A restaurant dedicated entirely to sausage is set to open in Islington with the aim of reinventing the humble hotdog, offering bangers from Blighty, bratwurst from Germany and kielbasa from Poland.
Called X-Upper, the restaurant will serve “Europe’s finest gourmet sausages”, proclaiming, optimistically, that “sausage is the new burger”.
The restaurant, set to open this month, will be a 40-cover dining space offering sausages with sides and sourdough bread priced between £8 and £12.
Adding a serving of sophistication to the humble sausage is chef James Tanner, from Ready Steady Cook and Saturday Kitchen, who has led the menu development with the help of Francesco di Marzio, formerly executive chef at the two-Michelin starred restaurant The Greenhouse.
Sausages featured include several from local butchers’ shops, as well as the more exotic Olma bratwurst – a protected Swiss variety served with purple mustard and pickled cabbage – the Austrian Käsekrainer, and a smoky Polish kielbasa.
Craft beer will flow courtesy of Bermondsey-based FourPure brewery.
Managing director Mariam French said: “We’re so excited to be launching X-Upper. Forget what you think you knew about sausages! Sausages, in their many forms, are loved and consumed by millions of people.
“Through our travels around Europe, we uncovered a set of amazingly delicious and high-quality sausages and I can’t wait for Londoners to be exposed to the richness of our yummy products.
“Our mission is to completely re-invent the perception of sausage through serving authentic, high-quality, local provenance sausages that are true delicacies.”
