Glory days: after closing owing to the lockdowns, Richoux is being reborn as an all-day brasserie
(Picture: Steven Joyce)For anyone looking, opposite the Burlington Arcade there used to be a place with gold letters bearing the old-fashioned legend “Tearoom” above its windows on one side, and “Restaurant” on the other. This was the Piccadilly branch of Richoux, the chain of cafe-restaurants founded more than a century ago that still occasionally drew the likes of Sir Paul McCartney and Taylor Swift. But lockdowns put all 15 sites out of business this time last year — making it one of an estimated 6,000 restaurants, cafes and bars claimed by the pandemic across the country. Except that it’s now among a handful that find themselves back from the dead — and for whom the pandemic wasn’t a curse, but a chance to start over.
“It feels… daunting,” says Jamie Butler, one of the two chefs tasked with reviving the restaurant’s once-great fortunes. “We’re deep in it. Richoux meant a lot to a lot of people.”
One of those it meant so much to was Naveen Handa, who turned out to be so fond of the place he bought the group last year after it went into administration. “Back in the Nineties it was our Sunday treat to head to Richoux,” he says now. “The whole family would descend and work our way through the patisserie counter.”
Still, Butler admits that even before the pandemic, the place had “slowly gone downhill” over the years, neglected. His and fellow chef Lewis Spencer’s job is not to revive it to 2021 levels, but “to bring it back up to that standard Naveen grew up with”. They open the doors next month, serving late into the evening from midday.
Both have the CVs for the job; they met in Moor Hall, the two Michelin-starred Lake District draw that’s twice been named the UK’s best restaurant. And they have big plans, gleefully glad that Richoux has a second shot, even if it is because of a pandemic. “We’re taking over where it once was, but we’re not doing what it once was,” says Lewis. “We’re breaking the rules, and not a little bit — a lot.”
In practice, this means reshaping a menu that had bloated in all directions — teriyaki salmon sat awkwardly alongside Shepherd’s Pie — shearing it down, keeping it simple. At the moment the pair are in daily, overseeing the restaurant’s refit and, says Spencer, “We’ve got people knocking at the door, asking when we’ll be back, if we’ll have our sandwiches and our afternoon tea.” They will — “we know what people like and what they want”, says Lewis — but in the meantime are reimagining Richoux as an all-day place that will make the most of Piccadilly’s crowds, serving mostly French, Mediterranean and British fare, with the likes of lamb pavé, chicken paillard and a choice of steaks. They’ve also refitted the place, while keeping its shape and famous tiled floor.
“It’s looking very glamorous,” says Butler. “But it’s more accessible than it looks. One of our rules is, there’s nothing on the menu that will cost more than £20.”
After a pandemic out of the kitchen, they’re both back in-house, and are more aware than ever the role a restaurant can play — and what a century-old brand means to people. “We want 95 per cent of people to feel they can come in,” says Lewis. “Whether that’s a 94-year-old who’s known about Richoux her whole life or a 14-year-old kid who’s here on holiday. It’s definitely going to be a little bit different to what it was before…”
“…but it still needs to be special,” finishes Butler. “It’s new, but at the same time, we’re going to take it back to the place it once was.”
The pair aren’t alone in reviving the fortunes of a lionised London institution on its uppers. In November last year, restaurateurs Graziano Arricale and James Hitchen took on A-list favourite Langan’s after its neon sign flickered off for seemingly the final time in late 2020. “There were a lot of expectations,” says Hitchen now. “Everyone wanted a say as to what the new Langan’s should be, how similar or different it should be from its previous incarnation, what dishes should be salvaged and so on. But Graziano and I always had confidence in our vision.”
After a rocky start — critics were initially scathing — the pair seem to have found their feet. “A visit to Langan’s means the same thing it always did — a beautiful dining room, classic food guaranteed to satisfy and warm, amiable service,” is how Arricale puts it. They have, however, dropped the drunken antics of Peter Langan, the Irishman who co-founded the restaurant, and who could be found slumped over the bar or under a table. Instead, sights have been set on a comforting menu — think veal chops, truffled mac n’ cheese, fish pie — and cultivating an air of exclusivity with an upstairs bar kept for members only. Even the celebrities are returning: Dame Joan Collins, Sir Michael Caine and Boy George have all been in from the old guard, as well as Poppy Delevingne, Laura Whitmore and Mark Ronson.
The Eighties revival, in fact, seems set to be a theme of the year. One of the most surprising closures of the past 20 months was the still-popular Le Caprice. Once known for feeding Princess Diana, Sir Mick Jagger and Elizabeth Taylor, the name meant enough to restaurant magnate Richard Caring that he named his empire, Caprice Holdings, after it. This month it was spotted that he’s taken over the old Porsche showroom on Mayfair’s Mount Street. According to Caring’s planning application to Westminster council, it will be an “all-day fine dining restaurant, of a similar standard to Scott’s”. Caring declined to comment on his plans, so there’s no official word yet, but the restaurant rumour mill is speculating that this will be the long-awaited revival of what was once his most precious possession.
More certain is Brett Graham reopening the Ledbury. The Notting Hill favourite officially left the site in June 2020, still at the height of its powers, but whispers of its return have spread since that July. Two weeks ago, Graham confirmed he’s pushing to open early come February and while there was speculation it might be an entirely new Ledbury — with a brasserie feel — Graham rubbished this in an interview with Restaurant magazine, telling them he’d open with an eight-course, £185-per-head menu. “Though in many ways this is a continuation of what has come before, I see this as the start of a new journey for us,” he said. “The old Ledbury is no more, and we have a new sense of direction and purpose.” Graham is being uncharacteristically taciturn as present; more news is expected soon.
But of those precious few that have made it through, it hasn’t just been the top-end places with deep-pocketed backers that have survived. Perhaps the most heartening tale is that of Vasco & Piero’s Pavilion. The still-adored Soho Italian found itself facing a tidal wave of rent just as it turned 50 last year and its ousting caused an uproar from devoted regulars. The outrage quietened when a new site nearby was found.
There are videos of guests dancing with staff on their shoulders... Being back, it’s a little bit magic
“We weren’t sure if we were going to change everything,” says owner Paul Matteucci, son of founder Vasco, “The name, the table clothes, the food, all that. But it surprised me, it was the younger people told me: ‘stay as you are, it’s in your DNA’. In the end we didn’t touch anything. But I didn’t believe the move was really going to happen, to be honest with you.
“But you know, since day one on reopening [in October], people just started coming back. Some were so emotional, because they had so many memories of what they’d done here, who they’d come with — first wife, second wife, third wife, whatever. There are parents who brought their children here, and now it’s the children bringing theirs.”
Matteucci says he’s been similarly emotional. “When I look back, I see how integrated these people are with us. There are videos of guests dancing with staff on their shoulders, everyone having fun. Being back, it’s a little bit magic.
“I think what everyone said about London being dead? That hasn’t happened. There are problems on the horizon, sure, yes, but there always are. I’m confident. I think we’re all ready to look forward to the future being full of happy things.”
