Curley to open pátisserie shop in Richmond

Pastry chef William Curley, formerly of London's Savoy hotel, is to open his own pátisserie shop in Surrey. It will be located in Richmond upon Thames in a Grade II-listed building on which Curley and his wife, Suzue, also a pátissiére, have obtained a lease. The lease is for eight years, with an option of renewal.

The site is ex-retail and is being refurbished to house a kitchen as well as a shop area. It extends over two floors with about 300sq ft on each level. Although he declined to say how much the site had cost, Curley confirmed that he and Suzue had £100,000 in total to invest in the business. The shop will be called William Curley.

There will be no seating in the shop, but the Curleys plan to put in a "kind of" chef's table on the first floor at which to entertain guests by invitation. It will not be open to the general public. They have no plans at this stage to supply into the restaurant market. Curley said: "I would like to build William Curley as a brand, and if we start supplying restaurants then we wouldn't necessarily raise our own profile."

Two-and-a-half years ago Curley set up his own supply company, Patisserie One, with Corby-based Orchard House Foods. Curley will remain a director of Patisserie One and will work for the company two days a week in a consultative role, creating new products when his Richmond shop is closed.

The shop will trade from Tuesday to Saturday and is scheduled to open in July.