Belgo
Encyclopedia
Belgo is a small chain of London
restaurants specializing in simple Belgian cooking and Belgian beer
. Belgo is noted for its uber-cool 1990's design and architecture, including kitchens viewable by customers entering the restaurant ( Noord and Centraal), and its waiting staff who dress as monks. Anand Zenz was the designer-architect responsible for the first great space and furniture and fittings at Chalk Farm (Noord, 1992), with Ron Arad taking over as star architect-designer for the extension to Noord (1994) and the 13000 square feet (1,207.7 m²) utilitarian-chic statement, Belgo Centraal, that quickly became the London restaurant success of 1996 ( voted London Restaurant of the Year, 1996).
There are five Belgo restaurants: Belgo Centraal, on Earlham Street, Covent Garden
, Belgo Noord on Chalk Farm Road
, the former Bierodromes on Clapham
High Street and Kingsway
, and Belgo Bromley in the Glades shopping centre in Bromley
which opened in March 2010.
Belgo was bought in 1998 by ex-fund manager, newspaper columnist and ex-Chairman of Channel 4 Luke Johnson
, known for his highly successful financial stewardship, with colleague Hugh Osmond
, of the Pizza Express
chain of up-market pizza restaurants in the 1990s. However, attempts to extend the Belgo franchise organically beyond London in the late 1990s were not successful: the franchise in Jersey
lasted barely 12 months before closing in 2000 and, in any event, the Belgo flotation was used as a vehicle to acquire a number of much-celebrated chic London restaurants, such as The Ivy, The Caprice, Daphnes The Collection and J.Sheekey creating the 'Signiture Restaurants' division and a business with a market capital which peaked at more than £90,000,000.
Johnson sold his interest in Belgo in 2005 to Tragus Holdings, which also owns the French-styled Café Rouge
chain and the Bella Italia
chain of Italian restaurants.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
restaurants specializing in simple Belgian cooking and Belgian beer
Belgian beer
Beer in Belgium varies from pale lager to lambic beer and Flemish red. There are approximately 178 breweries in the country, ranging from international giants to microbreweries..-History:...
. Belgo is noted for its uber-cool 1990's design and architecture, including kitchens viewable by customers entering the restaurant ( Noord and Centraal), and its waiting staff who dress as monks. Anand Zenz was the designer-architect responsible for the first great space and furniture and fittings at Chalk Farm (Noord, 1992), with Ron Arad taking over as star architect-designer for the extension to Noord (1994) and the 13000 square feet (1,207.7 m²) utilitarian-chic statement, Belgo Centraal, that quickly became the London restaurant success of 1996 ( voted London Restaurant of the Year, 1996).
There are five Belgo restaurants: Belgo Centraal, on Earlham Street, Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, Belgo Noord on Chalk Farm Road
Chalk Farm
Chalk Farm is an area of north London, England. It lies directly to the north of Camden Town and its underground station is the closest tube station to the nearby, upmarket neighbourhood of Primrose Hill....
, the former Bierodromes on Clapham
Clapham
Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...
High Street and Kingsway
Kingsway (London)
Kingsway is a major road in central London in the United Kingdom, designated as part of the A4200. It runs from High Holborn, at its north end in the London Borough of Camden, and meets Aldwych in the south in the City of Westminster at Bush House. It was built in the 1900s...
, and Belgo Bromley in the Glades shopping centre in Bromley
Bromley
Bromley is a large suburban town in south east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Bromley. It was historically a market town, and prior to 1963 was in the county of Kent and formed the administrative centre of the Municipal Borough of Bromley...
which opened in March 2010.
History
Belgo was founded in 1992 by French-Canadian Denis Blais and Anglo-Belgian Andre Plisnier. The brand was expanded to a chain of bar diners known as Bierodrome in Clapham and Kingsway (and Islington, and Belgo Zuid (124 Ladbroke Grove), both now closed) but those remaining open all now trade in the Belgo format.Belgo was bought in 1998 by ex-fund manager, newspaper columnist and ex-Chairman of Channel 4 Luke Johnson
Luke Johnson (businessperson)
Luke Oliver Johnson , is a British serial entrepreneur, best known for his involvement with Pizza Express. He is chairman of the Royal Society of Arts and a former chairman of Channel 4. He writes regular columns for the Financial Times newspaper and Management Today magazine...
, known for his highly successful financial stewardship, with colleague Hugh Osmond
Hugh Osmond
Hugh Edward Mark Osmond is the founder of Punch Taverns, one of the United Kingdom's largest chains of public houses.-Career:Educated at Merton College, Oxford where he read Medicine, Hugh Osmond went to America in 1983 and worked in clubs for a while. He then joined a small investment bank in...
, of the Pizza Express
Pizza Express
PizzaExpress is a restaurant group with over 400 restaurants across the United Kingdom and 40 overseas in China, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan and the Middle East. It was founded in 1965 by Peter Boizot.In Ireland, PizzaExpress trades under the name Milano....
chain of up-market pizza restaurants in the 1990s. However, attempts to extend the Belgo franchise organically beyond London in the late 1990s were not successful: the franchise in Jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
lasted barely 12 months before closing in 2000 and, in any event, the Belgo flotation was used as a vehicle to acquire a number of much-celebrated chic London restaurants, such as The Ivy, The Caprice, Daphnes The Collection and J.Sheekey creating the 'Signiture Restaurants' division and a business with a market capital which peaked at more than £90,000,000.
Johnson sold his interest in Belgo in 2005 to Tragus Holdings, which also owns the French-styled Café Rouge
Café Rouge
Café Rouge is a French-styled restaurant chain in the UK, offering an all-day serving of main course meals, lighter snacks and salads as well as an extensive wine list. It is part of a bigger restaurant network owned by Tragus Ltd.-History:...
chain and the Bella Italia
Bella Italia
Bella Italia is a chain of over 80 Italian restaurants operating in the United Kingdom. The chain is part of the Tragus Group, who also own Café Rouge and Strada....
chain of Italian restaurants.