Bold vibe: Facing Heaven
(Picture: Sam Harris)Hackney’s hole-in-the-wall vegan Chinese Mao Chow is set to close next week, as owner Julian Denis prepares to open new restaurant Facing Heaven early in the spring.
Since opening in 2019, Mare Street’s Mao Chow has found cult acclaim for its inexpensive Sichuanese cooking — nothing on the menu crosses the £10 threshold — which is entirely vegan. The tiny 14-seater is set to shut on February 26.
Now Denis is to move into larger premises nearby, as he opens his new restaurant in March. Named for a type of Sichuan chilli pepper, 28-seater Facing Heaven will, he says, offer “an evolution” of Mao Chow. Like Chow, the new opening will be completely vegan, but the style of cooking will expand to include Cantonese, Yunnan and Shaanxi dishes, and LA-raised Denis says he will also incorporate flavours and techniques from Puerto-Rican, Portuguese and American traditions. Most plates will be for sharing.
Dishes are set to include Macau-style baked pork chop rice; spicy, twice fried jerusalem artichokes; stir fried blood sausage with chilli and garlic; and dongpo cauliflower. All the “meat” will be replaced by vegan equivalents. A list of natural wines, craft beer and baijiu cocktails will accompany the food.
Denis said of the new venture: “The success of Mao Chow has been overwhelming, and a huge learning curve. Having a kitchen space which literally used to be a coffee shop counter inspired and challenged us every day, but it also had its limitations. It forced us to be more creative and direct in our approach, simplifying dishes and taking them back to their core.
“The kitchen at Facing Heaven will be bigger, so naturally we can use more cooking techniques, which in turn means the menu will be elevated and just overall better thought out.”
Denis added that the broad-ranging influences on the menu reflect his background. “I also want the new menu to reflect my own personal heritage by combining the foods and flavours I grew up around with the Chinese recipes that I know and love,” he said. “A lot of people think I’m just a ‘white guy’ cooking Chinese food but my Dad is Haitian and Puerto-Rican, and my Mum is Portuguese — add that to growing up in California, I’ve been lucky to have always had so many different cultures around me.”
