Nocturne / About
About the restaurant
Opened November 2019 by two founders. Forty-two covers, a charcoal grill, and a wood oven that has been rebuilt twice.
The building
Number 14 was a commercial printworks from 1974 until 1998, then a carpet showroom, then empty for six years. The press beds are still set into the bar floor. We left them because taking them out would have meant relaying the whole slab.
The fit-out took eleven months, most of which was spent on extraction. A charcoal grill in a building with no existing flue is largely a ventilation problem with a restaurant attached.
The wood oven has been rebuilt twice, once in 2021 after the first dome cracked and again in 2024 when we moved it three metres to open up the pass.
Who works here
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Co-owner, front of house
Ran the floor at two restaurants before opening Nocturne. Handles the wine list, the private room, and most of the phone.
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Co-owner, head chef
Cooked in Athens and Beirut for six years. Writes the menu, works the grill on Friday and Saturday, and does the fish market run twice a week.
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Sous chef
Joined in 2021 from the pastry section. Runs the kitchen Tuesday to Thursday and everything that comes out of the wood oven.
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Bar
Built the cocktail list. Also makes the verjus soda, which takes four days and which he would rather people ordered more of.
Where the food comes from
| What | Where | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Fish and shellfish | the harbour, direct from two boats | Tuesday and Friday mornings |
| Vegetables | Two growers outside the city | Three times a week |
| Lamb and beef | Local butcher, dry-aged on site from day 14 | Weekly |
| Flour | Regional stone mill | Monthly, 200kg |
| Olive oil | Two producers, Peloponnese and Bekaa | Twice a year |
| Charcoal | Lump hardwood, local supplier | Weekly, about 90kg |
If the boats do not go out, dishes come off the menu that evening. It happens perhaps a dozen times a year, usually in July.
Come and eat
Book online for up to six, or ring the restaurant for anything bigger.