Soutine to open in three weeks, says Jeremy King

In an email to the industry on Monday night, King said: "We will be commissioning the kitchen at the end of next week and then going into trials either side of Easter and if all is] progressing well we will aim to be open sometime during the week of 29 April." King described Soutine as reminiscent of both Colbert and Fischer's (two of Corbin & King's existing restaurants, in London's Chelsea and Marylebone respectively) but "entirely individual and a bespoke creation for St John's Wood - rather than any replication". The menu will be primarily French, but with "the occasional Russian influence creeping in over the next year or so". The restaurant will be headed up by Daniel Craig, who was opening general manager at Colbert before moving to the Wolseley. Maciej Banas will be head chef, joining from Fisher's. King hinted at other projects in the pipeline, including a "rather unusual" site in Soho for which the group is awaiting the outcome of a planning application. He also said 70 members of staff had returned to the business, which had helped ease the considerable pressure being felt by the restaurant industry. This included some "old friends" who had joined Corbin & King from the Beaumont hotel, with which the group had parted company last year.

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