Albatross Death Cult, the experimental new restaurant from Alex Claridge, Chef Patron of Birmingham’s “rock and roll fine dining” restaurant The Wilderness, is now open. Housed in a Grade II listed warehouse in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, Albatross seats fourteen guests around a monolithic kitchen counter, serving a singular tasting menu of twelve (or more) dishes of (mostly) seafood and coastal ingredients so it’s not one for faddy eaters we’d wager.
The approach is modern and minimalist – in Claridge’s words, the food is “brutalist in style” with many dishes aimed at being striking in their simplicity, with embellishment and manipulation intended only to amplify or clarify the inherent flavours and qualities of the lead ingredient. Elsewhere on the menu there is more complexity, bolder intervention, and bigger flavours designed to “smack you in the face like ocean spray”. The Albatross kitchen is led by Piotr Szpak, who has served as part of The Wilderness team intermittently for over six years (interspersed with time at Aktar Islam’s Opheem).
Albatross is open now. The restaurant serves lunch on Friday and Saturday at 1.30pm and dinner Wednesday to Saturday at 7pm. The tasting menu is priced at £88. For further information and to reserve a space at the Albatross kitchen counter please visit: www.albatrossdeathcult.co.uk.
