Headed by husband and wife duo Alex and Saiphin Moore, the currently 10 strong Thai chain was rumoured to be making its regional debut in Oxford’s Westgate shopping centre but is understood to have turned down the site.
Speaking to BigHospitality’s sister title Restaurant magazine, Moore also revealed that he expects the brand to build a small hub of restaurants in the North West before looking at other regional locations.
“My rule of thumb is to only take sites I can ride to on my bicycle but the time has come to take what we do to the regions," he says. "We've found a really good site that's Grade 1 listed and has a lot of character. There's a fair bit of planning work to do but we're expecting to start fitting out early next year."
Liverpool is a sensible location for Rosa's regional debut because it has a comparatively large Thai population and is also a popular destination for Thai tourists. "Many Thais support Liverpool FC. I actually had a call from a Thai tour operator asking us when we were opening in Liverpool the other day," says Saiphin.
Rosa's Thai began life in 2006 as a market stall on London’s Brick Lane. The Moore's recently appointed Grant Thornton to lead a sale of a significant stake in the business, which is thought to be valued in excess of £25m.
A full interview with the Moore's will be published in the October issue of Restaurant magazine, the leading title for the UK's restaurant industry. For more features, comments, interviews and in-depth analysis of the restaurant sector subscribe to Restaurant magazine here.