Details of the 10 'power pairings' chosen for The Power List: Restaurant magazine's 100 most powerful people in the restaurant industry.
Chris Corbin and Jeremy King. The dapper duo are held as paragons of the industry thanks to their attention to detail and the slick style of their growing portfolio of restaurants. Their work to reduce the hours staff work, and to encourage chef mums back to work, is influencing other restaurant groups.
Heston Blumenthal and Ashley Palmer-Watts. Heston has had a busy 18 months with the launch of a pop-up of The Fat Duck in Melbourne, followed by the opening of a Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in the same city, and the relaunch of his famous Bray restaurant. While cooking’s mad professor steals much of the media limelight, Heston’s global projects wouldn’t have been possible without the help of his trusty and hugely talented right-hand man Ashley Palmer-Watts.
Huw Gott and Will Beckett. The Hawksmoor founders have blazed a trail with their high-end steakhouses and raised the bar for the genre since opening their first site in Spitalfields in 2006. Now they are taking on the Americans at their own game, with plans to open the first international Hawksmoor within New York’s World Trade Center next year.
Andy Bassadone and Chris Benians. Strada. Côte. Bill’s. It’s hard to think of a double act that has had more of an impact on the UK’s casual-dining scene than Andy Bassadone and Chris Benians. Their ability to create or, in the case of Bill’s, deftly tweak a format and then scale it up at breakneck speed is unmatched. The pair has what could be described as a special relationship with Richard Caring
(see Investors) since selling him Strada for £56m back in 2005. The trio has been working together ever since, rolling out Côte and Bill’s alongside other side projects. They are now working on expanding Caring’s The Ivy Café.
Des Gunewardena and David Loewi. With 30-odd restaurants in the UK and several overseas, D&D is indisputably the largest fine-dining business in the UK. Its custodians have recently opened the £5m
German Gymnasium in King’s Cross and relaunched Sartoria in Mayfair.
Yianni Papoutsis and Scott Collins. The burger renaissance that is still being felt across the UK today is largely down to this pair who, with their MEATliquor brand, shook up the casual-dining scene first with the MEATwagon and later with the opening of their first restaurant in central London. Now with a restaurant in Singapore and a growing number of London outposts, as well as sites in Bristol, Brighton and Leeds, they continue to loom large over the ‘better burger’ category and beyond.
Thomasina Miers and Mark Selby. MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers and business partner Mark Selby founded Wahaca in Covent Garden in 2007 and have since gone on to change the face of Mexican food in this country. Now with 23 restaurants dotted around the UK, the Mexican chain has moved diners away from the Tex Mex food of old and has instead introduced them to a much more authentic version of Mexico’s fare that was, hitherto, unknown by large swathes of the population. The pair continue to experiment, whether it be by putting insects on their menus or championing sustainability with Wahaca, last month, becoming the first restaurant group in the UK to be certified a carbon neutral company.
The Galvin Brothers. Essex born brothers Chris and Jeff Galvin have been driving a revival in proper French bistro cooking since opening Bistrot de Luxe on London’s Baker Street in 2005. Their portfolio now includes several restaurants in the capital, another two in Edinburgh, a fledging pub group plus upcoming projects in the Middle East. The affable pair also run Galvin’s Chance, a successful work programme for young people.
Nigel Haworth and Craig Bancroft. Chef Nigel Haworth and wine expert Craig Bancroft have left an indelible mark on Lancashire’s restaurant scene through their Michelin-starred restaurant Northcote and also their string of highly regarded gastropubs. The pair championed local producers well before local sourcing became a thing and their annual guest chef cooking event Obsession has become one of the country’s key dates in the gastronomic calendar.
Sam and Eddie Hart. The Hart brothers can take much of the credit for Soho’s thriving, no-reservations, restaurant scene and the huge popularity of high-end Spanish food in this country. Based on
the tapas bars of Barcelona, Barrafina was a revelation and another two have opened down the road in Covent Garden. In addition, the brothers will soon open a restaurant in Hong Kong.
