Spuntino's first airport restaurant will land at Heathrow this winter

The New York-inspired restaurant will start to serve its signature small plates of American comfort food in December 2018, as part of a franchise agreement with transport hub specialist TRG Concessions.

The restaurant will provide both an all-day dining-in option as well as a selection of items designed to be taken away to eat in-flight.

It will serve Spuntino staples including macaroni and cheese; burgers; and peanut butter ice-cream sandwiches, as well as a selection of items exclusive to the airport.

The restaurant has developed a children’s menu and a breakfast menu, both of which will be exclusive to the airport site.

The family-friendly restaurant will feature a doughnut machine; a roller skating host; and a mural by Soho artist Neal Fox, in reference to the restaurant’s cult status as an edgy Soho dive bar.

The team has previously said​ that each airport iteration of Spuntino will be designed in partnership with Spuntino’s architects, SODA, to ensure that they all retain the look and feel of the original Soho site.

“When I travel I am always on the lookout for great quality food and drink in the airport,” says Polpo group managing director Scott Macdonald.

“Spuntino has always stood for delicious plates of comfort cooking with great drinks and proper hospitality.”

Earlier this year, Norman and Beatty announced the closure of their Venetian-inspired Polpo restaurants in Exeter and Bristol, as well as their Ape & Bird in London’s Shaftesbury Avenue and Spuntino in Bristol.

Macdonald insisted that the closures were not related to the current economic climate, and that the company enjoyed a record-breaking final quarter of 2017 with plans for the expansion of the Polpo and Spuntino brands in 2018.