Santo Remedio secures London Bridge site

13-Jun-2017 - Last updated on 14-Jun-2017 at 13:35 GMT

Mexican restaurant Santo Remedio has secured a permanent home near London Bridge after successfully hitting its £40,000 crowdfunding target.

The restaurant, which means ‘Holy Remedy’ in Spanish, was launched in Shoreditch by Wahaca’s former head of menu innovation Edson Diaz-Fuentes and his wife Natalie last year. It received glowing reviews, but the team were forced to shut up shop after just five months citing problems “outside their control”.

Now the pair are believed to have secured the former Magdalen restaurant site in Tooley Street for an opening later this year, according to BigHospitality’s sister website MCA.

Magdalen, which has been trading for 10 years, was opened by James Faulks, a graduate of both the Fat Duck and the Anchor and Hope, and colleague David Abbott from Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons. It is thought that the owners are now taking a career break.

The Santo Remedio owners raised £45,368 from 406 backers. Pledges beyond the £40,000 target will be used to import art work and décor from Mexico to transform the bar area in to a replica of authentic Mexican cantinas and mezcalerias.

The new restaurant will continue to service Mexico City-style carnitas and octopus tostadas, as well as more speciality regional dishes.

Before opening Santo Remedio, Edson Diaz-Fuentes had been head of menu innovation at Mexican group Wahaca, working closely with co-founders Thomasina Miers and Mark Selby.

Davis Coffer Lyons is understood to have acted on the Tooley Street deal.