Serge et le Phoque closes London and Hong Kong restaurants
The restaurant, which was the brainchild of French restaurateurs Charles Pelletier and Frederic Peneau, opened at The Mandrake hotel in Fitzrovia in autumn 2017 and later rebranded to Serge.
Its opening followed the success of the original Serge et le Phoque in Hong Kong, which won a Michelin star in 2015.
The London site received a positive review from Fay Maschler in the Evening Standard, who praised its “restfully short” menu, and was recommended in the Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland - though it did not hold a star.
But the Hong Kong restaurant closed last year, and Serge had its last service in London last week.
New restaurant
The Mandrake Hotel is relaunching the restaurant space next month as Yopo, which promises to offer “modern European cooking with South American elements”.
Coffees and takeaway dishes will be served in the bar, alongside snacks from an open “raw kitchen”.
Dishes in the main dining space will include potato churros; charcoal grilled octopus with aki pancha and avocado; and ceviche of seabass, blood orange, red onion and nasturtium.
Drinks will include grower champagnes, and a weekly-changing selection of “rare” bottles from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Italy and Spain.
Yopo will open on 12 February.
