Unveiling a second restaurant is often more challenging than opening the first. Any second site means a doubling in size, as well as more delegation and less hands-on management. Chefs and restaurateurs open initially because they love cooking, greeting and seating their customers, writing their wine lists and generally making sure that everything is as they dreamt it would be. But they cannot be in two places at once. It is perhaps a tribute to the confidence currently felt by some of London's restaurateurs that four have recently risen to the challenge of a second establishment.
Hawksmoor
Seven Dials, 11 Langley Street, London WC2, 020 7856 2154, thehawksmoor.co.uk
The initial Hawksmoor restaurant, which specialises in great steaks and cocktails, was opened by Will Beckett and Huw Gott in Spitalfields, east London, and derives its name from the celebrated 18th-century architect. Their second site is in the basement of what was Combe's Brewery in Covent Garden and has the air of a New York steakhouse: exposed brickwork, thick cast iron columns and solid wooden tables. Macaroni cheese, a New York stalwart, is on the menu. So, too, is London-cured smoked salmon, half a roast chicken, wild mushroom hotpot and excellent sticky toffee pudding. On Monday nights you can bring your own wine and pay just £5 corkage.
Yalla Yalla
12 Winsley Street, London W1, 020 7637 4748, yalla-yalla.co.uk
This fun Lebanese restaurant belongs to the unlikely combination of Polish-born Aga Ilska and her partner/chef, Lebanese-born Jad Youssef, who together sank their entire savings into their first, small site in Green's Court, Soho. It has proved so successful that they have now taken over a much larger corner site near Oxford Circus, and business seems to be just as good. This has a lot to do with the great value they offer (there is still a £5 two-course lunch menu) and because so much of the food they prepare — the wraps, the skewers of grilled lamb, chicken and prawns — can be easily taken away. The final factor, common to both sites, is that the clever interior design exudes the heat of the Middle East.
Hakkasan
17 Bruton Street, London W1, 020 7907 1888, hakkasan.com
It has taken ten years for the second Hakkasan to open in London, during which period other branches have opened in Miami and Abu Dhabi with a further opening planned for Mumbai in late 2011. But the two locations are very different. The initial Hakkasan's situation, tucked away in a basement by Tottenham Court Road Tube station, could hardly be described as glamorous. But the combination of a Christian Liagre interior, stylish bars and very well executed Chinese foodhas made it one of the capital's highest grossing restaurants. The location of the second Hakkasan in Mayfair could hardly be more different. It is sandwiched between a Rolls-Royce showroom and The Square restaurant and opposite some of the most expensive shops and art galleries. Not surprisingly, perhaps, it is just as busy. Favourites are the soup and noodle dishes at lunch, the jasmine smoked chicken and a claypot of tofu, aubergine and Japanese mushrooms. Both restaurants have particularly well-chosen wine lists.
Vinoteca
15 Seymour Place, London W1, 020 7724 7288, vinoteca.co.uk
Both branches of Vinoteca have been run by Elena Ares, Brett Woonton and Charlie Young ever since they left the wine trade to open their first restaurant, wine bar and shop just north of Smithfield Market in 2005. The second Vinoteca has seen this trio make the leap to Marble Arch, with a branch that opens for Sunday lunch. But that is the most significant change to an already winning formula. There is a huge range of fascinating wines at very fair prices, particularly from Spain and Italy. A menu full of robust flavours includes Spanish cured meats, a venison and mushroom pie and a vegetable and Tunworth tart. Well informed staff complete a very attractive picture.
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