Rankin: Flag row killed off my restaurant
TV chef shuts Belfast venue Cayenne
CELEBRITY chef Paul Rankin has said that the violent protests over the flying of the Union Jack were a factor in the closure of his flagship Belfast restaurant.
Eighteen full and part-time staff have lost their jobs as the chef decided not to renew the lease on his Cayenne eatery.
And while Rankin, 53, acknowledged that the downturn was a factor, he also revealed that the loyalist rioting played a large part.
He said: ‘Location is key in the restaurant business, particularly at a time of economic downturn, and our current setting is no longer sustainable. The disturbances around the flag protest, particularly during the Christmas period, also confirmed our decision.’
Belfast traders lost out on takings of an estimated £15 million (€18million) during what should have been their busiest period at Christmas. Restaurants and shops in the city were left empty due to violent loyalist protests against the council’s decision to only fly the Union Jack on designated days.
Rankin, one of the country’s bestknown chefs, opened Cayenne in 1999 at Shaftesbury Avenue but he said the location, a mile from Belfast City Hall, was no longer
New restaurant plan in the works
viable. The chef said: ‘The lease at our current location has now come to an end and, given the change in the Shaftesbury Square area over the last number of years, it doesn’t make sense to undertake the necessary investment required to continue to operate there.
‘The once Golden Mile of Belfast has suffered badly from a lack of regeneration and a general decline in popularity and appearance.’
Rankin’s food business portfolio boomed in the early noughties and at its peak, the Rankin group employed around 500 people.
His success is even more impressive considering he started out in the business in the Eighties as a waiter. But his talent meant he then went on to work in some of the world’s top restaurants.
Rankin, who was born in Glasgow and brought up in Co. Down, met his Canadian wife Jeanne while he was washing dishes in top London restaurant Le Gavroche. The couple changed the face of culinary Northern Ireland when they opened Roscoff in Belfast in 1989 and it went on to win the North’s first Michelin star in 1992.
The award did much to catapult them to the top of the trade – as did the couple’s popular TV show Gourmet Ireland. Roscoff was named Restaurant of the Year in the BBC Good Food Magazine’s 1996 Awards. Despite its years of triumph, it closed due to financial difficulties and was sold in 2005.
But at that point Rankin’s fortunes were still on the rise and one of his successful products includes a variety of traditional Irish breads sold in supermarkets across Ireland and the UK.
In 2004, the Rankin Group opened the Roscoff Brasserie in Belfast, bringing the chef ’s portfolio to a total of four restaurants and six cafés province-wide.
In 2005, he opened a café in Dundrum Town Centre in Dublin as well as another café and wine bar in Belfast, bringing his total number of eateries to 13.
But i n 2006 it all started to crumble. Rankin announced he was selling three cafés and the Rain City Grill restaurant.
After announcing his restaurant empire was being opened up to investors in early 2008, he said he was selling everything but Cayenne that September. But the struggle didn’t end there. In 2009 it emerged Rankin was f i ghting to save Cayenne and owed the taxman around £1million (€1.1million).
The chef suffered another blow as his marriage to Jeanne ended amicably after 25 years in 2011. Cayenne managed to keep going until the closure on Sunday. But Rankin insists this is not the end, insisting that he will open a new restaurant at a different location.
He said: ‘I am committed to establishing a new kitchen inspired by both Cayenne and Roscoff before it. There has already been some high-level talks taking place about other exciting business and restaurant opportunities.’
And he tweeted last night: ‘What a crazy day!!! Never dreamed they’re were so many kind n supportive people out there..thanku thanku thanku!! xxx.’ [sic]