Following the announcement earlier this month that he's signed to open a restaurant in the new Park Modern building near London’s Kensington Palace Gardens next spring, King has told the FT that he is also in the 'advanced' stage of planning for two further restaurants, both located in his traditional West End stomping ground.
The exact locations of the two new restaurants are yet to be disclosed, but it's reported that King has viewed the Grade II-listed former NatWest bank site on Piccadilly that's just across the road from his former flagship, The Wolseley.
King previously launched nine restaurants, including The Wolseley, with his business partner Chris Corbin under the group name Corbin & King.
Last year, however, he lost control of the business following a prolonged and very public battle for ownership with its major shareholder, Minor International.
Minor now leads the group, whose estate also includes The Delaunay, Colbert, and the recently-launched Manzi's, under the new moniker of The Wolseley Hospitality Group.
King, who prior to launching Corbin & King spent years running Caprice Holdings, describes his return to London's restaurant scene as being 'like a rebirth'.
He told the FT: “I think it was [French author] André Gide who said every man should have three careers.
“I actually feel like I’m having three careers within hospitality, and I’m a different person now.”
King has previously said that his venture within the Park Modern building - called The Park - will be in the grand cafés and brasseries mould that he is known for, but added that it will be ‘very much of the early 21st Century rather than 20th’.
According to the FT, he is tapping investors for close to £7m to fund the restaurant. The majority of the investment will be channelled through an Enterprise Investment Scheme, which offers tax relief to UK investors and limits individual shareholdings to no more than 3%.
Among those in discussions are New York-based Knighthead Capital Management, the investment firm that financed King’s failed big to keep Corbin & King.
The restaurateur said he wanted to avoid having a dominant partner and instead work with a wide pool of as many as 20 investors.
