Established pop-up chef launches new restaurant

Amelia Jones

A chef known for his series of pop-up events has opened his first permanent restaurant, partnering with an experienced natural wine specialist.

A new neighbourhood restaurant and natural wine shop, Ogof, opened on Thursday 18 December on Kings Road, Cardiff.

The chef behind the venture is Alex Vines, known for his acclaimed Vines pop-ups across the city.

Vines has spent more than a decade cooking in London kitchens, including 40 Maltby Street and Rochelle Canteen, before bringing seasonal, ingredient-led menus to Cardiff diners through his pop-up events.

He is joined by Siôn Iorwerth, a Carmarthenshire-born wine specialist with international experience in natural wine, and Zanna Clarke, who brings leadership and customer experience expertise from the arts and charity sector.

The two-story site, formerly home to Poca and La Cuina, has been extensively refurbished. The ground floor now features a central bar, counter seating, and a minimalist design feating bespoke furniture and vintage pieces.

Ogof will operate for lunch and dinner. Lunch will focus on daily specials and sandwiches made with homemade bread. Evening service will feature a seasonal chalkboard menu of dishes to share.

Some of the sample dishes from the winter menu will include: Swede rarebit croquettes and brown sauce, steamed hake with purple sprouting broccoli and elderflower hollandaise, apple and hazelnut custard slice, and chocolate mousse with new season’s olive oil and poached quince.

The restaurant also includes a natural wine shop offering unfiltered and additive-free wines. Visitors can buy wine by the glass, take bottles away, or refill reusable containers with an in-house capping machine.

The restaurant will open at noon on Thursday 18 December. Lunch will be served Wednesday to Saturday from 12pm, with dinner Thursday to Saturday from 6pm (last orders 9:30pm). The wine shop will operate Tuesday to Wednesday from 12–5pm and Thursday to Saturday from 12–10pm.

Siôn said, “It’s been a long road getting the restaurant ready in time for the festive period – and we’ve just about made it!

“We’ve had fun along the way, decorating the space, fine tuning the menus, meeting with suppliers and changing up the restaurant’s layout to make it flow as we want it to. All that’s left is to open the doors, and invite everyone to see what Ogof is all about.”