Hugely popular Kelham Island veggie and vegan specialists V|OR|V have this week opened a second site in the Orchard Square food hall, Sheffield Plate.
V|OR|V Presents the Grill House will focus on veggie and vegan kebabs, small plates, and sides, opting to use humble, locally sourced vegetables to recreate those much-loved Middle-Eastern flavours, rather than ‘fake meats’.
As part of the launch, they are giving away 50 kebabs on 23 February, from 2 – 5pm, with a small suggested donation to the Turkey and Syria earthquake relief.
Co-owner Matt Burgess told Exposed: “It pained us greatly to see the recent news about the disaster in Turkey and Syria. It’s no secret that we owe a lot of what we are launching at GRILL HOUSE to the rich food of the region that gave birth to the kebab and so much more.
“We want to share our kebabs to all who can make it, with 50 kebabs up for grabs for a small donation to the Diasters Emergency Commitee to directly help those in desperate need.”
Owners are confident the new site will retain the high-quality diners have come to expect from their Cornish Street restaurant, but in a fast-casual dining setting that, for the first time, also allows them to provide a dedicated takeaway service through Deliveroo and Uber Eats.
Ahead of opening, Matt said: “When we were approached by Sheffield Plate, we jumped at the chance to get involved – it was kind of a no-brainer. It’s something that we’ve wanted to do for a while and we’re looking forward to adding to the vegan and vegetarian options at Sheffield Plate.
“The Grill House is going to be a Middle-Eastern inspired, vegan kebab house offering two kebabs and six small plates, similar to what you would find at the restaurant, as well as a couple of sides. The aim with the menu is to create faster food, still using fresh vegetable and no fake meats.
“It’ll be the same high quality as this place, just a more accessible version, and it’s food anyone can eat and enjoy.”
Alongside the main event kebabs, the menu will also offer a selection of seasonal meat-free meze dishes and sides at reasonable prices.
Much loved dishes from V|OR|V, such as grilled Yorkshire Halloumi with Sheffield Honey, and Korean Fried Kohlrabi, make a return alongside plenty of new favourites and specials. The softest bread will be made fresh by Lovely Rita’s bakehouse just one mile down the road and the mushrooms for their Mushroom Adana kebab are grown to order by Seven in Neepsend.
Bringing the exciting menu together is executive chef Danny Lynn, whose enduring obsession with kebabs has inspired the exploration of Turkish tastes and the rest of the Levant region. Danny can often be found waxing lyrical about ritual visits to Kebab Kid in Parson’s Green or his top five Lamachun spots on Kingsland Road, London.
“With the Grill House, we aim to deliver these exciting flavours by using the best locally sourced sustainable ingredients we can get our hands on.” Explains Danny, “We’re essentially doing a kebab shop but, without diminishing what other people do, I think the thing that’s unique about us is we’re not using any fake meats. It’ll be the best kebab you’ve never had!”
Owner Matt is keen to point out that part of the thinking behind opening a second site is to help keep the original restaurant sustainable. Given that many places are sadly closing due to the rising costs of utilities and the ongoing cost of living crisis, V|OR|V owners have decided to tackle this issue by opening a new kichen that will allow them day time city-centre trade, a faster paced service, and takeaway options – all things that aren’t viable at the Kelham Island restaurant.
Matt said: “It’s virtually impossible to keep this place going as it stands, and we’re doing an incredibly good job sustaining it, but one of the reasons we want to open this new site is to is to reach a broader field of customers, and add another string to our bow to bring more customers into both sides.
“We’re incredibly excited about it and it’s something we wouldn’t be able to achieve without our incredible team. We’re taking this opportunity and running with it. Fingers crossed it’s going to fly out!”
V|OR|V Presents the Grill House becomes the latest addition to a revamped Sheffield Plate, that also recently welcomed another popular Sheffield independent, Whaletown Coffee, to its city-centre food hall ranks.
Sheffield Plate manager Richard Ledger said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be introducing V|or|V into our family of brands down at Sheffield Plate, we can’t wait to start working with them.
“Their reputation in the Sheffield veggie and vegan scene is stellar and it was a no brainer for us when the opportunity became available to work together. We can’t wait!”
V|OR|V Presents the Grill House is open for dining in at Sheffield Plate now. For more info, head over to their socials here.
