Linda Lee – 'London's queen of Korean cuisine', who introduced Seoul-style street-food to London with her On The Bab brand – is expanding into South London with the opening of a delivery kitchen in Nine Elms. Finally granting the long-held wish of On The Bab's many fans south of the river, the delivery area will take in Vauxhall, Stockwell, Brixton, Kennington, Clapham and Battersea, as well as the new residential developments at Nine Elms Park and Embassy Gardens. 

Meanwhile, Linda has introduced London-style all-day breakfast culture to her native South Korea, with the opening of Approach Coffee in Seoul. Lee spent much of the past year in the city, overseeing every stage of the project from conception to completion. Approach is housed in a stunning three-storey modern villa with landscaped garden, designed by Han Joong Kim of Ground Architects. It is situated in Seoul's up-and-coming Yongsan district, which is also home to the headquarters of global beauty brand Amorepacific - the first project in Seoul by renowned British architect David Chipperfield. 

Head chef is Suhyung Lee, who previously worked in London at BAO and Xu. His menu features beautifully-executed versions of the kind of breakfast and brunch dishes which are ubiquitous in London, but relatively unknown in Seoul, like full English breakfasts, avocado toast and shakshuka. Coffee is supplied by Brixton-based roastery Assembly Coffee, and Approach's homemade jams, which are available for retail, have quickly become a cult item among the South Korean capital's culinary cognoscenti. 

Now back in London, Linda Lee is carrying out a repositioning of On The Bab, still hugely popular eight years after the first restaurant opened in Shoreditch in 2013, to focus more on residential areas than central London. She has closed On The Bab's Covent Garden branch, on Wellington Street, after six years, coinciding with the end of the lease on the premises.  

The South London delivery kitchen will open in October, and Linda is currently in the advanced stages of securing a new physical site for On The Bab in North London to join the existing restaurants in Shoreditch and St Paul's, as well as On The Bab Paris which opend on rue Thérèse in the Opéra district in May 2019. 

KOBA, Linda's fine-dining Korean table BBQ restaurant in Fitzrovia, continues to trade successfully in its seventeenth year, and was recently reviewed favourably by Tom Parker Bowles for the Mail on Sunday who found the food “Divine”. 

With her restaurants now spanning three world capitals, Linda Lee continues to innovate and is exploring new ideas and brands to join On The Bab, Approach and KOBA within her ever-evolving group. Says Linda, “While the pandemic and lockdowns have created many challenges for my business and the wider hospitality industry worldwide, I am excited and optimistic about the future, and remain as committed as ever to London, the city I love and call home.” 

For all press enquiries please contact Hugh Richard Wright: hrw@hughrichardwright.com