The two-floor, 9,000sq.ft venue, located within the Prince’s House on 194-196 Piccadilly, will be able to seat 300 customers or more.
Featuring a bar and open kitchen, Barbecoa St James will offer the brand’s barbecue-style menu of fine cuts of meat cooked on a flame or grill.
Simon Blagden, CEO of the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group said: “Barbecoa has been incredibly successful in bringing the best British produce together with authentic fire-based cooking to produce an all-round fantastic dining experience. St James’s status as one of London’s top dining districts is well established, so we’re excited to have secured this opportunity with The Crown Estate. We’re looking forward to bringing the unique experiences and tastes of Barbecoa to even more of London’s food lovers.”
St James development
Oliver’s lease with The Crown Estate is part of a £500m development of St James as a dining destination. Launched in 2010, the programme has brought seven new restaurants to the district, including Angela Hartnett’s Café Murano and Philippe Le Roux’s Villandry, as well as San Carlo Group’s Cichetti and Chop Shop, the first international venture from US-based Altamarea Group.
Anthea Harries, St James’s portfolio manager at The Crown Estate added: “Barbecoa’s meticulous focus on delivering food of the highest quality perfectly reflects the kind of exceptional dining experiences for which St James’s is renowned. With the likes of Jamie Oliver, and Angela Hartnett now among our eclectic mix of restaurant tenants, this is further evidence that our investment is ensuring St James’s continues to evolve as London’s premier dining destination.”
Barbecoa concept
The original Barbecoa opened in 2010 at the One New Change development in St Paul’s as a traditional barbecue venue with locally-sourced meat.
Born of the collaboration between Oliver and New York chef Adam Perry-Lang, the venue underwent radical refurbishment following customer feedback just months after opening. The changes included the addition of a 25-cover private dining room.
Oliver explained the Barbecoa concept to BigHospitality ahead of the opening in October 2010:
Jamie's Italian in India
Jamie Oliver’s restaurant empire is still going from strength to strength: The Jamie’s Italian brand launched in 2008 now has 36 venues across the UK and is present in ten other countries. He most recently announced the opening of as many as ten restaurants in Canada – the first one opening in Toronto in 2015 – and his first venture in India, in partnership with Dolomite Restaurants.
The Delhi restaurant will reproduce the casual dining experience that has made the brand’s success, and could be the first of many in the subcontinent.
"I'm incredibly excited to be taking Jamie's Italian to India – it's such a vibrant, inspiring place, I just can't wait to get started. We've known our Indian partners for over two years now and I'm thrilled to be teaming up with them to bring the Jamie's Italian experience to the wonderful people of Delhi. It's going to be great - watch this space," said Oliver.