A luxury fries brand launched by a Dutch Michelin-starred chef is set to head to the UK.
Sergio Herman launched Frites Atelier in 2016 following the closure of his triple Michelin-starred restaurant, Oud Sluis, in Sluis, in the Netherlands, in 2013.
Frites Atelier currently has three sites in Belgium – in Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent, and one in the Netherlands, in Roosendaal. The London site is listed as “coming soon” on the company’s website, and it is understood to be in the former Balans Soho No 34 site at 34 Old Compton Street.
Samuel Nassimi, commercial property consultant at CDG Leisure, said: “Frites Atelier is coming to London.”
Born in The Netherlands, Frites Atelier is the brainchild of three-time Michelin star chef Sergio Herman. Frites Atelier focuses on producing the single best gourmet chips in the world and has spent years on end painstakingly perfecting its craft.
It is as good as artwork. Frites Atelier will launch in the coming weeks at Soho’s most coveted corner, fronting both Frith Street and Old Compton Street – any restaurateur’s dream.
Frites Atelier has since expanded to open further locations and in other countries, and most recently has struck a partnership with world-renowned chef and restaurateur Riccardo Giraudi to become its global partner in rolling out the brand in select cities.
Giraudi has brought the international culinary scene brands such as Beefbar Global, Le Petit Beefbar, Rumore, Anahi and Zeffirino 1939, among many others. Frites Atelier London will be the next in line, to be run by him alongside a local partner. This is one to go and check out, if you love chips and a spot of champagne!”
Herman is also behind the Le Pristine restaurants in Antwerp, Singapore and Tokyo, plus Le Pristine café and Priveprivee in Antwerp. Casual dining group Balans Soho Society opened Balans No 34 opened in 1987, followed in 1993 by Balans No 60, at 60 Old Compton Street.
There are also Balans sites in Westfield Stratford and in Kensington. In August 2020, Running Hare Restaurants acquired five of the seven sites that were operated by Balans Soho Society out of administration.
