Papi founders launch crowdfund to open East London restaurant

Charlie Carr of Wingnut Wines and Matthew Scott of restaurant residency Hot 4 U have launched a £65,000 crowdfund to open Papi restaurant in London's Hackney.

At the time of writing, the pair have raised over £12,000 from 88 backers with 28 days to go until the end of the campaign.

The name Papi pays homage to Carr's late father and Scott's daughter, Sesame, and the restaurant has pledged to serve regeneratively reared meat and sustainably sourced seafood.

Over the past six months, the duo have made £65,000 worth of payments to lawyers, surveyors, interior designers and contractors to start work on the site.

The restaurant will be split across two floors, with a ground floor dining room featuring an open kitchen that will seat 28 and a cocktail bar that will seat 14.

The pair revealed on their Kickstarter page: "We now look to you, our community, to help us get Papi open and for Papi to become the kind of place we have always dreamed of. The kind of place we know you'll love."

They added that the funds from the crowdfund will be used to furnish the kitchen and upstairs dining room, as well as creating a prep kitchen.

Money will also go towards refurbishing the bathroom, designing the downstairs bar, and paying staff wages.

Carr and Scott added: "We understand that given everything that is going on in the world, this is not a good time to be asking for money and we also know that there are more important causes than our project. We are grateful for any donation to this project."

Click here to find out more about the Papi crowdfund.