On the top floor of a drab building in London’s Fitzrovia district, the gaudy decorations in Richard Caring’s office are a glimpse into his plans for his hospitality empire, which includes Mayfair members’ club Annabel’s and the Ivy restaurant chain.
A marble statue of a winged angel, a two metre-long silver tiger drunkenly purchased during a Monaco auction and a life-size crocodile, gifted to Caring by one of his sons “because it reminded him of me”, are scattered around the room. “Everything here is going to end up in a restaurant somewhere,” said Caring.
The 74-year-old rag trader-turned-restaurateur is certainly not short of new venues to decorate. Last month, Caring launched Bacchanalia, a luxury restaurant that takes its name from the Roman festival of excess, two refurbished Mayfair clubs are in the works, and he has found a location for a New York outpost of Annabel’s, which he hopes to sign for early next year.
Caring recently sold a further 25 per cent of his business to Sheikh Hamad Bin-Jassim Bin-Jaber Al Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar, making them 50/50 partners, the Financial Times can reveal.
- The Financial Times. To read the full story click here
