Dipna Anand to launch Dipna Anand Kitchen & Bar at Unity Place, Milton Keynes

This Friday 22nd March, acclaimed chef Dipna Anand will launch her new restaurant, Dipna Anand Kitchen & Bar, situated inside the new multi-functional venue Unity Place, in Milton Keynes. Dipna’s involvement will see a new, 150-cover restaurant open under her stewardship, with its very own microbrewery from Toast Brewing.

Dipna will be offering her authentic Punjabi and South Indian cuisine alongside a selection of traditional favourites using locally sourced seasonal ingredients for a flavour-rich, planet-friendly experience. Bright, modern and glass-fronted, the restaurant is a step in a new direction for Dipna, with the menu comprising of revisited classics on small plates; her well-loved and familiar curries alongside some new and unexpected menu items; and a grill that will serve tandoori lamb chops, salmon, chicken and paneer tikka, as well as lamb seekh kebab.

The restaurant will also serve traditional thalis and biryanis, with plant-based dishes and the best cuts of British meats ensuring an inclusive dining experience for all. Sides include her famous masala fries, tadka coconut greens, kachumber salad and a zingy mango and feta salad, and for pudding: traditional favourites of rasmalai; gajar halwa and gulab jamun – fried milk dough served hot and crispy in a cardamom sugar syrup.

In addition to the evening menu, there will also be a weekend brunch menu available on both Saturday & Sunday from 11am – 4pm. Highlights include the Desi English breakfast served with Anda bhurji, bacon, sausages, mini naan, tadka beans, hash brown; Tandoori chicken tikka burger; and crushed anda bhurji paratha – Indian masala scrambled egg inside a Punjabi tandoori paratha bread.

A concise list of Dipna’s favourite cocktails will also be on offer, such as The Sassy Lassi – a take on the much-loved lassi, with creamy tropical fruit cocktail with vanilla and caramel notes, enhanced by spiced rum; and the Mohabbat Martini – a gin cocktail infused with cardamom and elderflower. These will sit amongst classic cocktails such as the Negroni, Cosmopolitan and Mimosa and a range of non-alcoholic cocktails, such as Peach Spice Tea and Dola Re Dola – a robust, spiced cocktail made with non-alcoholic rum.

The restaurant has been designed to seamlessly host guests both day and night. Warm, oak parquet flooring is complemented by bountiful greenery suspended from the high, industrial ceilings. Green, geometric marble tiling around the bar is juxtaposed by clean, neutral leather-backed banquettes and moss-green seating on the mezzanine, and the entire front of the restaurant is glass, bathing the tables in natural light.

Dipna Anand says, ‘I am so looking forward to opening my new restaurant in Unity Place. It has a completely different feel to my previous sites, but we’ll be serving some of my oldest family recipes. We’ve developed some new dishes alongside our beloved classics, and have a mega grill that we’ll be firing up to char all our tikkas and chops on which is very exciting.

Unity Place has been amazing in supporting our discovery of new, local suppliers and producers, which allows us to be as planet-conscious as possible – and indeed continue our journey of sustainability. We can’t wait to charge into action!’

Rhodri Adrian, Account Director (Unity Place), Restaurant Associates added, ‘Dipna is the perfect partner for us, and we are so glad to be opening her newest venture in Unity Place. She stands for a lot of our values, allowing us to forge a special and highly valued relationship with her. We are proud to be working with her on the new space and look forward to supporting Dipna and her brilliant team in this new endeavour.’