Ronnie's: Fashion Doesn't Need Another Perfume. It Needs a Great Sandwich.

Leigh Maynard
3 hours ago
7 min read

When Ronnie Fleg took a job at his local shoe shop, David Z, at the tender age of 13, he already had a plan: he knew that some of the greatest visionaries succeed through passion, persistence, and creative impetus, but also by starting early. It was the 90s, a different time. Pre-internet, pre-influencer era. In New York, David Z was the place to be for sneakerheads, a place where the cultural mix was a genuine convergence of fashion, artists and everyday shoppers. A time when hunting down a rare find took time and tenacity, but with the right approach, anything was possible. Ronnie spent 15 years observing, refining and moving up the ranks at the store, understanding all aspects of the business, and honing his skills to serve his greater plan.

Today, it’s that same spirit of provenance that underpins his streetwear and lifestyle brand Kith. As CEO and creative director, he leads a global retail empire that reflects his drive and vision, and he still works longer hours than most, because he cares about every detail. Now, his latest edition, is an eponymous restaurant on London’s Regent Street, with that same exacting philosophy and all the hallmarks of its founder’s sincere approach to its customers.

It’s a Wednesday in July, and I’m sitting in Ronnie’s with Global Director of Retail Experience Pablo, who’s talking animatedly about this latest project. Beginning his career on a Manhattan shop floor, Ronnie nurtured Pablo’s ambition and it’s evident what Ronnie sees in him. Since then, he’s been tasked with opening experiential spaces in Paris, London, Tokyo and Seoul. And being a New Yorker only cements his passion for this, a New York restaurant, without the word ‘style’ because to call it that would be to take the salt-beef out of the pastrami.

As my beet and goat's curd Caesar salad is served, Pablo shares insights into the brand and the newly opened restaurant. “When people ask me what Kith is, I always say, it's a big accident. Ronnie opened the sneaker section in another store, and at the end of the store's first year, in 2011, he received a pair of Scotch & Soda pants as a Christmas gift. He liked the pants and the camo cargo fabric, but he didn't like the fit. So he took them to his tailor, and he made a jogger. People started complimenting them. He said, ‘You know what? Let me just make a couple of these.’ So, he went to the Garment District in New York and made 12 pairs of those pants and hung them in the sneaker store. No fitting room, just hanging there. And on the first day, he sold 12 pairs. And so on until 1,000 pairs of pants were put in the store and on the website, and they sold out immediately. To sell 1,000 pairs of pants, especially online in 2011, was very difficult. So, he started making clothes, and that's how the Kith brand was born.”

Pablo shares more context on Kith’s methodology, “Most brands have a brand, and then they design the store. We started with a store, and then we built the brand. Everything we do, we're a retail company first before we're a fashion company. Before we're a brand, we're a shop. A few years after opening, Ronnie said, ‘I wanna do something in the store that is gonna be able to connect it to more people and make it a space people can hang out in, even if they're not buying something.’ That something was a ‘Kith Treats’, connecting customers to the brand through an accessible, delectable soft serve. While everyone wears clothes, it’s food that really connects us to our humanity, our community. So it’s unsurprising that in 2015, Kith celebrated the 10th anniversary of Kith Treats. “When I'm describing our business, I'm always talking about its exclusive product, but its inclusive vibes. A 12-year-old kid cannot walk into a Louis Vuitton store and feel comfortable. They're gonna be looked up and down right away. We used to be at Selfridges right next to the skate rink. And it was the only thing, as 18-year-olds, that you could go to Selfridges and buy into. I've worked with the brand for 10 years now. I've watched people grow up with it, where their first purchase is a treat for less than 10 quid, you buy into the brand, and you get to put it on your story, and you're actually a part of it in an authentic way. So for the kid who wants to go to Selfridges, and look at all the $10,000 clothes, but then they wanna leave with something, we could be that something they leave with.”

Ronnie’s the restaurant isn’t about hospitality used as an accessory to the shopping experience at Kith; rather, it sits to the side, occupies its own space, it’s adjacent yet autonomous, connected almost discreetly through a less obvious door leading from one to the other, should you wish to browse or dine. The interior, with red leather-and-velvet diner-style seats and wood-panelled walls punctuated by black-and-white pictures, is elegant and fitting. And for the food and the service itself, this is New York, tailored, serving flavours from restaurants on the Big Apple’s biggest streets to the tastes of street vendors, all plated for a London audience.

“There are a lot of restaurants in London that brand themselves as, quote, ‘New York-style restaurants,” says Pablo.

“This is not a New York-style restaurant. No. We're New Yorkers. I can feel the ethos of a New York-style restaurant versus what a New York restaurant is, and that sensibility is what we're bringing to London. I think a New York restaurant is unapologetic. It's not trying; it's just being.“

Ronnie’s isn’t Kith’s first restaurant experience; they began in Paris with Sadelle’s at Kith, which opened 3 years ago and does up to 400 covers a day. But not without many lessons learned in the process. “I moved to Paris for three years, opened that space, and hired the team. So, at Sadelle's, we licensed the menu, and the branding, but we run the restaurant. We made a lot of mistakes along the way, but we were confident. Absolutely. We now run a successful restaurant. But the next level is: can we make a successful restaurant? And that's what we're sitting trying today, and I'll let you be the judge.”

The result is a menu that is true to NY dining, without the affected nostalgia. Even down to the plating; there’s a delicacy that works for the European sensibility:

“We could serve this in a bowl twice the size. That would be very US, but we also understand the market that we're in and the way people wanna eat,” says Pablo.

With a selection of authentic sandwiches and other NY specialities, Ronnie's menu is as considered as the service, including the work of art that is the Beet salad with Goat Cheese, while the Regent Caesar with anchovy vinaigrette and bread crisps is a refreshing addition to The OG, Ronnie’s perfectly formed Wagyu beef patty, and the Disco Fries with Marsala gravy, mozzarella, ranch and chives are highly recommended.

Pablo wanted Head Chef Chris Denney to draw on his previous Michelin experience and taste New York for himself.

“We thought, ‘Let's find the right London-based chef to build the culinary program. Who has local producers who know this market? Understands what the palate is. And let's take that person to New York. Chef Chris is such an amazing guy. We did a food tour of New York with a real New Yorker. So we went to places you can't usually go. I'm talking about the original bodega that invented the chopped cheese.”

This ethos is evident in Ronnie’s Wagyu Pronto, a pastrami elevated by the poppyseed Kaiser bun, not sourceable in the UK but, unsurprisingly, bespoke-baked for them. Whether for the head chef or the customers it is about inclusivity and the true experience. Sweet treats include the brioche Cinny Bun with pepita cinnamon butter and cream cheese frosting, or the delicate and delicious Soufflé Pancake. Basil Smash, Ronnie’s Spicy (our favourite), Butterfly Gimlet and a Pom Cosmo form some of the cocktails. The back of the restaurant reveals the premium six-seat Burger Bar. The only place you can discover a true NY burger. You’ll be presented with a trio of mini burgers served as a tasting, with your favourite option served as a main. And true to Ronnie’s inclusive ethos, there’s also a to-go counter just inside the front door for those who want a taste but are in a rush.

After lunch, we took a look through that discreet doorway. What we found is that it serves more as an architectural aside than as a commercial instruction, and as a reflection on the evolving relationship between hospitality and retail. Many cafe spaces operate not just as places for respite but as extensions of the shopping experience: places to pause between purchases or to make a luxury universe temporarily accessible. Ronnie’s proposes a deeper conversation, something more complete. It is not contained by Kith; rather, the restaurant and the shop occupy two neighbouring worlds connected by the door but not dependent on it. Perhaps the most sophisticated expressions of a brand should no longer be about retrofitting or even resemble retail at all, and the cross-pollination of fashion and food should not be just about serving a bottom line. The subtlety of that doorway reflects a broader shift in branding, there is a confidence that no longer needs constant visibility.

The idea that Kith was store first, brand second reinforces this idea because its community preceded its identity, which is why the menu and restaurant feel much more organic rather than bolted-on. Within them they share a similar cross-cultural language as David Z’s. An intentionality towards an uncontrived customer experience. Ronnie’s offers a New York slice of the brand’s sensibility and worldview, without forcing consumerism down our throat. Its identity is rooted in its founder’s childhood, making the menu not merely part of the logo or aesthetic but rather part of a biography. A seat at Ronnie’s, a burger at its backroom bar, a soft serve from its Treats store, or a Pronto Freeze from its coffee bar means you are not simply buying into Kith; you are entering the New York that shaped it. "There are whole floors of department stores that are for food now,” says Pablo,

“But a lot of it is engineered working backwards from metrics like dwell time and conversion. At Ronnie’s we're working backwards from, what is a great fucking sandwich!”