Beltane Braces
A fish and chip shop and an ice cream parlour are essentials for the esplanade of any seaside town. This being deliciously refined Deal on the east coast of Kent, a well defined Japanese restaurant in a Grade II Listed early Georgian townhouse is also required. The Blue Pelican has just opened on the aptly named Beach Street in what was formerly The Black Douglas, a restaurant run by Dalziel Douglas. Her sister Lizzie is the owner of The Black Pig, a butcher’s just behind the esplanade on St George’s Passage. They are the daughters of Lord Gawain Douglas who’s the son of the 11th Marquess of Queensberry. Oscar Wilde’s lover Bosie Douglas was a relative.
The red door and pale peach walls of the façade have been painted pale green and white respectively. A tripartite shopfront remains black. This façade reappears inside in a mural dominating a wall of the restaurant. Painted by Deal born Lisbon residing artist Tom Maryniak, his flatulent Victorians wallpaper caused merriment for customers visiting the basement loo in Dalziel’s restaurant. The owners Chris Hicks and his wife Alex Bagner, who own The Rose Hotel on High Street, wanted to pay respect to The Black Douglas. They’ve retained the same ground floor layout: the dining room occupies the sea facing front of the building with an open plan kitchen to the rear. A striking departure is the red neon sign “Fire it up” outside the cavernous now red painted loo. Alex was previously Design Editor at Wallpaper* magazine.
Chef Luke Green who formerly led the kitchen in The Rose looked to Tokyo’s culinary scene for inspiration, having worked in the city for five years. The informal offering of an izakaya – a Japanese bar that serves drinks and snacks (like soromame tofu, peas and wild garlic) – accompanies more substantial plates (such as halibut, white asparagus and dandelion) and puddings (think kumquat and kinako set custard). Tim Toovey of London company Uncharted Wines collated a drinks menus focusing on low intervention English and European vineyards alongside sake and Japanese whisky. Cocktails combine Japanese flavours and local herbs which sum up in glasses the ethos of The Blue Pelican according to Chris, “A restaurant and bar firmly rooted on the Kent coast but inspired by a passion for Japanese food and drink.” Upstairs, The Pelican Rooms offer more Deal necessities: a yoga studio and three private treatment rooms.
