DINING OUT This month we’re saying ‘konichiwa’ to Lincoln’s Cognito, the city’s newest restaurant specialising in Japanese cuisine.

COGNITO, ERGO SUM

It’s one of Lincoln’s newest – and definitely its most innovative – dining out experience. Cognito opened its doors in the heart of Lincoln in August, offering beautifully presented authentic Japanese cuisine. This month, we enjoy a sneak preview of its brand new menus...

YOU’VE GOT TO HAND IT to the present Mrs Davis. When it comes to food, she’ll try anything, and enjoy everything. Her true open-mindedness when it comes to food is something that I’ve long admired, languishing behind my tried and trusted dishes. On the rare occasions, though, that she has managed to nudge me out of my comfort zone, I’ve always been thankful. In fact, my new year’s resolution for 2022 is to be more adventurous and openminded when dining out. And so, arriving at Lincoln’s Cognito, I was keen to try as many of the city’s new Japanese restaurant’s dishes as possible. Happily, my visit coincided with a menu testing session for the staff. The idea is all of the new dishes are sampled among the team, explained and if necessary tweaked, prior to going live on the menu. Cognito definitely deserves success not least because of its stylish appearance, great food and friendly front of house staff, but doubly so, because if the hard work of sisters Ellie & Zara Pickles doesn’t pay off, there really is something wrong with the world. The two took on Lincoln’s former vodka bar in April 2021 and took just four months to completely renovate it, completing much of the work themselves. Ellie & Zara grew up in the local hospitality industry as their parents ran Saxilby’s Pyewipe Inn. For their first venture, though, they perhaps ambitiously set their creative direction a little further afield.

Both enjoy Japanese cuisine and saw a gap in the market for an authentic dining experience in Lincoln, hoping that their first Cognito would remain a flagship restaurant for when they take the concept to other British cities.

Not content with launching their very first Japanese restaurant, they also decided to buy and renovate an old building themselves. To ensure all their cash could be invested in the building and its furnishings – not swallowed up in labour – the two completed much of the work themselves, even pulling all-nighters to get the place ready to open.

The result of the renovation alone is really impressive. Cognito is located on Park Street, just off Corporation Street, Hungate and of course the High Street. So it enjoys a great inner-city location.

Never one to do things by halves, Ellie and Zara opted to install a hugely complicated, but fantastic-looking, amethyst cocktail bar from which to serve a range of very smart cocktails. But the real story here is the dining.

There’s a slightly lighter brunch menu, plus a main menu served during lunchtime and evening service, comprising dishes predicated on the fashionable trend for ‘small dishes.’

Diners have a choice of 12 small dishes, and there are four Signature dishes which are a bit larger. Other options include Baos – yeastleavened buns – plus tempura and gyozas. Sushi naturally constitutes a large part of the overall menu, and on this point, I sought to clarify that the correct definition of sushi is rolled rice with a protein element in; not just fish, but also short rib or chicken, too. Variations of sushi on the menu at Cognito include Maki, Nigiri and Sashimi, but the point to take away here is that if your working definition of sushi is limited to just fish, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. “Our launch menu was predicated on not fully knowing how readily our diners would take to Japanese cuisine. We thought that tables of several diners might have at least one reserved diner. But this is our second menu, and we’ve scrapped our British items. All our customers have embraced Japanese cuisine and we’ve found that everyone has discovered dishes they really enjoy.” >>

MEET THE CHEF

RAIF MASON

The Head Chef of Cognito is Raif Mason. He leads a brigade of four chefs and the team is afforded complete creative freedom to design innovative dishes within Cognito’s ethos. The restaurant has 75 dining covers and a cocktail bar. n

>> “We’re enjoying lots of repeat business, and even diners who told us that they have little experience of Japanese cuisine have taken on board our recommendations and are discovering they love our food. It’s really rewarding, and we’re really proud of the menus that our chefs have created.” “We’ve priced our menus as competitively as we’re able to without compromising on

OPENING TIMES

Cocktail Bar & Restaurant: Open from noon to 9pm weekdays – later for drinks – open until 10pm weekends, later for drinks. Live music during weekends. the quality of our ingredients. Although some of our ingredients need specialist suppliers we’ve also been pleasantly surprised by how much we’ve been able to source locally; Odlings butchers, FreshDrop...”

“It’s been quite a journey opening up but we’re really delighted with the place we’ve created, the team that we have around us and with the excellent feedback that we’ve had from our diners. This summer we’ll be opening up our rooftop as a new bar and dining experience. Branded InCognito, it will have a retractable cover, and it will offer an upmarket atmosphere in which to enjoy a drink or dining all summer long!”

“It’ll be another way to experience and enjoy the creativity and talent of our team!” n

on the MENU

FROM COGNITO’S MAIN MENU

Small Plates Edamame falafel with sriracha mayonnaise (vegan ) £8.50. Mushroom gyoza (Vegetarian) £8. Okonomoyaki (Savoury Pancakes) with okonomyaki sauce £8.50. Crispy belly pork, pak choi, caramel soy sauce £8.50 Signatures Nori sea bream, with pak choi, dashi, nori oil, sapphire, tempura sea weed £19. Korean style BBQ half chicken, slaw £18. Cognito ramen, rich broth, egg, pak choi, noodles, ton katsu £17. Sushi Marinated tuna nigiri, with soy and sake £8.50. Vegetable uramaki, tempura, broccoli, spinach, avocado with tempura flakes £8.50. Desserts Ube sharing cheesecake, lemon balm chantilly, coconut meringues £12.50.

NB: Menu items subject to change.

n Cognito is based on Park Street, Lincoln LN1 1UF. Call 01522 575840 or see www.cognitouk.com, booking is strongly recommended.