We wanted to create a friendly, welcoming place where a smile goes a long way!
It’s about exploring the wonderful foods from around the globe and opening our ears to music from around the world.
giraffes are so tall they see a different view of the world. we LOVE fresh ideas.
giraffe is operated by the original founders Juliette and Russel Joffe and Andrew Jacobs who all have an active role in the day to day management of the business.
giraffe was acquired in March 2013 by Tesco as part of its strategy to utilise some of the space in their larger stores, creating retail destinations that offer customers, in particular families, a compelling experience outside of their weekly shopping trip.
Juliette, Russel and Andrew decided to open the kind of restaurant they would like to hang out in.
Somewhere relaxed where people could have a great coffee and freshly cooked food at any time of day – all to the spirited sounds of world music so you could imagine yourself being anywhere from Sydney to Israel – somewhere sunny and full of smiles.
Russel always wanted to have a business called giraffe – hence the restaurant ‘giraffe’ was born in 1998 and the first restaurant is in Hampstead
“Did you know that giraffes have the largest hearts of any land mammals?”