How team at Francis, Middle Eastern restaurant in Hong Kong, learned ‘an expensive lesson’ before expanding with Francis West, focused on food from North Africa

The opening of Francis West, by the team behind Middle Eastern spot Francis, is testament to the persistence of James Ward, Asher Goldstein and Simone Sammuri
Having survived anti-government protests in 2019, a big financial setback and the Covid-19 pandemic, the team plan on extending the brand’s reach further

Food and Drinks

Bernice Chanin Vancouver

Published: 12:45pm, 14 Apr 2023

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Fans of Francis – a popular Middle Eastern restaurant in the Starstreet precinct in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island – have a new location in which to linger over dinner and drinks. Francis West recently opened on Peel Street in SoHo.

The restaurant’s location came as a surprise to Francis’ co-founder James Ward, as he had never considered having a restaurant in Central.

Fellow co-founder and chef Asher Goldstein, however, was familiar with the district – and even more so with the space where Francis West has opened, as it had formerly housed an Italian wine bar where he had worked for five years.

“It has a lovely neighbourhood vibe, with Fineprint making coffee and avocado toast, and The Shady Acres serving cocktails,” Ward explains, referring to two other food and drink spots on Peel Street. “[At Francis West] we can offer a glass of wine and dinner.”

Francis West, on the upper slope of Peel Street in SoHo, Hong Kong. Photo: Francis West

While the new outlet features menu items cherry-picked from the original – such as its signature hummus and lamb ribs – Francis West leans more towards North African cuisine, with dishes including lamb merguez sausage; spanner crab with chraime, a spicy sauce made from tomatoes and paprika; and mashwiya, a Tunisian grilled salad made with aubergine, tomato and labneh.

“We wanted to expand the Francis brand and touch on a different area of the Middle East, like Maghreb,” says Ward, using the Arabic name for North Africa. “It’s slightly unexplored in Hong Kong and we wanted to move away from the cliché offerings of tagine and Arabic decor.”

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The space at Francis West is sleek and contemporary and, with just 36 seats, Ward says it has a cosy atmosphere. Diners can reserve a table for up to six guests.

For now, Francis West is only open for dinner service, although there are plans to open for lunch by the end of April and to offer breakfast.

The timing of its opening could not be better – Hong Kong lifted the last of its Covid-19 restrictions in March and tourists are starting to return. Many restaurants closed down during the pandemic thanks to the city’s inbound travel restrictions and strict dining regulations, but Francis has managed to come through relatively unscathed.

“We focused on maintaining quality, looked after our team, offered value to consumers and managed our costs,” says Ward of how they have survived. “It’s nice we’re a small business.”

While the menu at Francis West includes some classics from the original Francis, the new branch veers more towards North African cuisine. Photo: Francis West

Ward was not even 30 years old when he opened Francis in 2018, with Goldstein and sommelier Simone Sammuri. It was a steep learning curve for the British-born Ward, who began working in hospitality in 2009 as a graduate manager with hotel group De Vere. He moved to Hong Kong in 2011 to work for Aqua Restaurant Group, before heading to fine-dining restaurant group Le Comptoir in 2015.

Two years ago, at the height of the pandemic, financial issues threatened the small restaurant group’s business. They led to the closure of another of its restaurants, Mr Brown in Wan Chai, at the end of 2021.

Ward at Francis West in Hong Kong. Photo: Francis West

In hindsight, Ward says, perhaps Mr Brown did not have much of a chance – during the 2019 anti-government movement, protests periodically flared up outside the restaurant and made it difficult to operate, which created losses down the line that were hard to recuperate.

Nevertheless, Ward says losing Mr Brown “was an expensive lesson for us”.

A range of dishes at Francis West. Photo: Francis West

For him and his partners, Goldstein and Sammuri, Francis West is a fresh opportunity to refocus on the Francis brand. The team wants to open Francis East – an all-day cafe that will be a bakery and deli for breakfast and lunch and a wine bar in the evening – in Tai Koo on the east side of the island.

While most people have returned to working in an office, many are not doing it for five days a week. Still, Ward imagines there will be lots of breakfast meetings and people will often leave their homes for a bite and a drink during their working day.

“Hongkongers aren’t blessed with big apartments,” he says.

Crab with chraime and toast at Francis West. Chraime is a spicy sauce made from tomatoes and paprika. Photo: Francis West

A brief guide to Francis West’s menu

By Charmaine Mok

Francis West’s menu is inspired by the flavours of the Maghreb, a region of North Africa that comprises Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Morocco. As at the Wan Chai original, its dishes are designed to be shared – and matched with Sammuri’s curated list of wines – most originating from the coasts of the Mediterranean, and including some intriguing bottles from Israel, Morocco and Lebanon.

Crab with chraime and toast

Chraime, a popular North African fish dish, is given a twist here with the use of fresh crab and toast for dipping into the richly spiced stew. The name comes from the Arabic word for “hot”.

Merguez

Francis West makes its own North African-style lamb sausages, which are deeply flavoured with a harissa-forward spice mix and served with a sweet grilled red pepper.

Mashwiya

Sometimes spelled as mechouia, this Tunisian salad features chargrilled ingredients such as aubergine and tomato, bound together by labneh.

Stone-baked Frena

Frena is a Moroccan-style flatbread typically cooked on top of hot stones, and has been likened to Georgian lavash or Italian focaccia. Here, it is served with the restaurant’s signature hummus, red zhug (a Yemenite hot sauce with red peppers) and matbucha (a Moroccan tomato and pepper salad).

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