From Soho House’s expansion to the launch of St Martin’s House, here is the latest hospitality news from the CODE Bulletin

Catch up on the latest industry news stories of the week from the CODE Bulletin

Soho House Balham

Soho House will open south of the river for the first time this summer. The private members’ club has owned the building on Bedford Hill since 2003 – for many years it was leased to Hawksmoor as a Foxlow, the steak house’s now closed casual suburban brand – but will open under its own name as part of a sizable global expansion. It is a telling move by Soho House but most likely a sensible one. CEO and co-founder Nick Jones said many of the club’s original members of years bygone have now grown older and moved to quieter parts of London. The city’s south west is home to many, we suspect, and while nights out in Soho and Shoreditch continue, local outposts will suit those in their 30s and 40s. As far as the international growth goes, Jones said its membership waiting list has exceeded 70,000 for the first time, and so new ventures in Brighton, Nashville, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Mexico City make sense. Manchester’s first Soho House is expected in the next year or two. The parent company the Membership Collective Group (MCG) held an IPO in New York last year and said its target would be to open five to seven new Soho Houses around the world each year – this figure has now been upped to eight to ten, a confident sign of pandemic recovery. Jones said recently that the last two years have been “challenging… especially with the emergence of the Omicron COVID variant in December which impacted the business during one of our busiest periods”, but added 2022 has “started more promisingly, with February revenues in our Soho Houses and restaurants ahead of 2019 levels and our waitlist exceeding 70,000 for the first time.”

St Martin’s House 

St Martin’s House, a new restaurant in Covent Garden from Aspirational Brands, will launch on March 23 in the former Tredwell’s site vacated by Chantelle Nicholson (who will open the promising new Mayfair restaurant Apricity soon). The group, which is also behind the London restaurants The Japanese Canteen and Lemongrass, said it will open with a menu “packed with reimagined British favourites”, and the space will be closest in form to its Cheshire outpost Tatton House. Julia Wilkinson, restaurant director at Shaftesbury, said: “St Martin’s House will be a unique addition to the village’s culinary community, contributing to Seven Dials’ all-day, all-season restaurant offering”. CEO Adam Howitt said St Martin’s House takes its name from the local area, originally named after St Martin-in-the-Fields, a church built by Henry VII in the 16th century. “We are especially proud of our ability to give every venue its own identity,” he said. “We do not believe in churning out chain restaurants – we wish for all of our restaurants to have a unique feel and ambiance.” San Francisco-born Val Armstrong will be head chef. 

Revolve

Next month will see the launch of Revolve, a new brasserie in the City inspired by those in Paris and New York. Revolve’s all-day menu will “focus on simple, accomplished brasserie classics with British provenance at its heart”, but will also host a monthly guest chef programme featuring some of the “world’s top culinary superstars” as well as new talent. Already on the bill are the likes of John Javier, Anna Hansen, Josh Eggleton, and Gareth Ward. The restaurant will open through both the hospitality group Adamo and the property company British Land. Adamo chair Andrew Fishwick said: “The concept of partnering with talent of this calibre gives us a truly unique opportunity to create a dynamic, vibrant offering to Broadgate. This feels more necessary now than at any other time”. 

From Russia

Jamie Oliver is reportedly “scrambling” to close his Jamie’s Italian restaurant in Russia after Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine. The celebrity chef has operated in Moscow for nearly ten years through a franchisee partner Ginza Project, but is scrapping the agreement, according to The Telegraph, and Ginza has been told to remove Jamie’s Italian branding from its website and cease any supportive social media. A spokesman for Jamie Oliver said: “We are exiting our franchise agreement and our operations in Russia will cease trading.” The move follows chains such as McDonald’s, Starbucks, and KFC, all of which confirmed this month that they would be pulling out of Russia due to the Kremlin’s actions. 

Rest of UK and International

Crazy Pedro’s

The Manchester pizza restaurant Crazy Pedro’s will open its first Midlands site this summer. The Liars Group pizzeria, known for its fun toppings – and for being brilliant – will launch at a site at The Custard Factory in Digbeth, Birmingham, bringing a late-night party bar in tandem thanks to a 3am licence. Crazy Pedro’s specialises in all things tequila and mezcal and claims to hold one of the largest agave collections in the UK. Its pizzas have a cult following, with the likes of “nacho libre” – chilli sauce, American cheese, guacamole and tortilla chips – and “the Godfather”, which comes with spicy meatballs, tomato ragu, and rocket. Co-founder Jobe Ferguson said: “We’ve been eyeing up sites in Birmingham for a while now. When we came across the space at The Custard Factory we knew we had found ‘the one’. We can’t wait to introduce Digbeth and the rest of Birmingham to Crazy Pedro’s and our late night pizza party concept.”

100 most influential women

Nominations are now open for CODE’s 100 most influential women in hospitality list. Every year we champion the female stars of our industry who are pushing at the boundaries of change. As ever we welcome your nominations of colleagues and friends from all corners of hospitality across the UK who are most influential to you and deserve to be celebrated. Click here to nominate.

People

Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich

Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer of the Middle Eastern restaurant Honey & Co will open a new site in Bloomsbury after being forced to close their original in Warren Street. Ten years on, Srulovich and Packer secured the former Cigala premises in the ever-fanciful Lamb’s Conduit Street and will open in spring. Srulovich said: “We will be stretching our wings and moving more than a street away – very unusual for us! But we’re really excited to join the Bloomsbury community. The street feels just right for us. Honestly, being surrounded by all our favourite places to eat and shop is a dream come true. Not great for our bank balance, but good for our souls.” Packer added: “We’re bringing everything we can with us: our staff, our famous tiles, our signature dishes; plus everything we’ve learned over the last 10 years. We’re adding more space, wine by Keeling Andrew & Co, the wine company from the guys behind Noble Rot, our new neighbours, better extraction – which our team are very excited about – and we might even put tablecloths on this time.”

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