Café Rouge to trial new 'Rouge' restaurant concept in Birmingham

Café Rouge is to open a second trial restaurant under its ‘Rouge’ concept in Birmingham next month.

In November the group relaunched its site in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, under the new name, with an updated look and menu in a bid to create a “more modern and relaxed dining experience”.

Now its restaurant in Birmingham’s Bullring shopping centre is set to reopen as Rouge on 16 March.

The 143-cover site will be refurbished with changes to its outdoor terrace, indoor dining area and private dining room.

Executive chef Bruno Bella has created a new menu of classic French dishes “reimagined with a modern twist”, including scallops baked in garlic and parsley butter with Parmesan crumb; and vegan options such as a Beyond Meat pretzel burger.

Thamir Abdul Hameed, general manager at Rouge in Birmingham, said: “We cannot wait to bring to Rouge to life in Birmingham: introducing new products such as a signature Champagne cocktail range as well as retaining guest favourites such as the beef bourguignon, we’re so excited to be serving up a brand-new menu and experience for our guests.”

The group is the latest casual dining brand to trial a change in name after Frankie & Benny's revealed last year that its Basildon branch was dropping Benny's from the name, shortening it to just Frankie's.

Café Rouge was launched in Richmond, south London, in 1989, by Roger Myers and Karen Jones, who were inspired by the all-day brasseries of Paris. It has since passed through several owners and last year its most recent owner Casual Dining Group went into administration.

In August 2020 private equity company Epiris bought Casual Dining Group out of administration and rebranded it as Big Table Group, which operates more than 150 restaurants across the UK and Ireland under three brands: Café Rouge, Las Iguanas and Bella Italia.