Restaurateur Leonid Shutov has confirmed that the much-anticipated Bob Bob Cité will open on Monday 25th March 2019, ‘a mere fourteen months’ after originally planned. The restaurant, in the landmark Leadenhall Building designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and informally known as the Cheesegrater, will be the City of London sibling to Soho’s iconic Bob Bob Ricard.
Suspended above the 30-meter high open-air atrium like the gondola of a zeppelin, Bob Bob Cité will accommodate 190 covers across two dining rooms. Three private dining suites, complete with a reception room, dining room and City views, will each seat eighteen guests.
The interior by BradyWilliams studio aims to equal the glamour and flamboyance of Bob Bob Ricard (recently hailed ‘a national treasure’) but with a contemporary, urban design befitting its Square Mile location.
Chef Eric Chavot’s menu will offer the classic French country-style cooking memorably described by the critic Jay Rayner as ‘the sort of brilliant faux paysanne stuff you get when you put a culinary aristocrat in the kitchen,’. Eric will use meticulously-sourced produce, mostly from Britain, but travelling further afield for authentic touches such as mineral water from a naturally-carbonated source in his native Arcachon.
'Pressez pour le champagne' buttons will be a fixture of Bob Bob Ricard’s French-themed sibling. Champagne will be offered in Magnums, Jeroboams and Methuselahs at no premium to standard bottles, allowing guests to enjoy the theatre and luxury of these big formats without paying extra. Bob Bob Cité will also have one of the largest selections of Armagnac (over 100 vintages starting with 1888) and a collection of Chateau d’Yquem - the world’s greatest sweet wine - going back to 1866.
Announcing the opening date of Bob Bob Cité, Leonid Shutov says, “Good things come to those who wait. I am delighted that we will be opening Bob Bob Cité a mere fourteen months later than we had intended to. Bob Bob Ricard was two years late when we built it, so I feel this is already a big improvement!”
“One concierge service told us that they have had over five thousand reservation requests for Bob Bob Cité since it has been delayed. I am thrilled that, come March, we will be able to welcome everyone to enjoy Eric’s outstanding food in a restaurant which I hope will become as much of a City of London landmark as the Cheesegrater itself.”
