Up-market restaurant chain The Ivy’s new Exeter bar and restaurant will operate even days a week when it opens in the summer of 2021.
Parent company Troia (UK) Restaurants Ltd is converting the former Jack Wills store on the High Street, directly opposite a Greggs takeaway and a branch of McDonald's, and close to Exeter Cathedral.
It said The Ivy Exeter will open this summer, offering “sophisticated yet friendly” all-day dining, seven days a week from morning until night.
The Ivy Exeter will feature restaurant dining, for 128 covers, a bar and intimate private dining room for eight guests, as well as an outdoor terrace. The brasserie-style menus at The Ivy Exeter will be “all-encompassing”, serving modern, seasonal British classics.
Breakfast, coffees, “elevenses”, weekend brunch, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner will all be available, with dishes including pea velouté with lemon and thyme ricotta, crushed peas and black pepper, and roasted scallops with crispy potato rösti, pea purée, parmesan sauce and grated truffle.
Sitting alongside the food menus will be a list of locally-inspired drinks, cocktail menus, and an extensive selection of Champagne and wines.
The firm said guests can expect a taste of The Ivy’s glamour brought to the ancient city, with “floral and tasteful interiors complementing the eclectic dining and drinks menus”. Vibrant and bold patterns will run through the building, with well thought out areas “for every occasion”.
Following a sensitive refurbishment of the building, notable features will include artwork inspired by Exeter’s heritage, soft furnishings, stylish gold fittings and warm hues of green and red to match the “quintessentially Ivy floral design”.
Robert Birch has been named the head chef, and Drew Davey is the general manager. He said: “We’re thrilled to be able to announce the opening of The Ivy Exeter. Our location next to the stunning Exeter Cathedral is a beautiful location, and we’re excited to reveal the newly refurbished interiors and welcome our first guests this summer.”
The Ivy Collection is a group of restaurants and brasseries, established in London and growing regionally across the UK and Ireland, offering “accessible, all-day dining for locals and visitors alike”. Each location is carefully hand-picked to value, reflect and add to the area.
It is not the first time The Ivy, famous for attracting celebrities to its London eateries, has made eyes at Exeter. In 2018 it abandoned plans to convert a Waterstones bookshop into a new restaurant and bar. It had even received planning permission for the scheme, but subsequently pulled out of the venture.
It is anticipated the new Exeter restaurant would create about 100 jobs and act as a destination restaurant within Exeter city centre, thereby enhancing the vitality and viability of the centre as a whole.
The original Ivy, which opened in London’s West End in 1917, operates as a fine dining restaurant but its other branches, split into Ivy Grills and Brasseries and Ivy Cafes, offer more casual dining.
All its branches outside London operate as Ivy Grills and Brasseries, promising “extensive all-day menus featuring the best of modern British dishes in a relaxed dining atmosphere”.
Troia has 15 restaurants in London, a further 18 around England, two in Scotland and one each in Wales and Ireland.
