Pillar Hall, the vast new three-part restaurant and entertainment complex from Des Gunewardena’s D3 Collective, opens next week as the six-year, £1.4 billion revamp of West London’s Olympia nears completion. The centrepiece is Idalia, a 300-seater all-day modern British restaurant inspired by country house style, led by executive chef Samantha Williams and pastry chef Lorena […]
Birmingham high-rise restaurant Orelle is changing its name to 24 Stories as the Evolv Collection – originally Conran Restaurants and more recently D&D London – modifies its structure with the introduction of a series of mini-brands. 24 Stories – on the 24th floor of Birmingham’s tallest office building, 103 Colmore Row – combines with 20 Stories […]
The Evolv group unveiled its latest take on the London chop house this week in the shape of a new tavern designed for the City, featuring classic British comfort food and “proper pints” at £5. The Liverpool Street Chop House & Tavern has taken over the former site of the New Street Grill, which was […]
Chef Scott Hallsworth is to install his Freak Scene concept at 100 Wardour Street in Soho for a four-month residency, bringing a funky pan-Asian edge to the Evolv Collection, formerly known as D&D London. Evolv’s new chief executive, Martin Williams, is looking to modernise the group and appeal to a broader, younger customer base. Scott, […]
Landmark Chelsea restaurant Bluebird is to park a spinoff in the City under plans revealed this week by D&D London – which will itself be rebranded as The Evolv Collection (no misprint). The restaurant was launched in 1997 by the late Sir Terence Conran, taking over a spectacular Art Deco car showroom dating from the 1920s […]
Former D&D London restaurateur Des Gunewardena will make his comeback this summer with two new openings at the City of London’s Royal Exchange, which will be the flagship of his new company D3 Collective. Engel, a cocktail bar with a live space for cabaret, will occupy the north and east mezzanines of the early Victorian […]
Restaurant group D&D London has struck a deal with industry investors which is designed to secure its future, according to reports this week. The deal, which values the company at around £60million, involves Calveton, the owner of Byron hamburgers, and Breal Capital, which recently took over Vinoteca wine bars to add to the three brewers […]
Pan-Asian restaurant Sticky Mango is taking over the prime Tower Bridge riverside premises of Cantina del Ponte, which closed down after 31 years earlier this month. The new Sticky Mango – a branch of the original near Waterloo station – is scheduled for a soft launch from 24 July, and is taking bookings from 2 August. Cantina […]
D&D London is closing four of its restaurants, including Radici in Islington and Klosterhaus in Bristol (pictured), as part of a “strategic review” of its portfolio. The company, which parted ways with co-founder Des Gunewardena in September leaving his former partner David Loewi in charge, has 36 venues, including outposts in Paris and New York. […]
Des Gunewardina (left in photo), half of the D&D London operation that took over Conran Restaurants in a 2006 management buy-out, has left the company “to pursue other ventures”, days before it opens its 41st venue, Orelle in Birmingham. His co-founder David Loewi, the other D who served as deputy chairman and chief operating officer, […]
