Polpo founders offer £10,000 finders fee for new Spuntino site

Polpo's founders have put up a £10,000 reward for help securing a new site for their Spuntino band after announcing its Soho restaurant will close.

The Rupert Street restaurant, which offers small plates of Italian-influenced New York cuisine, will be returned to landlord Hallmark Estate on 31 July and is being marketed at an annual rent of £200,000.

Parent group Polpo said it was exploring options for a replacement restaurant in the area and offered a reward for information about off-market sites.

Managing director Richard Beatty said: "Losing Spuntino's original home at 61 Rupert Street is going to be tough. Rarely has a restaurant been so closely associated with the physical space it inhabits. But we have been greatly encouraged by the success of Spuntino at Heathrow Airport and have seen the potential for a reborn Spuntino in Soho that is bigger and better.

"Additionally, the love Londoners feel for that pewter-topped bar and those 27 stools means that we absolutely must find a new home. We are confident there is somewhere nearby that's just right for us and to show our commitment to this happening quickly, we are offering a £10,000 finder's fee reward to anyone who informs us of an off-market site that we end up signing on."

The group entered a franchise agreement with TRG Concessions to take the Spuntino brand into airports last year, with the Heathrow site following.

Polpo's creditors agreed a CVA for the brand last week. Polpo's Notting Hill Gate site and Polpetto in Berwick street have been placed on the market.

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