French inspired restaurant Côte Brasserie has confirmed the opening date for its new Hale restaurant after completing a £1m+ refurbishment of the former Hale Grill site.
The Parisian-style brasserie on Ashley Road will open at 8am on Wednesday 25th January, four months after the sudden closure of Hale Grill by owner Living Ventures.
It has now completed a three-month refit of the 130-cover restaurant, which has created 50 new jobs.
Côte says it has carefully attempted to ensure the listed building “retains its character and charm with exposed beams and vaulted ceilings”.
Côte’s CEO, Alex Scrimgeour, said: “We are thrilled to be starting 2017 by opening our restaurant in Hale and we look forward to bringing our friendly, professional service and authentic French inspired food to this thriving town.”
Diners can expect to find everything from tuna carpaccio and steak tartare to cassoulet de Toulouse and moules frites on the menu. For dessert, crème caramel is a house speciality.
There’ll be a set menu on offer during weekday lunches and early evening, priced at £10.95 for two courses and £12.95 for three.
The “extensive” French wine list, meanwhile, will feature wines from a number of independent producers across France.
Côte says it “champions” all day dining, serving breakfasts – which include its eggs Benedict with homemade Hollandaise and a French breakfast with Côte’s award-winning boudin noir – until midday on weekdays and 1pm at weekends. It’s also accredited by Coeliac UK.
Côte was launched by a quartet of investors, including serial restaurateur Richard Caring, in Wimbledon in 2007 and grew to 45 sites before being sold to Close Brothers Private Equity in 2013 for a reported £100m.
It continued to expand and in 2015 was sold for a reported £250m to current owner, private equity firm BC Partners, in July 2015.
Last year it reported a 27.3% increase in turnover to £108.1m for the 12 months to August 2015.
Most of its restaurants are in London (over 40) but it does have existing sites in Manchester and Liverpool.
