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This June, Chefs Andrew Clarke and Daniel Watkins of the live-fire restaurant Acme Fire Cult will launch a new izakaya menu at its sister and neighbouring venue, 40FT Brewery. Available exclusively at 40FT’s Taproom, the menu will put a low-waste take on traditional Japanese ‘drinking food’, serving reimagined otsumami dishes designed to be enjoyed alongside the Dalston brewery’s pints of fresh, contemporary beers, which are produced on site.

Available on Friday and Saturday evenings, the menu is inspired by the traditional izakaya bars of Japan, and offers a selection of snacks from Acme Fire Cult’s outdoor grill and fermentary, which can be paired alongside larger dishes for a more substantial meal. Regularly changing skewers cooked on the outdoor charcoal grill include the likes of Chicken thigh, chicken skin furikake, yuzu kosho mayonnaise, citrus skin powder; Lamb, wild garlic miso, fermented pepper aioli and Bavette, Sesame, Black Garlic Aioli, as well as Shiitake mushroom, Padron pepper and Asparagus skewers.

With a focus on sustainability and waste reduction, the menu features surplus and trim ingredients from Acme Fire Cult’s kitchen, which have been reimagined in the restaurant’s fermentary to create snacks such as Acme’s zero waste kimchi, made from left-over leek tops, cauliflower leaves and hispi cabbage and a seasonally changing plate of Dan’s pickles.

A dish of Grilled aubergine with grated daikon is glazed with aubergine soy, which is made from the salted skins of last season’s aubergines, acting as a locally-sourced alternative to an imported Japanese staple. In keeping with the circular ethos of the collaboration between the restaurant and the brewery, a dish of Buttered udon noodles with seaweed is flavoured with the restaurant’s much-loved Acme ‘Marmite’, made from 40FT Brewery’s leftover beer yeast.

Diners at 40FT’s Taproom can also expect dishes such as:

Soy pickled eggs

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Tamworth pork chop with fermented chilli butter and Shishito peppers

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Kumquat Sunomono salad 

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 Yamitsuki salty cabbage

To accompany the food, guests can embrace the full izakaya spirit with 40FT’s range of beers, including favourites like Dalston Sunrise; a fruit-forward Hazy Pale Ale built on malted barley, oats and wheat, and Deep; a Dry Irish Stout boasting seven malt varieties, bringing flavours of coffee, chocolate and liquorice. The drinks list also features sharing bottles of beer and regular special releases, which are available alongside a menu of natural wines, guest cider and ready-to-drink cocktails.

The izakaya menu will be available at 40FT Taproom from Friday 2nd June. For further information or imagery please contact Ailis at Tonic Communications on ailis@toniccomms.co.uk