M Social will postpone plans by group founder, restaurateur and founder Martin Williams to open a third London site, which had been planned for central Soho, and would have followed the group’s first and second openings in London’s Bank and Victoria respectively.
M Social will instead take core elements of the M brand ‒ such as the M Grill focus on steaks and the M Raw focus on raw food, plus enomatic wine and cocktails ‒ and seek to apply them to smaller venues, with an average of 100 covers, by 2017.
Districts around London under consideration include Notting Hill, Angel, Clapham, Richmond, and Twickenham.
The third M location is then expected to follow in Canary Wharf.
Commenting on the post-Brexit timing of the launch, Williams – who is former MD of steak group Gaucho ‒ said: “Prior to the referendum I was already of the view that weekend dining outside the centre of London was a market I was keen to capitalise on. I am now convinced that in the current environment, M Social is the perfect vehicle to grow the M brand.”
M Restaurants first launched in Threadneedle Street, and opened its second location, on Victoria Street, in December 2015. With executive chef Michael Reid overseeing the operation, the new venue reportedly opened six months early, and received 1,500 bookings in the first 24 hours.
The group, which split its venues into grill and raw sections, focuses on high-end steak dishes on the one hand, and sashimi and ‘clean’ foods on the other.