The new vegan restaurant from Great British Menu 2024 winner Kirk Haworth, Plates in Shoreditch, has already proved a smash hit – months ahead of its July launch. When advance bookings opened this week, its computer crashed under the weight of 70,000 applicants.

Kirk trained initially with his father, Nigel Haworth, former chef-patron of Northcote in Lancashire, then worked at leading kitchens from the French Laundry in California and Sat Bains in Nottingham to Phil Howard’s The Square and Pied a Terre in London.

Switching to a plant-based diet to aid his recovery from Lyme’s disease, he has developed the Plates project with his sister Keeley in recent years with pop-ups and a residency at Dalston’s Untitled Bar. The pair have also renovated a farmhouse near Bordeaux with a development kitchen and created an online cookery course.

The opening season tasting menus at Plates cost £75 and £90 per head and include several dishes featured on Kirk’s GBM triumph, such as Ability not disability – barbecued maitake mushroom, kimchi, black bean mole, Korean aioli & puffed golden rice; Feast of Farah – mung & urid bean lasagna, charcoal, miso & chive sauce; Ice green energy – herbaceous ice cream, fermented aloe vera, chewy beets & aronia berries; and A taste of unity – raw cacao gateaux, sour cherry, coconut blossom ice cream, African pepper, toasted macadamia & raw caramel sauce.