Jeremy King has announced that he has signed the lease on a new site overlooking Hyde Park, a year after a bidding war caused his dramatic exit from the Corbin & King restaurant group.
The new project, described by King as “getting back in the saddle”, will be called The Park and is located within the new Park Modern building on Bayswater Road.
“At heart I am a restaurateur and hotelier so I have held off from troubling you until I had something confirmed and signed to talk about,” he continued.
King dubbed the project as “very much within the ‘Grand Cafés & Brasseries’ mould that I love so much”.
However, he explained that it would be given its own twist, being “very much of the early 21st century rather than 20th”.
King and business partner Chris Corbin were stalwarts of the London restaurant scene for 40 years, controlling the likes of The Wolseley and Brasserie Zédel. In spring last year, the pair departed from the group they had founded after majority shareholder Minor International, under CEO and chairman William Heinecke, seized full control of the group. King described the disagreement as a “fundamental difference of opinion” and compared the situation to being “under siege”. The Corbin & King group has since been rebranded as The Wolseley Hospitality Group.
Addressing this tumultuous time, King wrote: “While the last thing I wanted to do was lose the restaurants, and indeed walk away from my extraordinary staff and colleagues without so much as a goodbye, it might also have been, in retrospect, the best thing that could happen to me — although it was impossible to deduce that at the time.”
“I am determined to be a better restaurateur, employer and friend – and I look forward to seeing you,” King concluded.
While many details are yet to be confirmed, The Park is expected to open in spring 2024.
This article was originally published by the drinks business and has been shared with permission.
