Piquet will open in Fitzrovia close to the area being developed by Cross Rail that is expected to bring an additional 2,000 people in to the area each day.
Blais and Pickett will be joint shareholders in the business with Pickett overseeing the day to day running of the restaurant as chef patron, while Blais will work in an advisory role, Pickett told M&C Report that Blais will be able to “steer me with the finer details of business”.
Pickett said Piquet will serve French food in a relaxed atmosphere that is naturally made and avoiding chemicals used in some gastronomic dishes. “People will always want to go out and want a steak and chips. It’s about cooking food people want.”
“I’ve always dreamt of doing French food and if you look at the countries France borders there are lots of different influences so it will be nice to pick and choose the influences we use.”
The duo currently have no plans to collaborate on more restaurants to keep the focus on Piquet.
“I met Andre a year ago and as soon as we met I thought I would love to do something with him and have been looking at a few different sites since then.
“We have very similar beliefs in food, wine and service, which is great because we are singing from the same hymn book,” Pickett said.
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