Export Report

Keith McNally’s London Project May Turn Out to Be Less Balthazar-y, More Minetta-ish

All the answers are in the cappuccino foam.
All the answers are in the cappuccino foam. Photo: James Hamilton

London’s long-awaited Keith McNally restaurant, planned for the old Theatre Museum in Covent Garden, may not be a Balthazar after all. Food site Hot Dinners speculates that the project, which will apparently open in the fall (though we can’t find any information corroborating that claim), may not be an outpost of the ever-popular bistro, saying that another team of restaurateurs have already announced their own plans to open a similar brasserie this year, and suggesting McNally will go the game-changer route with his own project, instead of simply starting a war of baguettes, cultured butter, and multi-tiered raw-bar platters.

“It may not actually open as Balthazar,” the blog says. Or, if it is a Balthazar, “it will not be identical to the one in NY.”

The whole thing is very speculative, and not terribly informative, but it does seem to jibe with rumors we’ve been hearing that suggest McNally is actually now planning to open a restaurant that hews closer to Minetta Tavern. And we bet the Black Label burger would play just as well on the other side of the pond as it does in the Village.


Keith McNally confirms he’ll open in London this Autumn. But will it be Balthazar?
[Hot Dinners]
Earlier: Export Report: Checking In on Old Homestead, Balthazar, and Momofuku

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