One of Cardiff's most popular restaurants is set to expand in the heart of the city centre. The regularly booked-out Pasture on the capital's High Street is expanding its venue to include a new small plates restaurant and speakeasy bar.
The steakhouse, which also has a Bristol branch, has become well-known for its fire-based cooking and is set to take over the neighbouring unit at 11 High Street. The 1,750 sq ft unit will serve small plates at the restaurant on street level, while the basement will be a lounge-style speakeasy bar, expanding on Pasture's drinks offerings.
The restaurant opened its doors in Cardiff in 2020, serving steaks that are dry-aged for a minimum of 35 days and have a range of cuts to choose from. The restaurant, which is regularly booked up, also offers a separate terrace menu for walk-ins, featuring a burger as well as small plates.
READ MORE: Find our review of Pasture here
Pasture's chef-owner Sam Elliott said: "[The small plates will be] a modern take on the dishes that we currently produce in Pasture, some of our smaller plates and different cuts of meats. We'll venture into different cuts of meat and fish.
"Whilst the restaurants will be connected, it will be a completely different food and drinks offering. We'll have a bar in the restaurant of the ground floor [of] the previous Fly By Night."
Sam added that the team has knocked through walls to open up the space downstairs and that the team hopes to have a secret door from Pasture's private dining rooms that lead into the speakeasy bar. He added that the bar would be a "very different feeling lounge-bar area with a completely different drinks offering" to the menu currently at Pasture.
In addition to the expansion, Sam says that he hopes to revamp the terrace area. "With the refurb the outside area is going to have a bit of a shake-up which is exciting. It's an exciting new opportunity for us in the city on the High Street," he said.
"It's exciting to be where we are. We've got an incredible location in Cardiff right opposite the Castle," Sam continued. "I think we've added something new and exciting to the food and drinks offering in Cardiff. We've only actually traded for about 12 months, having to close our doors for around six months during lockdown."
Sam said that, through the new venture, he hopes to grow Pasture by around 30 more staff, with the restaurant already employing around 80. The plans are currently going through the planning and licensing stages, but Sam says that, if all goes to plan, he hopes to open the expansion by the end of August or the start of September.
