Carluccio’s has launched a 3,000 square feet restaurant and deli within the London Marriott hotel in Maida Vale. It is a third opening with Marriott, following launches in Regents Park and at Heathrow. The latest 146-cover restaurant has its own entrance and a lounge bar, retail area and outdoor terrace as well as eating area. CEO Mark Jones said: “This is our third venture with Marriott and we have now proven that our all-day trading format is particularly suited to hotel operations where breakfast and impromptu dining are an integral part of the guest offer.”
The Inception group is to launch a new bar and restaurant concept called Mrs Fogg’s at Broadgate Circle in September. It has signed a 15-year lease on a two-floor, 6,200 square feet space in Broadgate Circle. Mrs Fogg’s is a spin-off from Inception’s Mr Fogg’s group of three bars in Covent Garden and Mayfair, and will feature a Victorian-style cocktail bar with light food. Inception founder Duncan Stirling said: “We are thrilled to be opening our first bar in the City. Broadgate Circle is a buzzing and diverse hub right next to Liverpool Street station, which we feel fits with the ethos behind the Mr Fogg’s Collection perfectly.” Mr Fogg’s is meanwhile opening another new site in Fitzrovia in the summer.
Arc Inspirations says it will open a new branch of its bar format The Box in central Leeds. It joins the original Box bar in the Headingley area of Leeds. The new venue will have 150 covers over 8,000 square feet.
The Ivy restaurant group opened its latest new spin-off brasserie in Guildford’s Tunsgate Quarter shopping centre in Guildford on Wednesday (4 April). The brand has also submitted plans to open on Oxford’s High Street, according to the Oxford Mail.
Midlands-based Thai restaurant group Sabai Sabai has opened its fourth location on Waterloo Street in Birmingham. The other three branches of Sabai Sabai are in Moseley, Harborne and Stratford-upon-Avon.
Whitbread has secured approval to redevelop a major site on Farringdon Road. It will include restaurant space over 400 square metres as well as a Premier Inn hotel.
Caribbean concept Turtle Bay has applied for permission to open a restaurant at the Grosvenor Shopping Centre in Chester, according to the Chester Chronicle.
Turkey-based bao bun concept BunCo is to open a first UK site on Monument Street in the City later in the year. It has taken a 1,000 square feet unit across ground floor and mezzanine levels in a deal brokered by Shelley Sandzer. Baran Dumanoglu, managing partner at BunCo, said: “BunCo was founded with the intention of bringing a unique interpretation to bao buns. People are bored of eating the same things so using quality and tasty ingredients, we have revolutionised the street food culture in Istanbul, and can’t wait to share this with our new customers in London.”
Nando’s has started work on a new opening at Ransomes Europark in Ipswich, local media report. It has taken on a unit previously occupied by Pizza Hut, which will become a second Nando’s in the town when it launches later in the year. Nando’s has also been given permission to open a unit on Waterloo Street close to the central station in Glasgow—a third site in the city.
Fortnum & Mason is to launch restaurant, bar and food retail operations at Royal Exchange in the City. It will succeed D&D London there. Fortnum & Mason chief executive Ewan Venters said: “Our arrival at Royal Exchange brings together two iconic London institutions with a shared history in trade and commerce, and a shared passion in architectural heritage.”
Cambridge vegan restaurant Stem & Glory is to open a site on Old Street in London after a successful crowdfunding campaign. It should launch in the summer after nearly doubling its original Crowdcube target.
Arepa & Co, a Venezuelan restaurant in Haggerston, has opened a second site on Paradise Row in Bethnal Green.
A new US steakhouse and Jack Daniel’s-themed restaurant and bar called Texas Rocks opened in Yeovil this week.
Macaron ice cream sandwich concept Yolkin will open a permanent site on Rupert Street in London’s Chinatown next Saturday (14 April). It has previously operated as a pop-up and street food stall in central London. Yolkin joins several other Asian dessert operators signed by Shaftesbury in Chinatown recently.
