Rousset to leave 28°-50° and Texture

Master sommelier Xavier Rousset is to leave the two restaurants he founded with chef Agnar Sverrisson: the Michelin-starred Texture and wine-focused 28°-50°.

Rousset has left the Texture and 28°-50° Restaurant Group with immediate effect to pursue other projects but will retain a shareholding in the business. A new director of operations has already been appointed by the group following Rousset’s departure.

“With 28°-50° and Texture growing so successfully over the last nine years, now is the right time for me to step down and pursue a new challenge.” Rousset said in a statement.

We contacted Rousset for comment: “I’ve got a few projects on the go that didn’t necessarily fit with the guys. I can’t really say what it is, but it will launch within the next six months to a year.

“It’s heavily involved in wine – there will be some restaurants involved. One of the projects is a collaboration, the other is my own,” he said.

“I only decided to leave the group in the last few months. It’s the end of an era from my side in terms of running it. I’m very proud to have done it as we built it from scratch and now employ 100 people.

“I’ve still got the energy to do other things, so it was the right time. It’s bittersweet for me. Aggy is still running the show, so it’s business as usual there,” he added.

The pair met while working at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxford as head sommelier and head chef and went on to open Texture in Marylebone in 2007.

“Xavier has made a huge contribution to the success of the business. I would like to thank him for his tremendous work over the last nine years and wish him every success in the future,” Sverrisson said.

The first 28°-50° “wine workshop and kitchen” opened off Fleet Street in 2010, with a Marylebone site following in 2012 and a third launched in Mayfair in 2013.