The art world has been on tenterhooks about the opening of Damien Hirst’s restaurant Pharmacy2, based at the artist’s Newport Street gallery in Vauxhall. Guests at the grand opening of the space last October were told in no uncertain terms that the flashy eaterie, which is a feast of retina-searing colours, would open soon (Hirst fans have been getting impatient at the delay). The restaurant, under the expert eye of the chef Mark Hix, is now scheduled to launch on 23 February. Diners can chow down and eye up works on show by Hirst, such as his famous Medicine Cabinets, and savour the DNA strands etched on the glass windows. “It will serve classic British and European food, acting as a café for visitors during the day and a destination restaurant by night with vivid, trippy interiors that will appeal to Instagrammers,” according to a report on thedrinksbusiness.com website. The original Pharmacy restaurant opened in Notting Hill in 1998.
