Leonid Shutov, the Russian owner of Soho’s Bob Bob Ricard restaurant which opened back in 2008, is set to open another site in the capital which he hopes to be London’s largest luxury restaurant.
Shutov has acquired the lease at 12 St James’s Street and will open ‘Biblioteka’- a 250 cover, 20,000sq ft restaurant which will have a Champagne bar and an additional private dining area with room for a further 75 guests. Due to open in 2015, the restaurant will now undergo a £15m investment and is believed to be an evolution of Bob Bob Ricard’s successful formula; offering a menu of English classics and Russian delicacies.
The new restaurant will also be one of the largest licensed premises in central London and will therefore have an emphasis on drinking offering. There will be a vast selection of fine wine, vintage Champagne and rare cocktail dating back to the 1800s and presented in chronological order.