London is calling the ONE Group.
The rising New York-based restaurant empire behind the swank STK steakhouse is expanding across the pond with plans to open new outposts along with a London headquarters, ONE Group CEO Jonathan Segal told Side Dish.
The total UK investment of $25 million and 550 employees follows the group’s aggressive US expansion in the past year.
ONE Group generated $82 million in revenue last year and is on track to do $125 million to $130 million this year, according to Segal. It has 2,500 employees.
Starting in September, the company will operate all the restaurants as well as food and beverage service for the luxe ME London Hotel, part of Spanish hotel and resort operator Sol Melia.
A 240-seat STK will occupy the ground floor, along with Italian joint Cucina Asellina — the underbrand of the Asellina in New York — with 120 seats.
The 14-seat rooftop bar, Radio, will offer striking views of the city. In addition, there will be a Bar Marconi in the lobby.
Both names pay homage to the building, formerly known as the Marconi House for the “Father of Radio,” in honor of Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi, before it was converted to a luxe hotel.
Earlier this month, the ONE Group opened its first London venture, Heliot, a 150-seat restaurant that is part of the Hippodrome Casino, in Leicester Square.
The One Group also operates the bars on the four floors, along with three private dining rooms and all the food and beverage in the casino. “We are doing everything except the gambling,” Segal said.
Last fall, the ONE Group announced it was opening six new restaurants over the next 12 months, including three in Manhattan.
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Last Friday, Bagatelle America, a partnership of the ONE Group, Remi Laba and Aymeric Clemente, also signed a lease to open a Bagatelle restaurant in Miami in the Boulan development opposite the Settai on Collins Avenue.
With outposts in New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and St Bart’s, Bagatelle is another fast-growing, upscale chain.