Maison François team to double up with Borough Market site

Café François is billed as a modern-day French canteen that will draw influences from ‘the classic cafés of Paris, contemporary delis of California and the stylish bistros of Montreal’.

The project will be headed by O’Neill with executive chef Matthew Ryle overseeing the kitchen and Ed Wyand heading up front of house. 

The all-day menu will pay homage to ‘much loved’ affordable French classics, whilst also embracing global influences and flavours. 

All bread and patisserie will be created in the in-house bakery, visible to customers behind a glass wall on the first floor.

With a nod to the famous dessert trolley at Maison François, the  patisserie will be housed in a bespoke cabinet in the dining room. The pastry cabinet offers a  daily selection of classic desserts, including signature éclairs in a creative range of flavours. 

Moving onto lunch and into the evening, rotisserie chickens ‘cooked to golden perfection’ will be sliced to order and added to baguettes sandwiches or a fresh salad with a mustard dressing.

Sandwiches will include steak with Béarnaise sauce and bánhi mì with roast pork belly and pickled vegetables. 

The open kitchen will also offer brasserie classics like Toulouse sausage with lentils, vadouvan curry of monkfish or a whole lobster frites to share. 

A short, inventive wine list, curated by Maison François wine director Daniel Illsley. A considered cocktail list will also be available, focussing on the classics with 'cold and quick serves as the mantra'.

The design will celebrate the market’s industrial past. Entering via the ground floor, guests will be greeted by the deli counter and rotisserie.

Passing by the restaurant’s open kitchen, guests move through into the dining room with an steel circular staircase breaking up the space and leading diners up to the first floor, where they will find two further dining rooms. 

“Following the opening of Maison François, we had our eyes on a second site and couldn’t have found a more perfect location. Borough Market has a real neighbourhood feel to it, as  well as being a hub for visitors too. We have travelled around different cities, both in France, Canada and the USA, bringing together different iterations of Café culture to create something we think everyone will enjoy!” O’Neill says. 

Maison François launched in 2020​​ and is currently ranked 43 on Restaurant's list of the top 100 restaurants in the UK. ​​