Hong Kong-based Maximal Concepts, whose portfolio also includes BBQ and seafood restaurant Limewood, and Thai bar restaurant format Sip Song, says it intends to open Mott 32 in the capital following its success in Hong Kong, where it made its debut in 2014, as well as in cities including Vancouver, Las Vegas and Singapore.
Co-founder Matt Reid says the group has been looking at opening in the capital for a number of years and that it had originally intended to open Mott 32 at London’s Mandarin Oriental in the site that was formerly home to Bar Boulud - and which was originally supposed to be the original location for Alan Yau’s Hakkasan - but that a lack of extraction at the site meant that it was not possible to install sufficient wok burners. It instead opened The Aubrey at the hotel at the start of the year, serving creative cocktails alongside a high-end Japanese menu.
“We’ve been wanting to do a restaurant in London for the last five years and we just couldn’t find the right site,” says Reid, adding that the group nearly signed on a site in Mayfair until it was found to be unsuitable.
“From a distance Mayfair looks like a great place to be, a lot of our comparative restaurants are there, but it doesn’t have to be. In Hong Kong we run an average check of £110-£120 and the problem is sometimes if we look at Mayfair it feels like it’s pushing us to £150- £170 to pay the rent and that’s taking us away from our brand values.
“There is a roof to how much people are prepared to pay for Chinese food; there isn’t a roof on Japanese food and there probably isn’t a roof on a steakhouse or fine French food, but there are certain cuisine where people just won’t do it. One of the challenges we face is to not just take a place and force ourselves into that price point.”
The group is considering other locations beyond Mayfair, with central London a target.
“I think Marylebone is interesting,” adds Reid. “I still like Soho. Our problem is we need 8,000sq ft, and there’s nothing that size in Soho. I’d like somewhere that was a little bit more central but doesn’t have to be crazy pricing. “
Authentic Chinese food
Mott 32 was founded by Reid along with Malcolm Wood and Xuan Mu and is named after 32 Mott Street in New York, where the city’s first Chinese convenience store opened in 1891. It is described by Maximal Concepts as the first authentically Chinese restaurant to scale globally.
The brand is operated by Maximal Concepts in Hong Kong but also under franchise in other countries, with venues in Dubai and Cebu opening soon. The London restaurant will be company owned rather than under a franchise model.
“When we franchised Mott 32 from Hong Kong to Vancouver it was the first ever luxury Chinese franchise from East to West in the history of franchising. The reality it is always been West to East. We like to think we are part of the changing of that tide. And there will be many more to come,” says Reid.
“Until you’ve eaten Mott 32 food [in London] you haven’t actually eaten Chinese food in London. UK-based Chinese food is some of the best Chinese food in the world as a elevated version of corner-cut Chinese food.
“Authentic sweet and sour uses a specific vinegar from a specific mountain in a specific region of China and it tastes quite like balsamic vinegar, and that vinegar is the essence of sweet and sour. At Mott 32 we go to that mountain and have a very specific producer - our sweet and sour is the original sweet and sour and nothing like that sort of fluorescent sauce you often get.
“Most [Western] people have not eaten real sweet and sour food. I’ve never take someone to Mott 32 who hasn’t turned to me and said ‘that’s hands down the best Chinese food I’ve ever eaten”.