A tiny Cardiff restaurant that made it into the Michelin Guide is opening an outdoor pop-up alongside the River Taff.
When Nook in Canton opened back in August 2019, the coronavirus pandemic was just around the corner.
But in the short time it was open as a "normal" restaurant, it built a cult following and was one of those places everyone seemed to be talking about.
In January the cosy spot made it into the Michelin Guide, the world's most influential food guide.
But whilst hospitality is limited to ‘outdoor opening only’ restrictions in Wales, the Victoria Park spot is set to move into a 12m by 10m stretch tent situated alongside Llandaff rowing club.
The "Nook by the River" pop-up will have enough room for up to 35 socially distanced guests, with customers able to dine and drink next to the water.
The "small plates" restaurant uses seasonal, local produce and also offers a wide selection of natural and low intervention wines.
Table bookings will be available from Thursday to Sunday each week.
Nook founders Phill and Deb Lewis, who also operate four Dusty’s Pizza restaurants across Cardiff and Barry, said that like most in their industry, they are excited to get back to running a restaurant, rather than a takeaway.
Phill said: “It’s been an incredibly tough year for everyone in hospitality; none of us expected this to go on for so long or thought that we would have to find so many ways to adapt. When we opened Nook, never did I think that it would operate as a takeaway!
"That being said, we are really excited to be working with Llandaff Rowing Club to bring this pop up to life; the location is not just about working within the restrictions, it’s also the perfect setting for the style of food we love to serve at Nook.”
Speaking previously, the pair said they were "over the moon" to be recommended in the Michelin Guide.
Phill said: "We opened in August 2019 so we only had six months of trade before we had to shut down.
"The challenges are obvious. It was only a small restaurant anyway, 24 seats, and then post-lockdown one we had to reduce to 14 seats. That was probably more challenging than running a takeaway service.
"Thankfully the local community love what we're offering. It's a different style of takeaway. It's been very well received so we've been very lucky."
With many successful years of running Dusty's, they found that some of their more experimental ideas, while popular, weren't fully suited to a pizza joint. You can read more about Dusty's rapid rise here.
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So when the unit on Cowbridge Road came up for grabs they decided to set up Nook.
Phill said: "We started it after recognising a gap in the market. We wanted to introduce the concept of small plates which wasn't really being done on a massive scale.
"We wanted to create a high quality, interesting dining experience for people that didn't already exist in Cardiff at the time. And it was a natural kind of progression for us."
The pop-up will open on April 29, but reservations for the first two weeks are already fully booked.
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