Growth Spurt
Okku recently announced plans to expand, of which its first venture will be in the St. James area of London. Spanning three floors, boasting over 18000sq.ft with seating for more than 435 guests from restaurant to bar, Okku London will be the first high-end restaurant born in Dubai to set foot into the UK capital.
Thesleff says that access to new equipment and ingredients is opening up a whole new world for the team: “We have to go into each market, look at it as a unique market and look at what it will take to compete in this marketplace. Everybody’s got different profiles, tastes, their idea of fun is different – and we have to tailor that but always keep within the Okku DNA.”
Raising the bar
But it’s not all about food. The beverage side is experiencing a similar focus. Sommelier of the Year, Garth Beer, is in talks with a Japanese Brewery to do some sake especially for Okku, following the success of the outlet’s introduction of its own branded Rosé, Splash.
| Advertisement |
While there has been a 21% increase in beverage revenues over the last year, 6% of all beverage revenue has come from sakes. The team is now focusing on Japanese beverages to inject some authenticity into the outlet.
“We will have purely a Japanese port whisky. The Japanese whisky side of things has seen a phenomenal increase,” says South African native Beer.
Alongside this, Beer has worked to revamp the outlet’s entire wine menu, linking it back to the food. This involved removing 50 wines from the list of 115 and adding a further 75. The revamp has seen 70% of tables now ordering wine with their meals compared to 20% last year.
“You don’t want to re-shuffle revenue,” believes Beer. “You don’t want to take away revenue from the bar and put it into the wine. You want to create additional. We revamped the wine list so it is more food-friendly; slightly lighter; fruitier and fresh. That’s what we’ve started to do with sake.”
Splash, developed for Okku, has a strong organic background. Since its launch three months ago, the venue has sold almost 100 of 300 bottles. This focus for bio-dynamic, organic and sustainable food and drink is something that will be ongoing.
Article continues on next page ...
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
