Mark Hix returns to London as FB managing director

Renowned chef Mark Hix, who lost his London restaurant empire to the pandemic in early 2020, has returned to the capital as the restaurant's general manager of food and drinks at Groucho Club.

Hix had worked for Caprice Holdings for 17 years, and is a chief executive of The Ivy, Le Caprice and Scott's.

As such, he's responsible for the entire menu at the private Soho club, well known for excess and the occasional mis-demeanour of its celebrity guests.

In 2007, he left the business to open Hix Restaurants with locations all over London, including one at Brewer Street not far from The Groucho in Soho.

Groucho was bought this summer from ArtFarm, which is being run by Ewan Venters, the CEO of ArtFarm parent company Hauser and Wirth.

The Hix group closed in 2020 because of Covid problems and Hix moved to his home village in Dorset, where The Oyster & Fish House in Lyme Regis is the only restaurant to bear his name.

Speaking out about the announcement, Mark Hix said: 'The chance to work at the Groucho was irresistible to me. I have worked with Ewan on several projects previously, and this club is part of the fabric of my life. The Groucho represents everything that's great in a members’ club — it is welcoming, familiar and eclectic. You can walk in on your own and suddenly find yourself having the most interesting conversation with a like-minded soul you've never met before. It manages to be both cosy and glamorous.'