My kinda town to quit criterion

My Kinda Town, whose management contract at London's Criterion restaurant ends on 1 July, is moving its team to a new outlet in Kensington called the Abingdon.

The Abingdon will open on 23 June on the site of the original Henry J Bean's Bar and Grill with a 70-seat restaurant, a bar and a small private dining room. The former Criterion team, led by chef Brian Baker, will serve French "rustic" food at an average spend of £20 a head.

The restaurant has been designed by Tony Weller, who joined My Kinda Town with the recent acquisition of Beach Blanket Babylon, in Notting Hill, which he also created.

Forte was seeking offers in excess of £3.25m for the Criterion, but it seems clear that My Kinda Town was unwilling to pay this figure for a restaurant with such high overheads.

Managing director Peter Webber said: "We have negotiated several new franchise agreements, each of which will contribute more profit to the company than was generated by the Criterion management agreement."

Michelin-starred chef Marco Pierre White was this week claiming to have been successful in his bid to acquire the Criterion. But a spokeswoman for Forte said it was still in negotiations with several parties and no deal had been signed.

Mr White told Caterer he had resigned from his position as director of The Canteen in Chelsea Harbour in order to put all his energies into the Criterion restaurant.

• My Kinda Town has signed a franchise agreement with the Hong Kong-based Shangri-La hotel group to open two Henry J Bean's outlets in China.