Fenwick eyes standalone restaurant sites following the success of its Fuego brand

Fenwick’s director of restaurants Piero Sardano says he is looking for a pilot site of around 3,000sq ft for Fuego, which majors on tapas and sourdough pizza.

Target locations include Newcastle – the city in which the Fenwicks brand was established and the home of its largest store – and Surrey.

“We would like to open a Fuego outside of our department stores because, frankly, I know that the standard of food is far superior to a lot of things on the high street. I'm more than confident that it would do very well,” Sardano says.

Fenwick opened a Fuego restaurant within its Kingston department store last month adding to Fuego restaurants it currently has in Newcastle, Bracknell and Brent Cross. 

There is a further Fuego-branded location in Canterbury, but the outlet is a café rather than being a full restaurant offering. 

The group also believes there is potential to bring its cake store and patisserie brand Mason & Rye to high street locations. 

“Restaurants at Fenwick now make up over 10% of overall sales. But as a group we have never really shouted about them, despite the fact we do them really well. They aren’t your typical canteen-style department store places,” continues Sardano, whose CV includes senior roles with chef Tom Aikens.  

"The food is high-quality. For example we make all the pastries and cakes for Mason & Rye within our pastry kitchens in Newcastle Castle and Kingston and distribute fresh each day across the wider group.” 

Fenwick operates nine stores across the UK. Its London department store - which is set to close next year - is home to Alexis Gauthier’s 123V vegan sushi restaurant. 

The group's Newcastle flagship has 12 separate F&B offers, a number of which are run by high-profile chef Terry Laybourne.