Simon Rogan has announced that he will close his London restaurant, Roganic, on Sunday 23 June as planned – and he currently has no plans to reopen it elsewhere in the capital.
Due to the two-year lease on Roganic’s Blandford Street site, the chef initially launched his London venture as an ‘extended pop-up’ in June 2011. The restaurant was immediately popular with both
critics and diners, winning Square Meal’s Best New Restaurant award later that year.
‘Simon has been looking at sites in London but he couldn’t find anything appropriate,’ a spokesperson for Rogan told Square Meal. ‘He was hoping at one point to extend the lease at the Marylebone
site, but he won’t be doing that. The door is still half-open to some possibilities, but he won’t be reopening Roganic for at least six months.’
For the time being, Rogan plans to focus his energies on his two new Manchester restaurants, both located in the city’s Midland Hotel – as well as his two-Michelin-starred flagship, L’Enclume.
‘Opening in Manchester has been really demanding for Simon and his team – he’s been working 17-hour days and it’s taken a lot of work,’ said the spokesperson.
The Midland Hotel’s flagship restaurant, The French by Simon Rogan, opened in
March; its second offering, to be called Mr Cooper’s, is three times the size of The French
and will launch this summer.
Roganic’s final dinner service will take place on Thursday 20 June.
This article was published in April 2013.