As first reported by Eater London, the team will launch restaurant and wine bar Café Deco at 43 Store Street in Bloomsbury in the next few months.
The project, which is keeping the name of the site's former occupant, looks to be an exciting partnership. Tobias has cooked at The River Café, with Jeremy Lee at Blueprint Café, and ran a six-month residency at London’s P Franco restaurant.
40 Maltby Street is housed within the warehouse of Gergovie Wines and was opened by Raef Hodgson and his business partner Harry Lester in 2011, selling wine from producers who “eschew the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in favour of letting the land and grape speak”.
The restaurant has since won plaudits for its imaginative and frequently changing menu, which is chalked up on a blackboard daily.
40 Maltby Street regularly appears on Restaurant magazine’s list of the top 100 restaurants in the UK and was ranked 72nd in 2019.
The team are currently recruiting for staff and are asking for applicants to email anna@cafe-deco.co.uk.