Will Beckett and Huw Gott, co-owners of Hawksmoor and Foxlow, have agreed to buy Sam’s Brasserie in Chiswick and Harrison’s in Balham from owner Sam Harrison, subject to consultation with staff. Assuming that is successful, Sam’s and Harrison’s will close on 1st September to open again as Foxlow Chiswick and Foxlow Balham in October and November 2015.
Will and Sam
Will and Huw’s first Foxlow restaurant opened in Clerkenwell in late 2013 and it has also found a second home on Stoke Newington Church Street earlier this year.
Foxlow is intended to be the perfect neighbourhood restaurant – open seven days a week for lunch, dinner and weekend brunch, with the same focus on great food and drink and brilliant service from people who love what they do. Signature dishes include Crispy Five Pepper Squid and Farro Fattoush; steaks from the Ginger Pig, Fried Chicken with Habanero Vinegar and Brixham Hake with Romesco.
Having opened Foxlow Stoke Newington in April, Will and Huw weren’t intending to open any further restaurants this year but a conversation over a beer with Sam led to a decision that this would be good for everyone. While Sam’s and Harrison’s have been a source of immense pride for Sam over the past decade, he’d decided it was time to move on. “After many happy and successful years in Chiswick and Balham, I have decided it is time to pass on the baton to an exciting, young and vibrant company who think the same way I always have about restaurants, customers and staff. I can’t tell you how much I’ve loved the last 10 years, and I am immensely proud of everything we have achieved at both restaurants.”
“Very few restaurants last a year, let alone a decade and I am happy that we close on a high. Over 10 incredible years at Sam’s and 8 at Harrison’s many new friends have walked through the doors and if I leave it will be with many fond and happy memories. I’d not only say goodbye to a business but to my second family – my staff, who have stayed with me over the years, and our many loyal customers, who treat the restaurants like a home away from home. I will truly miss you all and I thank you for your patronage and support over the years,” says Harrison.
Picking up where Sam leaves off
Will Beckett adds: “We’ve always really liked Sam’s restaurants and felt that we could pick up where he left off – opening restaurants that are a genuine part of a vibrant community, where food, drink and service are always the most important things. Sam liked the idea because it meant that he could sell the business he built to people he knew, who would act honourably with him and treat his staff and customers with care and attention.”
Restaurants with integrity
“It has also been a good moment for us because it has made us think hard about what we’re doing with Foxlow. What we want to do is create a group of restaurants with genuine integrity. No one likes the word chain: it conjures up an image of a group of restaurants that has prioritised making money over doing what they love, which has grown too fast, and which has sacrificed originality and quality for simplicity and consistency. We think that if we prioritise the things we really care about like the best possible ingredients, great drinks and friendly service from people who love what they do, we’ll have a chance of having a great company, and Foxlow will stand a chance of being well loved wherever it opens.”
If all goes to plan Foxlow Chiswick will be situated at Barley Mow Centre, 11 Barley Mow Passage, W4 4PH and will have a 100-cover restaurant and 50-cover bar. It will open in October.
Foxlow Balham will be at 15-19 Bedford Hill, SW12 9EX with a 90-cover ground floor restaurant and a stand-alone 30-cover bar downstairs. It will open in November. Macaulay Sinclair will, along with Huw Gott be in charge of the interiors for both restaurants.
More information to follow. As you would expect from a company that is ranked 12th in the Sunday Times Best Companies list, and with such high regard for staff welfare, Will and Huw want to go through the full legal process, consulting with all staff involved, before any sale completes.
For more information about Foxlow Chiswick click here
For more information about Foxlow Balham click here