Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s former flagship restaurant and the headquarters for his social enterprise, Fifteen in Shoreditch, is to be turned into an east London pub.
As reported by Eater London, the Shoreditch site has been acquired by independent pub and bar group, Barworks, owned by Marc Francis-Baum, who plans to turn Fifteen into a pub.
Launching in 2002 at the same time as a TV series chronicling Oliver’s chef training programme designed for disadvantaged youngsters, Fifteen closed this May when Oliver’s restaurant empire collapsed.
Oliver made no secret of the fact that the restaurant was one of the projects he’s most proud of and was a concept he’s keen to keep alive, though if this happens it won’t be at his former Shoreditch site.
Barworks operates 11 venues in London, including The Duke of York in Haggerston and The Diner chain.
In July we reported that restaurant mogul Richard Caring, the man behind The Ivy, Annabel’s and Sexy Fish, had snapped up Oliver’s former grill, Barbecoa in London’s St Paul’s.