Last week, Conor Gadd, the chef co-owner of Italian restaurant Trullo in Highbury, opened the doors to his new restaurant Burro. Taking its name from the Italian word for butter, Burro is a 100-cover restaurant with a 30-cover terrace that occupies the space in Covent Garden that was previously home to Petersham Nurseries.
Here Gadd discusses his move to Covent Garden, why he decided against opening a second Trullo, and why he believes that, despite the economic headwinds, there has never been a better time to open a restaurant.
Tell us about the journey of Burro
It’s been in the pipeline for a long time. I’ve been looking at sites for over a year and a half. There was a number of false starts where I’ve been ready to go, and the landlord has pulled out, or where I’ve had cold feet. This site has been going on for 10-11 months. Now that it’s opening it’s very, very emotional.
Why did you choose Covent Garden?
Covent Garden wasn’t on my radar in any shape or form; I had been looking around Notting Hill and Marylebone. When you look at the very essence of Trullo, there are plenty of places where it would be super successful. But I soon realised that I can’t do another Trullo, it doesn’t really work, so that’s when I changed my mindset. My property agent suggested Covent Garden. I hadn’t been there for about four to five years but came and looked and you can see they’ve spent a fortune on it. As soon as I saw the site I knew it was right, it’s a stunner.
How does it feel taking on the former Petersham site?
I was a bit nervous about the juju of taking over a failed restaurant but that was outweighed by its turnkey condition. In taking over a former restaurant there’s a lot of things in existence that are extraordinarily useful. The idea of building a restaurant from scratch in say an old bank wasn’t something that interested me.
What have you kept from the site?
It has beautiful oak flooring that we have kept, and the mechanical engineering was top notch, so all that expensive structural stuff was great, but everything else we’ve changed. The kitchen was great, but it didn’t suit my purpose, so I had to redesign it. It’s slightly bigger than anticipated, but what I don’t want to do is get it wrong and then have to close and redo it. We’ve also built a stunning bar.
And there’s also a terrace...
Hopefully once the weather kicks in it will be a standout feature. I’m not promoting the terrace too much because it will sell itself; I want to fill the restaurant first, because once people see the terrace trying to get them inside in the summer will be troublesome. I was adamant that I had to get Burro open by early March so people would eat in the restaurant before moving onto the terrace.
You considered doing another Trullo then?
Trullo is an outstandingly successful restaurant; it has no right to be given its location. It’s sort of a dodgy street and the building is difficult to manage - there’s an old Victorian cellar where water seeps in constantly. Yet despite all that it’s super busy seven nights a week lunch and dinner so I would have been a fool to have not explored trying to replicate that somewhere else. But when you spend time at Trullo, one thing you realise above all else is a sense of place and everyone who eats there and works there all has a belief they own a small part of it, be it their favourite table, favourite section, or favourite wine to pour. Once I realised that opening another Trullo would be to dilute that I shut the idea down pretty quickly. What it did make me realise was that sense of place and belonging can be replicated in a slightly different format.
How does Burro differ from Trullo?
The menu is longer. One, because the kitchen is a lot bigger [than Trullo’s] and there’s more room to work with. Two, Covent Garden has more tourist trade. If an American or Japanese tourist comes in, they want to see dishes such as vongole, carpaccio or tortellini - it’s important to have dishes they will recognise so when they sit down they know what to expect. Then we can slowly build up that level of trust with them. Trullo’s menu might have dishes or ingredients you might not know because we have that trust.
How do you feel about operating in Covent Garden?
The number of Londoners going there surprised me, there’s a very London theatre-going crowd. I want to create something that feels local and which becomes an integral part of someone’s week. Covent Garden is a lot busier, and the clientele is more transient, so it’s definitely different, but I don’t know in what exact form that will take. That’s the exciting part. I’m looking forward to seeing who this restaurant resonates with.
Is it a good time to be opening a restaurant?
Yes. I don’t know a huge amount about regional England but good operators in London are looking at sites all the time. Every site you look at is competitive and it’s a lot of the same faces. You cannot turn on a TV without seeing chefs on it, you cannot turn on Netflix without a documentary about a restaurant. While the economic climate is difficult, public awareness and appreciation of food is sky high, so you get customers who are really informed and passionate. Do they have the same disposable income as they did seven or eight years ago? Maybe not. But we have to adapt to that.
What are your hopes for Burro?
Something I’m very passionate about is making hospitality a truly viable career for people and giving them the belief that they can work in restaurants for a prolonged period. I want Burro to be an environment where there’s proper development and a professional journey and where people are extraordinarily proud and happy to work. I’m also looking for noise, that first night when I can’t hear myself think because there’s so many customers chatting. That cacophony of noise that only a restaurant can bring is wonderful.