New Dim Sum Opening Will Replace Celebrated Mayfair Restaurant Wild Honey

Wild Honey’s former Mayfair site will be turned into a dim sum project, according to Propel. Novators Hospitality, led by Tim Mills, the former group operations director at Vietnamese chain Pho, and reportedly backed by Burger and Lobster co-founder Misha Zelman, has taken the site at a passing rent of £103,000 per year. The premium — a lump sum paid on acquisition of a lease, usually applied to high value or “premium” (!) sites — is reported to be six figures, with the restaurant slated to open early 2020. The lease runs until 2033.

Novators Hospitality has incorporated a new Novators Hospitality (Mayfair) company in the last three months, which might hint at a rollout; Mills established the original company in 2018. Zelman, who recently denied reports that Burger and Lobster and its sister company Goodman Steakhouse were for sale, is not listed as a director on either company.

Wild Honey closed in March after 12 years, after owner Anthony Demetre decided not to renew a lease that had just three years to run. It has since relocated to St James’s, and its reboot is one of London’s hottest restaurants right now, continuing the artless excellence that earned the original acclaim.

More soon on the nature of the new restaurant.