Granita restaurant sold to Sofra chief

Granita, the London restaurant where Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are reputed to have sealed their political partnership seven years ago, has been sold.

Hüseyin Özer, the owner of the Sofra group, took over the Islington restaurant on Monday (4 February). He plans to keep the name and make only cosmetic changes to the restaurant. He said he bought Granita both because he admires it and because he wants neighbourhood restaurants in his group.

Özer has bought the leasehold on the site from Vicky Leffman, the independent restaurateur who set up Granita 10 years ago and has run it herself ever since. Neither Özer nor Leffman would reveal the price paid.

™zer, who started his working life in Britain as a chef in a kebab shop, now owns the Sofra chain, whose restaurants include three Sofras in London, the more upmarket Özer in Regent Street, as well as a number of restaurants abroad. The company has a turnover of £7m a year.

All Granita's staff have been asked to stay, but Özer said he would be adding some of his own. He intends to start opening Granita for breakfast, add dishes to the menu and add comforts inside the restaurant, including cushions on the chairs.

Leffman said she would "not be doing anything in catering ever again", although she has enjoyed her 10 years at Granita.

She remembers the day on which Blair and Brown had their discussion about the leadership of the Labour party, which was later called the "Treaty of Granita" by political commentators.