Ross Shonhan expands Bone Daddies brand with new Kensington site
Chef restaurateur Ross Shonhan has revealed plans to expand his Bone Daddies ramen bar brand, with new sites planned for Kensington, Shoreditch, Soho and Bermondsey.
The former Zuma chef opened the original Bone Daddies on Peter Street in London in November 2012, followed by izakaya-inspired Flesh & Buns in Covent Garden last August.
The second Bone Daddies, expected to open late October or early November, will accommodate 110-covers on the first floor of the Whole Foods Market on Kensington High Street.
Design team SODA was appointed to look after the interior design of the all-day licensed dining space.
Commenting on the brand's first concession-style operation, Shonhan told The Caterer: "We can see what it's like to operate in somebody else's environment and we can ask ourselves if we can then do this in an airport or shopping centre.
"If it works, which is the aim, we can take landlords from companies like Westfield and show them what we've done."
Shonhan is currently in the process of securing a second Soho site and another in Shoreditch. He will also take use of two railway arches in Bermondsey, one of which will house a state-of-the art central production unit to support the group's expansion plans. The other is expected to be a development kitchen that opens as a restaurant four nights a week.
While each new Bone Daddies will be a ramen bar, Shonhan said they will all feature unique attributes to their design and also food and drink offer.
"I want to make every one look and feel individual. Even the menu offer in each one will be individual," he said. "You don't just choose to go to the closest, you pick one based on the experience you're going to get."
The food menu at Bone Daddies Kensington will feature ramen favourites served at the orginal Bone Daddies as well as the signature buns available at Flesh & Buns' signature buns. In a first for Bone Daddies, it will also offer gyoza with a variety of fillings.
For full details about the Bone Daddies expansion plans and much more, read The Caterer Interview with Ross Shonhan in this week's issue of The Caterer (26 September 2014).
