BabaBoom, the kebab restaurant concept, has secured its second site, in Islington Upper Street.
The team have completed a lease on the 70-cover former Vintage Salt restaurant on 189 Upper Street for an August opening.
The 1,500sq ft site will have the same focus as the Battersea Rise original, with Middle Eastern inspired kebabs made from scratch and cooked over coal, with some new additions.
BabaBoom will launch a special draught brew Baba’s Beer, a weekly lunchtime £5 kebab special, and host quarterly #poweredbykebabs events, celebrating the team’s love of sport and adventure.
BabaBoom founder Eve Bugler, a former director of Nando’s, said: “It’s a great time to be a small restaurant business right now. Hospitality is an incredibly supportive industry and we’ve got so much advice since we launched – whether it’s the seasoned investors or the trailblazers they’ve all told us that getting the second restaurant right is crucial, so we took that on board and didn’t rush it.
”Islington has been on our radar for our expansion for some time and we initially offered on this site in mid-2017. By biding our time, we were able to secure it at a significantly lower premium. We’ve created something special in Battersea Rise and now it’s time to bring it to Upper Street – it’s a competitive market but we like that, it spurs us on. As a former Islington resident, I’m really excited about launching in the neighbourhood.”
Bugler was previously interim commercial director at Nando’s India and business analyst at McKinsey & Co
Co-founder Jono Jenkins was previously food director at Geronimo Inns, while Travis Fish was previously an area manager at Nando’s UK.
Marc Rogers of MKR Property advised BabaBoom on the deal, whilst Richard Negus at AG&G acted on behalf of the vendor. Raven Collective are supporting the design & Opus are carrying out the refurbishment.
BabaBoom investors include Wahaca founder Mark Selby, Ex -Nando’s CEO David Niven, Flat Iron founder Charlie Carroll and Las Iguanas founder Eren Ali.
