Hart and soul

With a name like Barrafina in its portfolio, still widely regarded as the best Spanish restaurant in London 11 years after it launched, the Harts Group doesn’t usually struggle to get noticed when it comes to bidding for sites.

Yet Coal Drops Yard, the £100m new retail and F&B destination in Kings Cross, is a different beast altogether.

Part of a wave of regeneration in the area, the collaboration between developer Argent and Heatherwick architects has reimagined the heritage of the former industrial heartland into a boutique consumer destination.

Up against some of the most prestigious restaurant operators in the world, the Harts knew they would have to double their efforts to win the competitive tender and achieve their long-held ambition to open in Kings Cross.

“It was a ridiculously long, drawn out and tough pitch process”, James Hart recalls. “Normally when you say you’re Barrafina most people are desperate to have you in.

“But we were warned this wasn’t a normal pitch, where you can just turn up with pictures and take the landlord for lunch.”

The partners spent three months researching the pitch, the history of the site and developing the concept.

“It went right down to the wire”, Hart says. “All the best guys in the UK were interested in doing something here, so we were absolutely delighted to have won it. Now we’ve just got to realise it.”

The vision that the Harts came up with – brothers James and Sam, and long-time business partner Crispin Sommerville – was certainly ambitious.

Originally earmarked as a single c250 cover behemoth of restaurant sprawling over two levels, they carved up the space into a number of individual operations which maximised the terraces.

Barrafina, the Barcelona inspired tapas restaurant which has been one of London’s most influemtial in recent years, opens its fourth iteration upstairs.

Still to come is Perillan, the terrace restaurant on the second floor by Barrafina set to open in spring.

The spaces are independent enough to operate separately, and clearly distinguished, but part of the same Harts family.

The conceptual development was heavily inspired by the history of the space, a former Victorian powerhouse where the coal would be collected and distributed via the rail network.

“There was something about the space and history which really resonated with us”, Hart says.

“We feel very strongly about not wanting to be in a glass box, as it strips a lot of personality out of places. Here it felt there was massive opportunity to do something special.

“We poured our heart and souls into this - hopefully we will pull it off!”

With plenty of outside terrace space to utilize, the team researched some of the best examples of al fresco dining, such as the Chiltern Firehouse, and set about creating a dining space that could withstand the English elements.

An early test was provided on the opening weekend, when temperatures plummeting to 2 degrees, but visitors still taking up seats in Plaza Pastor.

Casa Pastor builds on the work at El Pastor, described as a glorification of the humble taco, with some new more premium elements, such as a mariscos seafood menu, making it the flagship example of the collection.

Stepping outside is sibling site Plaza Pastor, the more wet-led covered terrace, with winter heaters and a central bar.

On the same level and coming under the same business is The Drop, the wine bar set in the development’s arches.

Originally designated as an office and bin-store, the Harts felt it was a waste of an interesting space, and the name referencing three different things – a drop of coal, a drop of wine and the drop in of electronic music, in reference to the area’s nightclub history (as well as Sam Hart and Sommerville’s music industry and club background).

Still to come is Perillan, the terrace restaurant on the second floor set to open in spring.

First conceived as a Basque grill, due to restrictions on extractors and kitchen space it is now being redeveloped to include charcoal grills embedded into diner’s tables, allowing them to cook their own Galician steak and langoustines.

With so many stakeholders, the development of such a complicated project over a two-year timescale has not been without its problems, but Hart believes they have made the end product better.

“The process has been a little torturous, with so many people involved,” Hart says. “But Argent have really supported our vision and pushed us to do amazing stuff. They were very hands on, looking at every single thing along the way.

“It was an eye opening process, constantly having to justify everything, with a lot of battles to win. But as a result of having to work so hard, we have end up with something really considered, which will hopefully excite people.”

With the group effectively going from five restaurants to 10, the staff headcount has more or less doubled to close to 500, with many arrivals joining in recent weeks.

This has meant building an HR department from scratch, as well as bolstering operations and communications, to allow the Harts and Sommerville to take more holistic roles.

Managing operations for the whole Coal Drops Yard is Harry Bown, supported by operations director Ben Matthews, formerly of Jackson & Rye, Corbin & King and Gaucho.

Meanwhile Lisa Jones has been promoted to HR director, and Sophie Orbaum has come in as communications director.

Also part of the growing up process was the decision to open up the group to outside investment via crowdfunding for the first time, something they decided was important to drive engagement among supporters of the restaurants.

From a target of £750,000, they raised an impressive £2.3m, which eases the pressure in terms of cash flow.

“When you’re expanding like we have, it felt like the right move to give a bit of equity. You don’t always want to put yourself under pressure early doors, if you slightly over estimate turnover in the first few weeks.

“We didn’t know whether the project would be delivered on time. That could have had a catastrophic impact on our trading. When you’re a small business you can’t afford to have cash flow problems – that’s another reason crowdfunding worked well for us. We could easily have done that raise with a few key investors, but we wanted to engage as many people as possible.”

Despite the growth spurt, Harts won’t be opening 50 restaurants on every high street any time soon, despite acknowledging that rolling out to high street glass boxes would be easy.

“We really like the idea that our brands maintain a cache, and are aspirational”, Hart says. “Beyond a certain size brands lose what makes them special. We can still be in all those businesses. With all the people we have brought in, we have essentially grown our family. We still feel like we have the personal touch.

As well as overzealous expansion, Hart believes it is a failure of creativity that has led to the problems on the high street, and holds Argent’s development is an example of how to reimagine consumer spaces.

“People are attracted to spaces that feel real, with more soul and more passion. I hope the high street and wider restaurant community will move in that direction.

“Landlords will have to revaluate what they’re getting from tenants. There are so many things against restaurants that it will have to become a more attractive space to operate in.”