Argentine meat maestro Francis Mallmann will make his London debut next month at a three-day pop-up held at Wolfgang Puck’s steakhouse Cut at 45 Park Lane.
Mallmann, who made a memorable appearance in the popular Netflix series Chef’s Table, will work alongside Cut’s executive chef David McIntyre on a bespoke menu of bold Argentine flavours that celebrate wood-fired cooking.
Running next week from 3-5 October, the pop-up will feature a six course tasting menu devised by Mallmann and McIntyre that includes a number of Mallmann’s signature dishes.
Diners at the pop-up will be treated to the likes of smashed Andean potato with smoked butter and caviar; corn humita with basil; plancha avocado with salmon confit; sweetbread on eggplant Milanese; and slow roasted rubia gallega rib-eye on the bone.
“I’ve cooked with my dear friend Wolfgang Puck in LA before, but for my first time cooking in London I’m looking forward to sharing a kitchen with David McIntyre.
“He has the respect for product that is the essential starting point for making a beautiful steak, and the mastery of a simple way of grill cooking that is very difficult to achieve,” Mallmann said.
“Mallmann is one of the biggest names in global cooking, so it’s an incredible honour to be collaborating with him,” McIntyre added.
Accompanying the menu will be a selection of wines from Argentina’s revered Catena Zapata, which have been imported especially for the event by Wolfgang Puck’s senior operations partner Alex Resnik.
Reservations for the pop-up can be made between 6.30pm and 9.30pm. The six course tasting menu is priced at £280 a head excluding drinks.
Born in Buenos Aires, Mallmann is one of South America’s most celebrated chefs.
Growing up in Patagonia in a house overlooking Lago Moreno, fire played an influential role in Mallmann’s childhood and continues to inspire and inform his cooking techniques today.
Having started out championing classic French techniques, Mallmann realised his true passion lay in Patagonian open-fire cooking, which he’s become famous for.
Today Mallmann runs a trio of restaurants in Argentina: 1884 in Mendoza, Siete Fuegos in Tunuyán, and Patagonia Sur in Buenos Aires, and a restaurant at Bodegas Garzón winery in Uruguay.
Rumours circulated last year that Mallmann is planning on opening a restaurant in London, so the pop-up may serve as the perfect litmus test to gauge how popular his idiosyncratic style of wood-fired cooking is in the UK capital.