Damian Wawrzyniak to explore London hotel restaurant opportunities

Damian Wawrzyniak is exploring hotel restaurant opportunities after Jan closed last week following less than a month in operation.

The chef-restaurateur closed the Polish restaurant in London's Battersea on 19 July after just three weeks of trading over a rent disagreement with the landlord.

Wawrzyniak was due to sign an official lease contract next week after relaunching the restaurant under the same name it previously operated as. However, ahead of this, the landlord introduced a rent review that would double the site's rent.

Wawrzyniak said the restaurant could reopen at the end of August, should the issues be resolved. However, if not, he would look to partner with a hotel group to open another London site.

He told The Caterer

“I have been talking to other independent restaurateurs who have been in similar positions and most of them confirmed that the current situation for renting a restaurant in London is difficult. The rent review is only after three years â€" it’s a bit short-term to get a business on track, it should be five years. So I will be looking to work with a hotel. It would be a much more stable position than working with a landlord who, within two years, may want to turn the restaurant into flats.”

In the meantime, Wawrzyniak will be focusing on his restaurant House of Feasts near Peterborough in Cambridgeshire and will be offering anyone who had booked to eat at Jan 30% off at the restaurant.

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