Exclusive: Gaucho owner to shut City icon M Restaurant next week
Iconic Square Mile dining spot M Restaurant is to shut for good next week after 10 years serving steak to the City.
The move comes after founder Martin Williams left M’s parent company Rare Restaurants in October.
City AM understands new chief executive Baton Berisha, who assumed the role in March following spells at The Wolseley Hospitality Group and The Ivy Collection, is focused on the core Gaucho brand. There is speculation that a rent review on the Threadneedle Street premises also influenced the decision. The group will also close the Crane Tap pub in Twickenham next week, leaving only the Gaucho brand in Rare’s portfolio.
No redundancies are expected, with staff to be offered work at nearby Gaucho restaurants, according to sources close to the matter. No Gaucho closures are expected.
Rare Restaurants declined to comment.
M opened its doors in 2014 and soon became a City institution, with the great and good of finance, sport and culture flocking there for steak imported from across the world and boasting a wine cellar to rival any in London. A second branch followed in Victoria the following year with a third opening in Canary Wharf in 2022.
The restaurants became known for experiences including a yacht that could be chartered for a meal on the Thames, a six-foot robotic Champagne waiter, dog-friendly brunches, a hidden member’s “den” and wine vending machines.
The brand suffered in the wake of the pandemic, however, with the Canary Wharf and Victoria branches both closing in 2023.
Williams has since been appointed as chief executive at Evolv – formerly D&D London – which operates restaurants including Quaglino’s, German Gymnasium and the Michelin starred Angler.
He told City AM: “M Restaurant was a moment in time and it was really special. It’s 10 years old and, at its peak, we had everyone in the City there. You could smell the room – it was a powerhouse. Everybody there knew somebody else.
“I don’t think I’d put my name on a restaurant today [M stands for Martin]. In 2014 it felt like the right thing to do, and it was very memorable. But it makes the restaurant so attached to you personally and reliant on you being there. I loved what I did, we built that company from nothing and sold it for £8m.”
Williams says he would not consider bringing the restaurant into the Evolv portfolio.
Gaucho opened its first restaurant in 1993 at Swallow Street in Piccadilly and has since grown to more than 20 locations, including restaurants in Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Leeds. Williams – who trained as an actor – rose through the ranks to become managing director before leaving to set up M in 2014.
He was brought back as Gaucho chief executive following the 2019 acquisition of the group by Investec and SC Lowy, through a firm subsequently renamed Rare Restaurants, with the deal including the merger between Gaucho and M.