Ceviche’s owner, Martin Morales (pictured), has revealed that he is
finalising plans for his second as-yet-unnamed London venture – and Shoreditch diners can expect much more than a carbon copy of the Soho original.
The entrepreneur told Square Meal he is open to taking risks with his next restaurant, and is reluctant to just cut and paste his successful formula to a different London postcode. ‘It would be
easy to open another branch of Ceviche in Shoreditch with the same look and same menu,’ he told Square Meal. ‘But would it be the right fit with Shoreditch, and would Londoners respect me for doing
the same thing?’
Morales is keeping quiet about his exact plans, but says that while the new venture will be part of the Ceviche brand and will continue to serve bankable Peruvian culinary exports, he is currently
floating new ideas, including taking a regional approach to the menu. He is also considering adding more adventurous dishes to the kitchen’s repertoire, such as a special of marinated alpaca
skewers with purple potatoes, which debuted at the Soho branch recently and went down well with diners. Funky Latin music is also certain to be key to the Shoreditch offshoot, considering Morales’
sideline business – his ‘Tiger’s Milk’ record label.
The colourful Soho restaurant and pisco bar has been highly successful since it launched in early 2012 – in large part thanks to Morales’ detailed, hands-on approach and the passion he has
instilled in his team.
‘I always try to be involved in tweaking the new dishes the chef adds to the menu, and I work with my head bartender to develop new cocktails,’ said Morales. ‘I’m passionate about the restaurant.’
The Shoreditch restaurant is due to launch towards the end of this year.
This story was published in August 2013.