Operations director Jake Attridge told BigHospitality the site, which offers all-day dining of cereals, smoothies and pastries for breakfast, toasties and salads for lunch and cheese and meat boards for the evening, had provided a good test-bed for the brand before it went permanent.
"By doing the trial in the London market we thought everything would be a bit more slick by the time we opened our first permanent site," he said.
A Jack and Alice is due to open in a former fashion store in a town in Buckinghamshire in October. A second site will follow in November in a yet to be announced location.
Attridge said that while sites would need to be licensed, because the concept did not require a commercial kitchen space the company was not competing with other operators on the usual properties.
"Jack and Alice is about fine wine, cheeses and meat, everything is served really fresh. As we don't need commercial kitchens we can practically go in anywhere. For us it's all about unique spaces. We looked at one in Amersham for example that used to be a bank."
Expansion
Attridge said he and owner and founder Mark Hall saw a gap in the market for the pantry dining brand and saw roll-out potential for it both in hospitality and retail.
The company has already created its own house wine blends - the Jack (white) and Alice (red) with supplier Milton Sandford Wines and could create more bespoke products, Attridge said.
Hall said the idea was to create a homely atmosphere that would inspire repeat visits.
“We want to create a casual dining brand that reminds customers of the welcome from an old friend and the generosity of their kitchen table," he said. "Local collaboration is at the heart of this brand and it is the stories behind this produce and the simplicity of good food, prepared well that will make Jack and Alice a repeat visit brand, a home from home.”
Jack and Alice pop-in pantry is open in Foley Street, Fitzrovia until 21 August 2015.