Yotam Ottolenghi announces Kensington deli closure, eyes larger site

04-Jul-2013 - Last updated on 05-Jul-2013 at 09:22 GMT

Yotam Ottolenghi will close his Kensington deli next month with a view to opening a larger site next year

Yotam Ottolenghi has revealed he has decided not to renew the lease on his smallest site on Holland Street in Kensington and will be closing the deli with a view to opening a larger site next year.

Ottolenghi Kensington, which was originally launched in 2005, will close on Sunday 4 August - all the staff will be retained and given new positions at other outlets in the group in Notting Hill, Belgravia and Islington.

"We want to say a big thank you to all of our customers that have become friends over the years in Kensington, but this isn’t goodbye and our other sites in Ledbury Road and Motcomb Street aren’t far away, so come and visit us," Ottolenghi said.

"We are also very excited about the prospect of opening another Ottolenghi similar to our Islington site next year," he added.

Ottolenghi Islington is currently the group's largest deli - it features a 50-cover dining room. Ottolenghi's leadership team - Yotam himself, Sami Tamimi, Cornelia Staeubli and Noam Bar - are now searching for a venue of a similar size with a view to opening a replacement to Ottolenghi Kensington in 2014.

As well as delis in Notting Hill, Belgravia and Islington, Ottolenghi operates the Nopi restaurant in Soho.