London’s Café Wolseley opens in Bangkok

The Wolseley Hospitality Group has opened its first overseas restaurant in Thailand.

London’s Café Wolseley brand is to pop-up at the Anantara Siam Bangkok hotel, operated by the group's owner Minor International, for the next three months.

It will be overseen by David Stevens, group executive chef at the Wolseley Hospitality Group and former head chef at the original Wolseley restaurant on London’s Piccadilly.

An announcement from the hotel said the restaurant would combine “traditional British heritage with European grandeur”, with dishes including dressed Dorset crab with brown crab mayonnaise and lemon; and Omelette Arnold Bennett, a parmesan-glazed flat omelette with smoked haddock and cream.

Minor has been looking to expand the Wolseley Hospitality Group after it wrested control of the restaurant business, formerly named Corbin & King, from its founder Jeremy King in a takeover battle last year.

Its portfolio includes London restaurants the Delaunay, Brasserie Zédel, Colbert, Fischer's, Soutine and Bellanger.

Dilip Rajakarier, co-founder of Minor, told The Caterer he saw the potential for openings in Hong Kong, Singapore and other “key cities” overseas. The group is also planning to open a Colbert restaurant in Dubai.

"We have to be careful because we don't want to overstretch ourselves. When we open we need to go with a big bang," said Rajakarier.

The company will also open seafood restaurant Manzi’s in Soho in June and the Wolseley City in the old House of Fraser building in the City of London this autumn.