Margot Henderson files plans for a Rochelle Canteen-style Bath site
Planning and listed-building applications have been submitted for a 143-cover restaurant on Shires Yard, with backers describing an approach built on Rochelle Canteen's model.
Margot Henderson, the Rochelle Canteen co-founder, is opening a restaurant in Bath, with planning and listed-building consent applications submitted for a Georgian building on Shires Yard, off Broad Street, Restaurant Online reported this week.
Leaseholder Aston Cole said the project would echo Rochelle Canteen's "relaxed al fresco dining" and "warm, unhurried hospitality," aiming for "equal calibre and renown," according to a statement cited by the trade title.
The site at Units 3-7 Shires Yard covers a ground-floor dining room, a private dining room and a courtyard terrace, with roughly 143 covers in total, Restaurant Online reported. Plans submitted to Bath and North East Somerset Council set trading hours from noon to 11.30pm, seven days a week.
Shires Yard, once Carluccio's, becomes the latest London export to land in Bath.
Interior designer Joseph de Klee is working from Georgian references for the fit-out, the title said. Existing flooring will be retained and refinished, while the courtyard's glazing will be replaced with stonework and sash windows.
Henderson co-founded Rochelle Canteen with business partner Melanie Arnold in Shoreditch, east London, in 2004, building a menu around British produce and traditional dishes with Mediterranean influences. Investor Max Wigram, a gallery curator and antiques dealer, previously worked with Henderson on the Three Horseshoes, a restaurant with rooms in Batcombe, Somerset.
A site that has cycled through concepts
The Shires Yard unit was occupied by Carluccio's from 2012 to 2018, Restaurant Online reported. Indian restaurant Bandook later took over the space under the current landlord, before it became available again.
No opening date has been confirmed. The applications to Bath and North East Somerset Council remain under consideration, according to the trade title.
Bath's pull for London kitchens
Henderson's move follows a run of London-trained chefs opening further from the capital this year, among them Tom Booton's debut solo restaurant, Ralphie's, which opens in Belgravia next month. Bath's Georgian terraces have drawn a steady run of openings from operators based in London over the past two years.
Henderson and Cole have set no confirmed trading date, and the council applications have yet to be decided.
