clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Major Parisian Operators’ First London Restaurant Is in Shoreditch

Big Mamma restaurant group will open a new Italian trattoria called Gloria

Big Mamma Paris restaurant group will open in Fitzrovia, London at Rathbone Square
Big Mamma restaurateurs Victor Lugger and Tigrane Seydoux
Big Mamma [Official Photo]

Restaurateurs Victor Lugger, Tigrane Seydoux, and the team behind Big Mamma group’s La Felicitá, Pink Mamma, and six other businesses in Paris have confirmed reports from February that they will open a first restaurant in Shoreditch, east London. The restaurant will be called Gloria, the duo have confirmed it will be an Italian trattoria, in keeping with the rest of the group’s portfolio.

The restaurant will accommodate 160 covers over two floors and replaces Red’s True Barbecue, whose closure coincided with the early reports of Big Mamma’s acquisition at the start of the year. The owners want to design the restaurant in a manner that reflects the aesthetic of Capri in the 1970s, the glamorous heyday of the small island off the coast of Naples. About that chosen direction, Lugger and Seydoux said the design should be warm, democratic, and authentic. “We hate ‘faux-old’ and we like the feeling that from the day we open, it feels like it’s always been there.”

“We are moving to London because the city is an absolute dream for us,” the two added in a statement. “Now that we have built a team in Paris we feel we can cross the channel. It may sound silly to talk about fate, but that’s what we feel is happening here — to have found this great site.”

To try and bring an authentic Italian experience and to “transport” their guests, Big Mamma will “ensure all our products are directly sourced from Italy, from suppliers that [they] know and love.”

They say the Big Mamma project was born after a three year trip across Italy, which involved sourcing products from Emilia to Puglia. “We love Stefano Borchini and his incredible Parma ham, Emmanuele Cammarrota in south Puglia and his creamy burrata and Vittorio Calla makes the best n’duja we ever tasted.”

Everything, they say, will be produced in house, including fresh pasta and “strong, slightly bitter,” coffee which the company roasts in Paris. But gelato will be made on-site, as will Big Mamma’s home-brewed beer and limoncello.

Why? Because: “We do that because that’s how they do it in Italy. Plus it’s way more fun and ensures we have kick-ass quality and 100 percent traceability. Our entire team is young, gutsy, passionate and Italian, and to us — that’s what matters most,” they say.

Shoreditch and Old Street is a restaurant neighbourhood reenergised in 2018. In the past twelve months, new openings have included Smoking Goat, Brat, St Leonards, Leroy, Nuala, Passo, Blacklock, Two Lights, Mãos, Cecconi’s, Rascals, The Frog, and Mikkeller. Pachamama East is due to open in two days.

Story

199 Tooley Street, , England SE1 2JX 020 7183 2117 Visit Website

Nuala

70-74 City Road , , EC1 Visit Website

BRAT

4 Redchurch Street, , England E1 6JL Visit Website

Mãos

41 Redchurch Street, , England E2 7DJ 020 7739 9733 Visit Website

Blacklock

16a Bedford Street, , England WC2E 9HE 020 3034 1394 Visit Website

Rascals

97 Curtain Road , London , EC2A 3BS Visit Website

Leroy

18 Phipp Street, , England EC2A 4NU 020 7739 4443 Visit Website

Smoking Goat

64 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6JJ

Passo

80 City Road, London, EC1Y 2BJ Visit Website

St Leonards

70 Leonard Street, , England EC2A 4QX 020 7739 1291 Visit Website

Two Lights

28-30 Kingsland Road, , England E2 8AA 020 3976 0076 Visit Website