Rex Restaurants Associates recruits head chef and GM for launch of Brasserie Zédel
The new Parisian brasserie, with an American bar, café and live entertainment space, will open on the site of the Grill Room at the former Regent Palace Hotel in Sherwood Street next month and will be RRA's third all-day dining concept to open in the capital.
As head chef, the classically French-trained Collard, who originates from Reims and who has worked in a number of Michelin-starred restaurants in both France and the UK, will be responsible for creating 'classic brasserie fare' set at 'affordable prices'. Starters are priced from £2.95, main courses from £7.50 and desserts from £3.
Dishes on the à la carte menu will include Terrine de Campagne, Salade Périgourdine, Oeufs Mayonnaise, Choucroute de la Mer, Boeuf en Daube, Ile Flottante and Baba au Rhum avec Crème Chantilly.
Lavigne du Cadet, a native of the Loire, previously managed La Coupole in Paris and was responsible for setting up restaurants for Flo across the globe. He will oversee the 240-cover brasserie and its classic cocktail bar - Bar Américain, its coffee and wine bar Zinc Café.
The brasserie will also host The Crazy Coqs, an entertainment space showcasing live music and cabaret.
New sites
Brasserie Zedél is the first of two new restaurants to be opened by RRA this year after it received £21m of funding to aid expansion. A second all-day 'grand cafe', based on the style of Corbin & King's original restaurant The Wolseley, is set to open on Sloane Square in Chelsea on the former site of Oriel this autumn.
The company, which opened its second restaurant, The Delaunay, last autumn, is also planning to open its first hotel in 2014. Working with property group Grosvenor, RRA will develop an Art Deco style building in Mayfair, initially built as a garage, into a 73-bedroom hotel with a restaurant and small spa.
