Cover A cuttlefish dish at Francis West (Photo: Francis)
A cuttlefish dish at Francis West (Photo: Francis)
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Co-founder James Ward on what to expect from the second opening under the Francis brand
Opened in 2018 in Wan Chai's trendy Starstreet Precinct, Middle Eastern bistro Francis quickly gained acclaim for its faithful rendition of Israeli cuisine and left-field wine programme all within homey interiors, winning co-founders James Ward, Asher Goldstein, and Simone Sammuri Tatler Dining's Restaurateurs of the Year award in 2019, as well as being included in that year's Tatler Dining 20 list of best restaurants.
Five years on, Francis is finally branching out with its second location on Central's Peel Street, moving into a venue previously occupied by 121BC, Jalan, Mamma Always Said and Awa Awa. Named Francis West, the new addition will focus on the Maghreb region, which comprises the North African countries of Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Morocco, where Mediterranean influences mingle with Arab cooking traditions—with dishes such as Tunisian mashwiya grilled salad, spanner crab with chraime spicy sauce and lamb merguez featured alongside Francis classics like hummus, cigars, smoked carrots and knafeh.
Later in the year, Francis East will follow, presumably eastwards of Francis' original location in Wan Chai, and with a focus on the eastern Mediterranean region of the Levant. Ahead of the openings, co-founder James Ward spoke to Tatler on what to expect from Francis West, what he believes makes a successful restaurant, and why Middle Eastern cuisine has so much more to offer.
Above The exterior of Francis West (Photo: Francis)
The exterior of Francis West (Photo: Francis)
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How did the conversation come about to open another location?
It's been in the pipeline for the last 24 months or so. We were actively looking for a space but because of the restrictions we very much decided, first and foremost, that the goal should be maintaining this little baby [the original Francis]. One of the things that we've always said from day one is that we shouldn't compromise on quality, but [the plans for expansion] were always in the background.
In the last six months or so, there’s been a little bit more movement in the property market. When we saw the venue on Peel Street, it sort of ticked many boxes for us. So we decided, now's the time.
Peel Street has quite a culture of its own. What are you looking to bring to the area?
The beauty of Peel Street is it's like a lovely little neighbourhood street in the heart of Central. So in terms of location it's perfect to cover lunch and dinner which for a restaurant is what we need.
Central has that lovely blend of residential and commercial, and some of my favourite restaurants are in Central. People tend to gravitate towards those little streets off Hollywood Road.
There was one other slight factor for us in that the chef and the sommelier opened 121BC ten years ago in the same space, so there’s a slight emotional connection. I like to refer to it as the homecoming for these two. The space itself has seen four or five operators since 121BC, but I still maintain it's a cracking little neighbourhood spot and I think we can make it work all day long.
Raw tuna, argan oil, almond, green chilli, gazpacho (Photo: Francis)
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How will the Peel Street location be similar or different to the original Francis?
When we opened Francis, our goal was very much to create hospitality experiences from a place of purpose and simplicity. That was always at the forefront of what we did.
A good restaurant is about great food, great wine, great people and honest pricing. That sort of ideology is something for sure that we will take through to the new Francis, but we didn't want to do a straight roll-out. After all, Hong Kong is a relatively small city and over the last few years destination dining has become more of a thing. So I think it's important that there’s a slight unique point of difference to Francis West.
We'll be bringing a new part of the Middle East to Hong Kong. With Wan Chai the focus is Tel Aviv, which is [chef Asher Goldstein's] home city; and with the new one, we're focusing on a region called the Maghreb, which is effectively that coastline at the top of North Africa linking the four countries of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya.
We’ll be bringing our sort of contemporary take of those flavours. You’ll still see some Middle Eastern classics in hummus and falafel and lovely homemade bread and lots of vegetables. And again the style of service will be very similar: lots of small sharing plates, honest pricing, and a good wine program just to complete it.
In terms of the food menu we’ll be looking to take about 25% from the existing menu, just so you have that familiarity, and people who have been to the original Francis know roughly what to expect from the new one. In terms of the space, it’s not dissimilar to the original Francis, the exception being we will take reservations.
What kind of lessons did you learn as the operator of a small restaurant during the pandemic?
It has been tough over the last few years but one of the things that we've really learnt is to be eternally grateful for our amazing team, first and foremost. As a lesson and in managing a business and in life, taking care of your people will allow you to prosper in the long run. We've been quite lucky that we haven’t lost anyone. It’s bloody difficult to hire people these days so retention should be more of a focus for a lot of operators.
The beauty is we’re a small business so we can be quite nimble and we can make changes quickly, but one of the things for us particularly when dinner was closed was we never compromised on quality, and even if that very much affected our bottom line—and it did, because for months we were running at a loss—it’s the one thing I badgered on to the kitchen team and to the service team: maintain the standards that we did when opening.
We weren’t going to tweak the price point. We weren’t going to effectively screw our diners. We had to be better than ever.
Above Co-founders James Ward, Asher Goldstein, and Simone Sammuri (Photo: Francis)
Co-founders James Ward, Asher Goldstein, and Simone Sammuri (Photo: Francis)
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How do you feel like the evolution of Middle Eastern cuisine has been in Hong Kong since you opened?
For sure, since we opened there are more and more restaurants under that Middle Eastern arm, and for me that's exciting because it shows that there's an appetite. There's a few more recognisable faces in the Middle Eastern culinary world like Eyal Shani and Ottolenghi.
Everyone forgets this but the Mediterranean's a huge part of the Middle East. In terms of a cuisine there is familiarity and for us, that's why we wanted to continue growing the Francis brand because we've only touched on a tiny element in Israel—hence with number two, we're going to bring you the flavours of North Africa, and later this year, we’ll be touching on another area with Francis East.
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Gavin Yeung is a Hong Kong-based writer and was the editor at Tatler Dining. He has written across the realms of F&B, design, fashion and travel, with a focus on in-depth profiles and experiential features. Previously, he held editorial positions at Hypebeast, Soho House and Vogue Hong Kong. He’s also a keen photographer and aspiring home bartender, and is constantly thinking of original, Cantonese-inflected (and occasionally questionable) cocktails to shake up. Follow him on Instagram at @gaviny.
