serves a modern British menu, using local produce where possible and sourcing ingredients from across the UK.

All dishes are designed for sharing and served family-style, including a Cornish crab doughnut with ’nduja sauce and pickled fennel, and 28-day dry-aged beef tartare with Cornish red dulse.

Large plates include roasted monkfish tail with crispy capers and chicken sauce, duck breast with pickled blackberry and confit leg, and a salt-aged 20oz T-bone for two.

Small plates range from £12 to £17, while mains cost between £28 and £49.

Sunday lunch is £34 for two courses or £39 for three.

The wine list launches with more than 70 bins, focusing on single estates and grower producers, with Burgundy at its core.

The Lloyd occupies the former home of J C Lloyd, a major regional grocer that traded from the building from the mid-1800s until the late 1960s.

The restaurant takes its name and tulip logo from the original mosaic in the doorway.

A six-month refit involved major structural alterations and turned the shop into a calm, elegant dining room.

There’s a turntable at the back of the dining room, where guests can browse the records and choose what plays next.

Kimber joined Foster as chef de partie when Salt opened in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2017 and helped the restaurant earn a Michelin star 18 months later.

She had already worked with Foster at Mallory Court.

Before that, she cooked at Lower Slaughter Manor and at Michael Caines at Abode Chester.

She was a semi-finalist in National Chef of the Year 2024.

Her sous chef is Oliver Mitchell-Hewitt, who has worked at Opheem in Birmingham and Midsummer House in Cambridge.

“Once you sit down, the table is yours for the evening. Everything goes in the middle to share, elbows out. The Lloyd is somewhere to unwind with the people who matter most to you, with good food, good wine, and good music,” Kimber says. “Generosity runs through all of it, from the plates to the pour to the time you spend with us. Nobody should feel rushed out of a restaurant.”