D&D London announces two new restaurant openings in Leeds' Victoria Gate

Restaurant group D&D London has announced that there will be two new openings in Leeds’ Victoria Gate development this Spring.

The first of the new venues will be a Japanese restaurant named Issho, which means ‘together’ in Japanese. Ben Orpwood has come on board as executive chef of Issho.

Ben initially joined Zuma in 2005, working on the launch of the brand’s Istanbul and Dubai outposts before spending five years in the best kitchens in Sydney. He returned to London in 2015 to work as executive chef of Sexy Fish before moving back to Zuma.

Ben has described Issho’s menu as “fresh, interesting and it’s set to include some show-stopping sharing dishes.”

Issho will be set across 7,800 sq ft, comprising a rooftop bar and restaurant space, as well as an outdoor terrace. Visitors will also have a front-row seat to watch the chefs in action, from counter seating in front of a semi-open kitchen.

The second restaurant will be a Manhattan-style rooftop bar and grill, named East 59th after the address of D&D’s New York outpost, Guastavino’s. It will have a US-inspired food menu overseen by executive chef Lee Murdoch.

East 59th will feature an all-day grill, bar and rooftop terrace and stretch over 5,400 sq ft.

The two openings will mark the company’s third and fourth sites in Leeds, and be part of the restaurant brand’s growth strategy in the North of England.

The group’s existing restaurants are Angelica and Crafthouse, which have been on the city’s dining scene since opening in 2013 at Trinity Leeds.

Des Gunewardena, chairman and CEO of D&D London, said: “We are very excited to be opening two new restaurants in what is a spectacular rooftop space above the new Victoria Gate shopping centre. This will be our second significant venture in Leeds.

“Crafthouse and Angelica, which we opened in 2013, have proved big successes for us and we enjoy very much being a part of the city’s growing restaurant scene”.