The restaurant group behind esteemed establishments such as the Wolseley, The Delaunay and Brasserie Zédel, is taking on the former House of Fraser department store on King William Street and will also open a restaurant in the old Royal Bank of Scotland building between Pembridge Road and Pembridge Gardens in Notting Hill.
Writing in his regular Corbin and King newsletter, co-founder Jeremy King said it was as yet unclear which restaurant would eventually open first but that the Notting Hill restaurant had been delayed.
The City restaurant, neat Monument tube station, will be housed in a building known as the ‘Gateway to the City’ and will be restored to its former glory, wrote King. “A beautiful great room but sadly, unlike the Wolseley, all the original internal architectural features have gone – so we are going to effectively reinstate!”
The group is about to open ‘pescatarian’ restaurant Manzi’s in Soho this spring, a project which King describes as having been a lot of fun. Split over two floors, the restaurant is a similar size to Brasserie Zédel and will channel a 1940s feel.
It will have a more whimsical decor to some of the Corbin and King’s other restaurants and will feature mosaic floor patterns of fish and seafood as well as some mermaids.
Named in honour of the now closed iconic seafood restaurant that used to sit just off Leicester Square, King says that the new Manzi’s will not aim to replicate it but that it will share its spirit. While there is no intention to feature Manzi’s iconic gingham tablecloths, for example, the pattern will be referenced in the serving of certain dishes.
Manzi's is due to open at the end of May.