Triple launch for Ford in May

May is set to be a busy time for restaurateur and consultant Dominic Ford who opens no less than three new London properties this month.

A second branch of Japanese restaurant Bincho Yakitori in Old Compton Street, Soho will open on 15 May followed by a second Butcher and Grill on Wimbledon Village High Street on 22 May. Finally, Food Inc. food market will be launched on the ground floor of in Whiteleys shopping centre in Bayswater on 28 May.

“It`s fair to say that I’m quite stretched at the moment,” said Ford. “Although I’m the common link, they are actually three separate companies. No one would plan to open three ventures in quick succession, but it’s in the interests of each of the individual businesses.”

Occupying the former site of Jo Schmo’s, the new Butcher and Grill will be jointly owned by Ford and partners Simon Tindall and Paul Grout and will follow the format of the original Battersea site (which opened in July 2006) with the butcher’s shop at the front and 80 cover grill serving produce from the shop at the rear. Former head chef of Franklin’s restaurant in Dulwich Phillip Greene will head up the kitchen.

Customers dining in the grill will have the option of selecting their cut of meat directly from the butcher counter which will stock beef and lamb from The Butcher and Grill’s own farm in East Sussex, along with pork, sausages, veal, offal, poultry and game from a variety of British and French farms.

The 115 seat Japanese-style Bincho Yakitori is co-owned by Ford with partners David Miney and Ronnie Truss and will feature five yakitori grill counters.

Developed by Ford and business partner Pat McDonald, Food Inc. food market will Food Inc. will occupy the shopping centre’s domed atrium and main ground floor thoroughfare and will offer grocery, wine, delicatessen, cheese, bakery and other speciality food produce and will include a Butcher and Grill meat counter. A range of around 100 Food Inc. own label products will include tea, jam, pasta, wine and marmalade and some items prepared in on-site kitchens.

“We believe that food makes people happy and we aim to make Food Inc. customers happy by bringing a fresh, innovative and enjoyable approach to food shopping, using restaurant know-how to enhance and reinvent the retail experience,” said Ford.

Ford’s future plans include opening a third Butcher and Grill in Leadenhall Market in July. He is also currently in early talks about franchising Bincho Yakitori in Dubai, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and across the Middle East.

Bincho Yakitori take two

Ford opens Japanese ‘yakitori` restaurant at the Oxo Tower