Embryonic West London Development Loses Apparently Legit Brasserie After 12 Months

Wellbourne, an all-day brasserie which served vol-au-vents in the new White City Place development in west London, has closed, just a year after it opened.

Big Hospitality reports that the restaurant, started by friends and colleagues Ross Gibbens, Michael Kennedy, and Martin Irwin — who, until the summer of 2017, worked head and sous chef, and restaurant manager at the now-closed, seminal Michelin-starred London restaurant Dabbous, closed because the development at large had struggled to attract significant business. Notably, a theatre which had been scheduled to open, had been delayed.

Wellbourne was styled as a modern French-British all-day dining restaurant and joined a number of other brands who moved into the redeveloped west London location. It is thought other businesses have either struggled or closed.

White City Place site wae the third location for the Wellbourne brand (Gibbens and Kennedy launched their first restaurant in Bristol in September 2017 and a second in the Pyrenees town of Salardu, which operated for winter ski seasons.) Big Hospitality also reports that both those other locations have closed, too.

Ahead of the opening last year, Gibbens said that “White City Place is the perfect fit for our relaxed but ambitious restaurant. Our flexible menu provides a unique style of daytime offering...”

It seems that they were perhaps only partly responsible for their subsequent fate.