Cycene
NA Program Strength is an editorial assessment based on publicly available menu data. See methodology.
9 Chance Street, Shoreditch, London E2 7JB
Cycene - Old English for 'kitchen' - opened in 2022 as the restaurant of Blue Mountain School, the multi-storey concept building on Chance Street in Shoreditch that also houses a gallery, boutique and studios. It won a Michelin star in March 2023 under founding chef Theo Clench; Clench left in August 2024, but the restaurant has retained its star and continues to serve a seasonal, British-produce-led tasting menu with subtle Asian influences. Time Out awarded it five stars in a November 2025 review, calling it 'by far the most magical' restaurant in east London.
The format is deliberately intimate and immersive, with only around sixteen covers per sitting. Guests begin with a drink and the first course in the ground-floor bar, move up to the kitchen for a snack, then are seated in the dining room for the balance of roughly nine courses (about £195, with a shorter £95 Saturday lunch). In the dining room a sommelier offers wines by the glass or bottle from Cycene's cellar. Dinner runs Wednesday to Saturday evenings, with an additional relaxed Saturday lunch service celebrating seasonal ingredients.
What sets Cycene apart for non-drinkers is that its non-alcoholic pairing is composed by a chef rather than the sommelier. Caitlin Jones and the kitchen build a bespoke flight of house-made kombuchas and fermented drinks matched course by course, drawing on trimmings from current dishes as well as preserved and fermented ingredients from past seasons. Documented pours include a double-fermented pear and celeriac kombucha made from tasting-menu waste and served with the opening snacks, a pumpkin, miyagawa and greengage-kernel drink poured alongside linguini with sea urchin and bottarga, and an intensely savoury honey-fermented milk and kombu infusion served with the dark chocolate sabayon tart. For those who don't want to commit fully, a 'half-and-half' option alternates glasses of fine wine with the homemade kombuchas. Jones has said that because the drinks sometimes echo the wines' profiles, 'the sommelier and I inspire each other,' and the team frames the non-alcoholic pairing as 'an authentic and genuine addition to each dish' rather than a concession to non-drinkers.
Non-alcoholic menu: what to order
- Double-fermented pear and celeriac kombucha - made from pear and celeriac trimmings off the tasting menu, served with the opening snacks
- Pumpkin, miyagawa and greengage-kernel drink - paired with linguini, sea urchin and bottarga
- Honey-fermented milk and kombu infusion - served with the dark chocolate sabayon tart
Menus change — see the current full menu on Cycene's website.
“Because the drinks I create sometimes echo the wines' profiles, the sommelier and I inspire each other.”— Caitlin Jones, chef, CyceneClub Oenologique →
Non-alcoholic brands they serve
House-crafted NA cocktails
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