Sushinho owners reveal details of second restaurant

A 115-cover restaurant will open in a 3,000 sq.ft. unit in the Devonshire Square development near East London's Liverpool Street station in October, almost four years after the concept was first launched in the capital.

Similar ​clientèle​

"We hope to be opening the second site almost to the day on the fourth anniversary," Paul McKenna, co-owner of the business, told BigHospitality.

Sushinho opened in a 110-cover site on Chelsea's Kings Road in 2008 with a menu inspired by the high numbers of Japanese people living in Brazil and the fusion of the two cuisines.

"There will be a relatively similar clientèle. We were always planning on doing two locations and we established after operating for more than three years that most of our customers did live or work in the city. We thought the area had a massive international customer base which suited our cuisine and we had an established name already with people who work in that area."

"We will be re-introducing a brand to people who already know it as a local restaurant," he added.

Trust​

McKenna, who owns the business with two other restaurateurs, explained the second project will be part-financed through banks as opposed to the first restaurant which was entirely self-funded. The team begin work on the listed building in the next few weeks after finally being granted all the relevant licenses and permits - they acquired the site late last year.

When Sushinho opens in mid-October it will offer the same menu and drinks list but is expected to evolve as certain dishes and drinks sell more than others.

"When we first opened it was a concept that had never been done before," McKenna said, explaining it had taken the team two years to truly feel proud of the operation.

"In America there is an awareness of the Japanese culture within Brazil and when you explain it to people they become more educated and aware. We had to slowly evolve our menu from slightly dangerous territory and we had to learn from day one. People are becoming a lot more willing to trust the restaurant if the staff are informed."

Future plans​

Brazilian executive chef Joni Viscardi will be leading the menu development while Gemma Tulley will be heading up the kitchen across both sites. 

At a later date the team expect to open a 75-cover basement bar on site in Devonshire Square but that is not the extent of their ambitions as McKenna revealed the team would stop at two Sushinho restaurants but had other concept ideas in development.

Site searching for whichever project they decide to work on is expected to begin a year after the new restaurant opens.