Iqbal Wahhab, the businessman behind successful London restaurants Cinnamon Club and Roast, has put his Indian streetfood concept Moolis on the backburner while he looks to launch a new American concept in the capital.
The Bangladeshi-born restaurateur acquired Moolis in a pre-pack administration early last year,initially with big ambitions for it to become an ‘Indian Pret A Manger’.
But, despite the single site in Soho building up a loyal customer base, it closed in February of this year, with Wahhab claiming the business’s potential was hampered by the size of the first premises.
He told M&C Report’s sister title BigHospitality: “It was a great product and we had a great following, but the configuration of that room in Frith Street was too small – it was not a good site to have started from.
“Having just the one counter meant we were limiting the amount of people that could come through the doors at that crucial 12-2pm period. We ideally wanted to be maxing out on four tills at that time, but that space just didn’t have capacity to do it.
“I’m now just looking at where to park that brand and how much of my future is going to be involved. It’s a question of whether it fits into anything else I’m doing.”
Wahhab is now has other projects in the pipeline, adding ‘I’ve taken my foot of the pedal recently’.
“I spent a lot of time working with the government and doing other things which I found just as rewarding as opening more restaurants,” he said. “But these things can engulf you and I think the time is right to begin something new.
“I’m talking to some people about some interesting things - I’ve been looking at doing something in the US space for some time and one of the new ventures will definitely be in that arena.”
