Avenue boss sets out on new road
The Avenue, the London restaurant that promised to bring New York-style dining to the capital, is going back to basics with its next operation.
Chris Bodker, owner of the 200-seat Avenue restaurant and bar which opened in December 1995, has acquired a 7,000sq ft site on the corner of Beak Street and Golden Square in Soho. The new operation, as yet unnamed, will include a 125-seat restaurant on the ground floor and a large basement bar.
The restaurant will serve simple, but "well-executed" dishes, which at £20 to £25 for lunch and £30 to £35 for dinner, will be slightly cheaper than the Avenue.
"People are getting bored with tricksy food. Increasingly people are getting fed up with menus that make choices for them. That needs to be reversed," Mr Bodker said.
Building work has just started on the restaurant, which has been designed by architect David Chipperfield, whose previous restaurant credits include Wagamama, the Japanese-style noodle bar. The refurbishment is expected to cost between £500,000 and £1m.
Mr Bodker, a former merchant banker, has been seeking a second site for over a year. Competition for suitable premises was stiff, he reported. "It has been very hard to find good sites. I was aware of at least three bidders who bid more than us on this one," he said, but said the landlord "liked our concept".
Having sealed this deal, Mr Bodker is now on the lookout for more sites. But he plans to steer clear of glitzy mega-eateries. "People are getting tired of food halls. We would look for something smaller," he said.
A rent of £175,000 per annum is payable on the site. Agents Shelley Sandzer & Co represented the landlord, while Jones Lang Wootton acted on behalf of Mr Bodker.
