Blackburn: Kirk Haworth’s Plates fully booked for months

Kirk Haworth, who was recently named Champion of Champions on the Great British Menu, is set to open London-based restaurant Plates in July. Kirk’s sister, Keeley Haworth, is co-owner and managing director.

Plates will be serving plant-based food and aims to “show a wider audience how versatile food can be, both on and off the plate”.

Keeley and Kirk Haworth (Image: Plates website)

After allowing advanced bookings, Kirk said the booking website crashed due to the sheer number of excited diners hoping to book a table. 

It is now fully booked for the first three months. The next booking window will open on Friday (April 12).

Kirk said: “The whole website crashed. We only set the server up to have 25,000 people at a time. We had 69,000 people trying to book at the same time.

“The whole server crashed and we had to get it back up and running. We sold out that evening. 

“We didn’t expect it to go that crazy. We hoped it would sell out for the first month or so but didn’t expect anything like this.”

A dish set to be served at Plates (Image: Kirk Haworth)

Kirk, 36, made history on the Great British Menu by being the only plant-based chef, to both make it to the final and be named champion of champions.

The win was not without its hard work, with Kirk putting in more than 140 hours of practice in the 10 days before the competition. He also spent around three weeks developing his dishes.

Some dishes featured on the show are set to appear on the menu at Plates. 

He said: “We have quite a few dishes from the Great British Menu on there. It gives people what they want and keeps them happy.

“We have also been working on a new bread course for 18 months, it is super exciting and delicious. Served with whipped seaweed butter. 

“We are working on a tomato dish made with raspberries. We are also working on a fragrant carrot dish that is super delicious. It has layers of kimchi, aioli and an Asian spice mix.”

Kirk said he and Keeley, the son and daughter of TV chef Nigel Haworth who owns the Three Fishes in Mitton, had been talking about opening a restaurant since their early 20s.

Kirk Haworth winning Great British Menu (Image: BBC)

The former Ribblesdale High School pupil said: “Ever since I started cooking it has been my dream and goal to open a place like this. Myself and my sister have been talking about this in our 20s but never imagined we would be cooking this type of food, we thought we would be cooking meat and fish dishes.

“We are super blessed and grateful for the reaction Plates has already received. We are still level-headed and grounded because we know we have a lot of work to do and know the expectations are high.

“I want to thank everyone for booking.”

Kirk has not always been a plant-based chef and was originally trained to cook using all ingredients. His plant-based ethos began when he was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2016.

He discovered a diet without meat, gluten, refined sugar or dairy reduced the intensity of his symptoms.

Find out more about Plates by visiting the restaurant’s website at: plates-london.com