Premier Hospitality

Alchemist Pure alchemy

Alchemist
Written by Roma Publications

Pure alchemy – The Alchemist

Premium bar and restaurant The Alchemist opened in a Grade II listed building in Nottingham in February, following a £1.65m investment.

Operating in the former Hard Rock Café on King Street, the new site extends over an impressive 6,600 sq ft, across two floors creating 80 full and part-time jobs for the local area. This marks the brand’s 13th location and the design, led by Macaulay Sinclair, follows The Alchemist’s trademark ‘copper-cased wonderland’, featuring its renowned dark and mysterious interiors, and gothic artworks.

The opening kicks-off a prosperous year for the operator, who has already confirmed two regional openings in Bristol and Cardiff – as well as securing an additional £16m in funding from Santander with further expansion plans in place for 2018.

Coincidently, the 13th site has seen spooky happenings during the fit out, with contractors reporting ghostly sightings of a little girl who is now being fondly referred to as Annabel.

Alchemist

Simon Potts, managing director of The Alchemist, said: “We’ve had our sights set on Nottingham for a while, and we’re pleased it’s finally come to fruition. The site is intriguing – particularly with the eerie stories we’ve been hearing from the team. A number of unexplained goings on has certainly kept us entertained over the last few months.

“Nottingham is a fantastic city, and we have secured an amazing location – overall the venue feels a perfect fit for us. It’s a real joy to be able to announce positive plans for our continued growth at a time when there seems to be a lot of uncertainty in the sector. Our guests continue to enjoy our unique offering and I’m confident that The Alchemist brand is a positive addition to Nottingham.”

Dawnvale has continued to work its magic with The Alchemist, a chain of ultra-stylish cocktail bars, working closely with leading designers Macaulay Sinclair and the Alchemist Brand to produce a main cocktail bar with five stations and a bespoke commercial kitchen complete with the latest energy saving Synergy Grills. The bar features the new Alchemist cocktail stations with drop down blender stations, double speed rails and water saving taps.

Robin Winstanley, Dawnvale, said:

“Due to the shape of the building, designing the bars and kitchen in this unique space was particularly challenging, but the client’s brief was fully achieved, resulting in a fully functional bar and kitchen workspace.”

The Alchemist is a true master in dark arts and molecular mixology, with theatre and immersive experiences at its core. This, coupled with innovative presentation and sensational settings, makes The Alchemist an unrivalled all-day destination.

Cocktails include The Mad Hatter’s Ketel; Bubblebath White Cosmo; Shrub A Dub Dub; Peaches and Cream; Beyond The Kale; Strawberry Cup Bounty; Lightbulb Moment; Grapefruit and Apricot Martini; Banana Manana Elixir Mango Shake; Tickle Me Pink; Wow Woo Battenberg and Key Lime Pie Bananagroni.

The premium bar and restaurant likes to do things a little differently, making incredible transformations through its delivery of unique experiences for guests. Every detail has been considered to create shareable moments and push the boundaries of unconventionality.

According to The Alchemist: “Continuing our crusade to bestow the most creative cocktails and darkly delicious dining on every corner of the country, we’ve brought The Alchemist to Nottingham. After all, as the historic home of notorious outlaws and the world’s most despicable sheriff, it’s only natural that we’d fit right in.

“Even more fittingly, we’ve set up shop in the gothic grandeur of one of King Street’s most magnificent listed buildings and darkened its doors with our customary theatrical flair.”

Established in 2010, The Alchemist provides a memorable casual dining experience from breakfast through to dinner, complemented by an expertly crafted drinks menu. Its passionate in-house mixologists create every cocktail with an obsessive eye for detail, all orchestrated to serve a devilish dash of theatre.

The premium operator currently has 12 venues across the UK including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Chester and Oxford.

The Alchemist is backed by Palatine Private Equity, who supported a buy out from Living Ventures in 2015.

Alchemist

C & C Baseline

C & C Baseline is one of the UK’s leading fabrication companies, specialising in the manufacture and installation of architectural metalwork. The company delivers high quality, creative solutions nationwide, for projects that require brass, copper, zinc, mild steel and stainless steel metalwork.

C & C Baseline has been in operation since 1996 and within this time has delivered architectural metalwork for a range of national restaurant chains, including Nando’s, Wagamama, Gusto, San Carlo and Revolution to name but a few. Most recently, C & C Baseline has been involved with The Alchemist Nottingham.

Working on The Alchemist Nottingham, C & C Baseline was responsible for the brass counter tops, the bar front, the booth seating, handrails, ceiling rafts, the feature back bar gantry and more. The project continued C & C Baseline’s long-running association with The Alchemist brand.

C & C Baseline Director, Mike Cooper, said: “We are proud to have been involved in every venue for The Alchemist nationwide. It give us the opportunity to create some unique pieces of work and provide some of the of the world’s best hospitality environments.”

Mike added:

“At C & C Baseline we pride ourselves on our speedy service, our flexibility, our versatility, our quality and our value.”

 

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Roma Publications