Offering a new themed menu every six weeks, the ambitious restaurant aims to re-invent dining
A menu that changes every six weeks, a six-course tasting menu for £29 and a launch menu inspired by the great British tradition of a ‘chippy tea’…Six by Nico Liverpool certainly does things differently.
Opening on November 12th on North John Street, the 90-cover restaurant is acclaimed chef-founder Nico Simeone’s second opening in England and the fifth Six by Nico; which was born out of a passion for experimenting with new ingredients and creating unique dishes back in 2017.
The local 'chippie tea' is a popular dish for Liverpudlians and we can't wait to serve our quirky take on this British classic
Six by Nico also operates in Manchester, Belfast, Edinburgh and Simeone’s hometown of Glasgow - where he was born to Italian parents in ‘a family of Mediterranean foodies.’ His colourful career has included stints at Michelin-starred Number One at Balmoral, where he was awarded Young Scottish Seafood Chef of the Year at 20, and working at Brian Maule’s acclaimed Chardon d’Or.
As with its UK siblings, Six by Nico Liverpool will serve up a brand new six-course tasting menu every six weeks - each themed around a different place, memory or idea. Future themes will be kept a surprise, with new menus published just two weeks before launch to keep fans guessing.
Liverpool's first theme? ‘The Chippie,’ inspired by Simeone’s chip shop-owning family. A nostalgic nod to the past, it includes six dishes based on classics like battered fish, mushy peas and (reflecting Simeone’s Scottish heritage) deep-fried Mars Bar. But this is no ordinary chip shop fare; Nico and the team have dolled up the classics for the fine-dining crowd so expect ingredients like parmesan espuma, monkfish cheeks and pickled mussels to make an appearance.
Simeone also owns three other Glaswegian sites: The Hebridean gastropub, Supper Club ‘creative laboratory’ and his first restaurant 111 by Nico, which opened in 2011 and serves surprise tasting menus.
It’s Six by Nico, however, that’s really taken off. With tasting menus just £29 (and accompanying wine flights available at £26), its accessible brand of innovative ‘fine dining’ has unsurprisingly proven popular, with reservations for the recently opened Manchester restaurant surpassing 3000 in its first week.
So how exactly does one go about creating a brand new menu every six weeks? “It’s a lot of work,” Simeone chuckles, “but we’ve now got a routine, which makes things easier. In brief, we start designing and developing the next menu six weeks before - testing ideas, sourcing ingredients - and then bring chefs over from each restaurant to train them on the new dishes. Finally, we advise the marketing teams and announce the next theme about two weeks prior.”
As for themes, Simeone tells us he gets inspiration everywhere from travelling to films: “I even ended up creating a menu based on the movie Inception once!” Menus have spanned Thai street food to Picnic and Childhood, with the latest at his Manchester site based on Alice In Wonderland.
Regarding the Liverpool launch, Chef Nico Simeone said: "Most people are familiar with the tastes and scents of their local chip shop and we wanted to take the idea of the everyday chippie menu and re-invent it to create a playful food experience that guests would recognise and be amazed by. The local 'chippie tea' is a popular dish for Liverpudlians and we can't wait to serve our quirky take on this British classic."
Six By Nico opens on November 12th at 11-15 North John Street, Liverpool, L2 5QY - you can book now
