A popular tapas chain is to open up a fifth branch in Peckham next month.
The Tapas Room will open on the site of the old Crown Hotel pub at 119 Peckham High Street.
The restaurant, which has room for 50 people, is due to open on May 17, when people can go out to eat and drink indoors for the first time in months. The business is split over a ground floor and basement level.
The Tapas Room’s other branches are in Deptford, Brixton, Battersea and Tooting.
Belcher said he had wanted to open up a new restaurant in Peckham for some time.
“We’ve been wanting to have another south-east London location for a while, as some of our other restaurants are more south-west” he told the News. “We’ve driven past the shop several times and when we saw it come up we knew we had to go for it.”
Asked why he was opening a new restaurant in a tough time for the industry, Belcher said: “Money hasn’t been too hard to come by, with all the government recovery funds, and our other restaurants are doing great. We’re not going crazy but we never want to stand still as a business.”
The Tapas Room is hiring for front of house and kitchen jobs in Peckham and in other locations. Booking will start around the start of May.