DELAUNAY RESTAURANT SHUNS PUBLICITY FOR ITS LOW-KEY OPENING
THERE has been a media blackout on the imminent launch of The Delaunay, the sister restaurant to the Wolseley from restaurateurs Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, on the corner of Drury Lane and Aldwych.
There won’t even be a launch party, as you might expect from the duo who once owned celebrity haunts The Ivy, Le Caprice and J Sheekey before selling to entrepreneur Luke Johnson – just a “gentle opening when we are ready”, currently pencilled in for “by the end of the year”.
“We don’t tend to market ourselves before, during or after a launch – or ever, really,” said a spokesperson for King and Corbin’s Rex Restaurant Associates. “This is a 30-year policy of keeping a low profile that has served us well.”
So what do we know about The Delaunay? Well, it will be open seven days a week – until midnight Monday to Saturday and 11pm on Sunday – serving breakfast, afternoon tea, à la carte and takeaway meals, subject to confirmation. Seating is planned for 150, including two private dining rooms for six and 12 guests, with some tables available on a first-come, first-served basis. So no need to book – although reservations, says the venue grandly, “are not yet open” anyway.
EASTERN PROMISE
TODAY is the annual launch of the Asian Who’s Who International – the official UK index of “the world’s most inspiring and respected Asian personalities”. But then most of the listed figures already knew that, as they were last night at the awards of the same name at The Dorchester for the business community that generates 10 per cent of the UK’s GDP.
Previous winner Lord Karan Bilimoria, the founder of Cobra Beer, was among the judges for this year’s winners, who included Rajesh Agrawal, named as Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the age of 34 for founding one of the world’s fastest-growing foreign exchange companies, Rational FX.
Meanwhile, Dr Diwan Rahul Nanda, global chairman of Topsgrup, accepted the International Business Award for his role in acquiring Great Britain’s tenth-largest security group, The Shield Guarding Company, turning the once “sick company” into India’s second-largest security services provider.