New openings: Two more for Drake & Morgan, Wahaca hits Charlotte Street

Drake & Morgan’s openings will both be part of AXA Real Estate developments in the City. They will be called The Happenstance, located at No 1 St Paul’s Churchyard; and The Haberdashery, at Sixty London in Holborn (pictured). The St Paul’s site will have 238 covers and features including an open kitchen, deli and florist, while the Sixty London spot will take in 478 covers and be spread over three floors. Founder and managing director Jillian MacLean said: “We are delighted to be opening these new sites next year, and it’s fantastic that we can continue to provide the City with something that’s a little bit different, fresh and innovative.”

Acclaimed Mexican chain Wahaca has revealed more details of its opening on London’s Charlotte Street, expected on 1 September. The site, Wahaca’s eighth, will feature its first Mezcal cocktail bar and a small deli and ‘Wahacito’ takeaway offer, selling breakfast items as well as make-it-yourself ingredients. The 130-cover restaurant proper will be spread over two floors.

Another new Mexican concept, contemporary grill and cocktail bar Death by Burrito, will open at Catch on Kingsland Road in Shoreditch in early September. It will have 30 covers and open from Wednesday to Saturday evenings only.
For a profile of Wahaca and founder Thomasina Miers and an in-depth look at the Latin American food scene in general, see the next issue of Peach Report.

Charles Wells and the Yummy Pub Company are to team up on another pub venture after buying The Gorringe Park in Tooting from Young’s. The pair already work together on the Somerstown Coffee House in Euston, and Wells said it had bought the Gorringe Park with another co-venture in mind. The pub will close for a £500,000 refurbishment after expected completion on the deal in late August.

TGI Friday’s has officially opened its new flagship site in Manchester. The venue at the Royal Exchange had 430 covers and bars including a specialist cocktail venue. The opening is part of big expansion plans for TGI, previously reported by Peach Report.

Toby Carvery has launched a new branch of its Sandwich Express at St David’s Centre in Cardiff. As Peach Report revealed earlier in the year, Toby first made the move into the lunchtime hot sandwich market at the West Quay centre in Southampton.

Artisan coffee brand Mozzino is to succeed the Refectory on Broadwick Street off Carnaby Street. It will launch a 1950s-era Italian concept after picking up a ten-year lease on the Shaftesbury estate in a deal brokered by Davis Coffer Lyons.

In another deal brokered by Davis Coffer Lyons, Il Tempo, a new Italian deli and apertivo bar concept, is to launch on Chandos Place in Covent Garden. The deal was done on behalf of Shaftesbury’s Covent Garden estate.

InnBrighton has picked up its fourth London site—the Bellevue, formerly the Greyhound, on Battersea High Street. It will reopen after a refurb in October. The deal comes hot on the heels of InnBrighton’s third lease acquisition—the Clarendon in Newington Green.

J D Wetherspoon has opened its new surf-themed pub-bar in Newquay. The Cribbar will be run under its Lloyds No 1 format and becomes its second Newquay venue.

Pub turnaround specialist Amber Taverns has picked up two more sites, both in Lancashire: the Queens in Leyland and the Station in Nelson.