Loungers opened its latest new Cosy Club bar and restaurant in Guildford last weekend and say it is on track to reach 140 sites by the end of 2018. The group has already opened 12 venues this year, including its 100th Lounge in Moseley in March, and now has 22 Cosy Clubs. New Lounges will open over the summer in Witham, Barnstaple, Biggleswade, Chesterfield, Newton Abbot, Didcot, Manchester Business School, Hitchin and Stocksbridge, while another Cosy Club will launch in Norwich in the autumn. It is targeting around 25 new sites a year. Chief executive Nick Collins said: “We remain comfortable with the current rate of roll-out and continue to work hard to ensure we are delivering better experiences for our teams, customers and the communities in which we serve.”
Cocktail bar group Be At One has secured a site in the Brindleyplace development in Birmingham—its second venue in the city. It has taken on a unit previously operated as a Mission Burrito restaurant and will open it in mid-August. Be At One also has a site in Piccadilly Arcade in Birmingham. It is aiming to reach a total of 70 bars in the next five years.
London Cocktail Club is to open its first bar outside London—at Triangle West in Bristol. It will cover 2,000 square feet across three floors and will have a late license until 4 am. The site was secured by Shelley Sandzer. London Cocktail Club currently has nine bars across the capital. Managing director Michelle Hall said: “We’ve long dreamed of bringing LCC to Bristol, a city that shares a kindred love of great cocktails and great parties.”
The Restaurant Group is to open a branch of Firejacks on Pepper Street in Chester on Wednesday (4 July). It follows the closure of TRG’s Coast to Coast restaurant and bar in the space. TRG already has two Firejacks in Northampton and Stevenage and is seeking to grow the brand, including through conversions of Coast to Coast sites.
Street Feast opens a new street food collective on Clarendon Yards in Wood Green this weekend. It will be called Hawker Union, and will be home to operators including White Men Can’t Jerk, Fundi and Growlers, plus five bars.
Chicago-based craft brewer Goose Island is to launch a UK brewpub on Shoreditch High Street in September. It will have a pizza menu and music as well as beer. The launch follows the closure of a Goose Island pub in Balham earlier in the year.
Brasserie Blanc is opening a restaurant at the Marriott Hotel at Manchester Airport. The site will have a 120-cover restaurant, 100-cover bar and 50-cover terrace, and is due to open in mid-July. It continues Brasserie Blanc’s new strategy of opening within hotels.
Puttshack, the new mini-golf, bar and restaurant concept from Social Entertainment Ventures, has opened its first site at Westfield London. Openings are also planned for the City and Intu Lakeside.
Hamptons-inspired all-day restaurant and bar concept Victors is opening a new venue in Alderley Edge, having taken on a 2,500 square feet unit previously occupied by the Alchemist. Victors is run by East Coast Concepts and already operates in Hale and Oxford. Chief executive James Hitchen said: “A site in Alderley Edge was a natural step for us as we look to expand the Victors brand across the UK.”
Leon will open its first US location in Washington DC later in the summer. IT has taken a site on Washington Square and plans to open towards the end of August. The opening is being coordinated by Glenn Edwards, operations director of Leon in the UK for the last seven years and now managing director of Leon US. Co-founder and CEO John Vincent said: “Choosing the first American city is like trying to choose from your favourite box of chocolates. After DC we are looking forward to opening in other cities that have a similar culture of dynamism, positivity and possibility.”
Seafood restaurant group Rockfish is to open a sixth site in Exeter in November, local media report. It will be the brand’s first new-build site. Rockfish already operates in Brixham, Dartmouth, Exmouth, Plymouth and Torquay and intends to reach 16 locations in due course.
Coffeeshop brand Grind is to open a site at London Bridge in association with SSP. It is the start of plans to move Grind into travel hubs under a deal with SSP, who are also launching a Starbucks at London Bridge.
Filipino ice cream parlour brand Mamasons Dirty Ice Cream is to open at Newport Court in Chinatown in August. It will be a second location for the brand, which launched on Kentish Town Road. The signing follows the opening of a first permanent site in the UK for Taiwanese fruit tea brand YiFang on Shaftesbury Avenue, as Shaftesbury seeks to diversify the food and drink offer in Chinatown.
Five Guys says it will open in the Rushden Lakes leisure and retail development in Northamptonshire in December.
SushiMania, a sushi brand with restaurants in London, Nottingham, Brighton, Reading, Oxford and Cambridge, this week opened another new site on Christ’s Lane in Cambridge. It has replaced a branch of Giraffe there.
Fruit and veg retailer and on the go operator Natoora is to open a store on Fulham Road in August. The brand, which already operates on Sloane Square and Chiswick, as well as through Spa Terminus and Old Spitalfields markets and Selfridges, sells only seasonal produce sourced directly from growers.
Fuller’s has reopened the White Hart in Southwark after a major refurbishment. It has been extended into a next-door café to create more kitchen and dining space.
TGI Friday’s, EAT and Jamie’s Deli and Pizzeria are all opening at Bahrain Airport under a partnership with SSP. Burger King, KFC, Ritazza and Camden Food Co are also among a total of 17 brands being launched there.
