Pan-Asian restaurant group Tootoomoo is planning to open up to eight restaurants in London over the next 18 months.
The company, owned by restaurateur Philip McGuinness and executive chef Ricky Pang, opened its fourth site in Islington last week as part of its expansion plans, which include the doubling in size of its Whetstone branch.
“We are currently looking for new sites in neighbourhood London locations with the plan being to open between six and eight in the next 12 to 18 months, creating 100 jobs with a further 25 ancillary positions,” said McGuinness.
“Tootoomoo has great potential and we are just at the beginning of our journey.”
The 26-cover Islington restaurant, on St Paul’s Street, has also seen the launch of a new tapas menu featuring a selection of dishes influenced by Malaysian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese cuisines.
Diners are able to choose from a selection of dishes under categories such as ‘plates’, ‘wok/tempura’, ‘sushi’ and ‘salads’ designed for sharing.
McGuinness said: “We constantly evolve the brand and having seen an increasing demand for smaller sharing plates, we introduced a new menu at Tootoomoo in Islington - our signature quality pan Asian dishes but in an exclusively tapas–style format. It’s been a real hit and we plan to rollout the same menu in our Crouch End branch next month.”
The first Tootoomoo opened in Crouch End in 2012 with sites in Whetstone and Highgate following. Speaking to MCA’s sister title, BigHospitality, before the first restaurant’s launch, McGuinness, who helped launch hotel brand Jurys Inn in London, said he saw a gap in the market for an all-day pan-Asian neighbourhood dining concept.
