Kosher restaurant Reubens set to return

Almost a year to the day since a fire ripped through Central London kosher deli and restaurant Reubens, owners have announced that it is to reopen after a £1m refurbishment.

In February of last year, the salt beef bar and restaurant, that first opened on Baker Street in 1973 was hit by fire which was thought to have been caused by an electrical fault.

In August, while being refurbished after the February fire, a second blaze occurred. This fire, which took hold early in the morning, took 60 firefighters to control it and left the premises gutted and its front windows shattered.

A spokesman for owners, S Group, which operates 12 other kosher London restaurants confirmed they are planning the launch for Spring 2025. 

The spokesman added: “We’ll also be offering a new, expanded menu that will include pastrami as well as salt beef and also offering our own bagels as well as rye and regular sandwich bread.”

Taking charge: Executive chef Hodaya Cohen[Missing Credit]

Hodaya Cohen will be heading up the kitchen team. The Israeli executive chef who worked previously as head chef at kosher fine dining restaurant, Herbert Smith in Herzliya’s Ritz Carlton hotel will lead the team at Reubens Deli and Restaurant. Miss Cohen will be adding new dishes to the new deli and planning a new concept for the restaurant’s lower ground floor.

Working alongside her will be one long term Reubens chef, Manuel, who has been cooking the meat restaurant’s signature salt beef and chicken soup for 30 years.

[Missing Credit]

S Group has also announced a new project on the site of pizza restaurant, Pizza Garden. Building work has commenced to convert the existing space into two retail spaces, divided between what will be Edgware’s first kosher barber — a third outlet for YoYo Barbers — and a restaurant as yet to be confirmed. This will be the third site for the small chain, which has outlets in Stamford Hill and Golders Green, cutting hair in accordance with Jewish halachah.