Las Banderas, a recently launched Spanish restaurant concept, has lined up a fourth site in a new development at Canary Wharf’s Cabot Square.
Head of operations, Igor Matrosov, told MCA that the business was working on some designs for the site, but that he hoped it would be ready to open in Q1 2019.
The business launched in July this year, taking on the three former MasQMenos sites in Soho, Farringdon and Mark Lane, off Fenchurch Street, in the City, which all opened over the summer.
“We are also looking for more sites around the West End, but perhaps slightly smaller sites,” he said, adding that the business also has interest from overseas partners in Japan and Qatar, which would likely be joint ventures if plans progress.
He said that at the moment the business was just looking for sites in central London, but that they certainly weren’t ruling out more suburban locations, such as Wimbledon, Richmond and Notting Hill.
Each of the three existing restaurants have opened in the same format, with local variations. For example there is a cigar lounge at the Mark Lane site only, and the business is just launching a halloumi brunch menu at its Soho site – the only one to open at the weekend.
“We are looking into fusion dishes, so there is some non-traditional Spanish food, and we are mixing it up sometimes with different types of Mediterranean food but it is not that obvious and sits nicely within the existing menu,” he said.
MasQMenos opened its first site in the UK in High Holborn, in 2014, closing it in April this year. It had formed part of a larger Spanish restaurant group called Cacheiro Restaurants, but was acquired by Spanish restaurant group FoodBox Group in March 2017, and no longer has a UK presence.
Matrosov, who was formerly property director at MasQMenos and is also the founder and CEO of investment company Status Quo Capital, told MCA Las Banderas is owned by a Middle Eastern company who bought out the Spanish partners of MasQMenos, acquiring the UK rights, before launching the new concept.
Las Banderas’ parent company, who wish to remain anonymous at this stage, are also its main investors and the fund operates a number of businesses in Middle East, Switzerland and USA, said Matrosov.
Precis
Las Banderas, a recently launched Spanish restaurant concept, has lined up a fourth site in a new development at Canary Wharf’s Cabot Square. Head of operations, Igor Matrosov, told MCA that the business was working on some designs for the site, but that he hoped it would be ready to open in Q1 2019. The business launched in July this year, taking on the three former MasQMenos sites in Soho, Farringdon and Mark Lane, off Fenchurch Street, in the City, which all opened over the summer. Las Banderas is looking for more sites in the West End, he said, adding that the business also has interest from overseas partners in Japan and Qatar, which would likely be joint ventures if plans progress. He said that at the moment the business was just looking for sites in central London, but that they certainly weren’t ruling out more suburban locations, such as Wimbledon, Richmond and Notting Hill.
