Pip Lacey opens Gilroy’s Loft as Guinness launches its Open Gate Brewery
Guinness has officially opened the Guinness Open Gate Brewery London, unveiling a major new hospitality destination built on the historic Old Brewer’s Yard site in Covent Garden.
The project brings together a working brewery tour, two retail stores, a courtyard serving pies by Calum Franklin, and two new restaurants: Gilroy’s Loft and The Porter’s Table.
Pip Lacey opens Gilroy’s Loft
Set at the top of the building with panoramic views across central London, Gilroy’s Loft becomes Covent Garden’s newest rooftop restaurant. The menu is coastal in identity, drawing on produce from across the British and Irish Isles and shaped by chef Pip Lacey’s modern British cooking.
Pip’s background includes leading the kitchen at Michelin-starred Murano, opening her debut restaurant Hicce and winning BBC’s Great British Menu. Her approach at Gilroy’s Loft focuses on quality, seasonality and sourcing, with seafood at the forefront.
Read more: Pip Lacey leaves Murano to open her first solo venture - Great British Menu 2017 contestant
A seafood-led menu with British and Irish sourcing
The menu centres on playful takes on British and Irish dishes, with responsibly sourced, line-caught fish supplied by Wright Brothers. A curved twenty-cover bar at the heart of the dining room will serve native oysters shucked to order and seafood platters.
Opening dishes include raw and grilled oysters from producers in Jersey, Achill Island and Galway. Small plates feature beer and potato bread with butter and seaweed salt, and Guinness-rarebit chicory with pink grapefruit, carrot, pickled walnut and coriander.
Shareable options include a fruits de mer platter of rope-grown mussels, palourde clams, sea bream, king prawns and Jersey oysters. Larger dishes range from smoked potato with almond butter, king cabbage, onion seed and open ravioli to roast halibut steak with Lincolnshire brussels sprouts and beer velouté.
The signature main is a grilled half native lobster with tomato and pine nut brown butter, green peppercorn and herb salad. Dessert is a blood orange mousse with Guinness ice cream and malt biscuit.
Brewing-led drinks by Hollie Stephenson
Seafood and Guinness pairings are central to the concept. Master brewer Hollie Stephenson has developed a range of beers specifically for the Guinness Open Gate Brewery London, with Gilroy’s Loft serving The Brewer’s Lager and Piazza Pale Ale.
The drinks list also includes cocktails such as the Toucan Colada and Espresso Stoutini, alongside an international and English wine selection.
A tribute to John Gilroy
Gilroy’s Loft takes its name from John Gilroy, the artist behind Guinness’s famous advertising illustrations from the 1930s to the 1960s, including the iconic toucan. Artwork by Gilroy’s grandson, Jim, is displayed throughout the restaurant.
With seventy-five seats in the dining room, the interiors draw on wood, stone and natural-toned materials, while a terrace is planned for spring.
A wider food offering at the new site
Alongside Gilroy’s Loft, the Guinness Open Gate Brewery includes The Porter’s Table, a casual restaurant built around sharing dishes. In Old Brewer’s Yard, visitors can also find Hollie’s beers on tap paired with handmade pies from Calum Franklin. All venues are open to the public and to those joining brewery tours.
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Pip Lacey opens Gilroy’s Loft as Guinness launches its Open Gate Brewery
