Joel Kissin

Joel Kissin, originally from New Zealand,^[1] is a restaurateur who was the co-founder, managing director and shareholder of Conran Restaurants (now D&D London). Kissin has been instrumental in opening a dozen restaurants.

Restaurants

Kissin met Terence Conran in 1986 whist running the restaurant Hilaire.^[2] In 1987 Conran asked Kissin to join Simon Hopkinson, Hilaire's chef, to help launch Bibendum in The Michelin Building. As well as managing the ground breaking restaurant and Oyster Bar, Kissin created an award winning wine list for the restaurant.^[3] After Bibendum, Kissin joined Conran at his new development in Butler’s Wharf.^[4] Kissin and Conran created the restaurant, bar/grill, food shop, wine merchant, oil and spice shop and bakery at Butler's Wharf.

Kissin and Conran purchased the Quaglino’s site and, with Conran, also opened Le Pont de la Tour (which in 1997 hosted a dinner for the Blairs and the Clintons ^[5]) and Cantina del Ponte next door, before Quaglino’s opened on Valentine’s Day 1993. The restaurant "broke the mould" in that it was the largest restaurant London had ever known. It seated 350 people, was fully booked months before opening and remained so for many years. The restaurant was much emulated in London and around the world. The turnover and profitability was also record breaking for the time. The restaurant became part of the vernacular attracting much press comment. In particular it was mentioned in the TV comedy Absolutely Fabulous as was Le Pont de la Tour.

With the opening of the Butler’s Wharf Chop-House in 1994, Kissin and Conran had opened three restaurants in a period of 10 months, with a combined turnover of nearly £16 million.

In 1994, Kissin and Conran were jointly awarded a “Catey” as Best Independent Restaurateurs by The Caterer and Hotelkeeper Magazine.^[6] The two men continued to open restaurants in London, including Mezzo, The Orrery (with chef Chris Galvin) and the Bluebird complex, until Kissin left London in late 1997 to open Guastavino’s in New York. The Kissin and Conran partnership ended in 2002.

Property Development

From 2002 to 2010 Kissin developed residential property in New York City and East Hampton, NY, including a 6,000 square foot brownstone on the Upper West side; a 2,600 square foot penthouse on Fifth Avenue complete with 2,500 square feet of terraces; and an 11,500 square foot mansion, on two landscaped acres, in East Hampton.^[7]

Latest Project

Once noted as ‘one of the most influential restaurateurs in Britain’ ^[8] Kissin returned to London to launch Boulestin,^[9] inspired by French restaurateur, author and pioneering TV presenter, Xavier Marcel Boulestin, whose eponymous Covent Garden restaurant opened in 1927.

The new Boulestin opened on St James's Street on 2 September 2013. It comprises a 60-seat (plus outside seating) restaurant, a private dining room and Café Marcel, a bistro/bar. Boulestin specialises in serving classic French cuisine, with dishes including tête de veau, cassoulet de Toulouse and oeuf en gelée ^[10]

Within weeks of opening the restaurant received high praise from food critics.

Describing it as “bang on trend”, The Guardian’s Jay Rayner asserted that “Marcel Boulestin would have loved his namesake restaurant.... the new Boulestin hits the mark,” before going on to laud the tête de veau - ”done brilliantly” - and “a brace of perfectly cooked quail.” ^[11]

Writing in the Evening Standard, Fay Maschler singled out the “Oeuf en gelée rendered spectacular by the sunset yolk of a Cotswold Legbar egg,” ^[12] whilst Time Out’s Guy Dimond was delighted that “rather than trying to impersonate an old master, this Boulestin is a sensitively updated reproduction,” before commenting that “classic French cooking at its best shines in dishes such as daube of beef, which was slow-cooked and wonderfully tender.” ^[13]

Stephen Bayley, the esteemed author, critic, columnist, consultant, broadcaster, debater and curator concludes his experience with “there’s nowhere in the area I would rather eat.”

Zoe Williams restaurant critic from the Telegraph, describes the restaurant as, "the kind of place that makes you feel like a success; like a person who has gone back to the 1930s, when ceilings were high, fittings were brass and rooms were gorgeous.",^[14] whilst AA Gill from the Times simply states "The food was pretty damn formidable!" ^[15]

Kissin was a board member of the Restaurant Association of Great Britain (RAGB) in the 1990s and was also a board member of the New York Chapter of the National Restaurant Association (NRA). He is now again a board member of the Restaurant Association in the UK.

Former Projects

Restaurant’s owned, managed or opened by Joel Kissin and Sir Terence Conran:

Bibendum, Modern British, 1987

Blueprint Café, Modern British, 1989

Le Pont de la Tour, Modern European, 1991

Cantina del Ponte, Mediterranean, 1992

Quaglino’s, Modern European, 1993

Butler’s Wharf Chop House, British, 1993

Mezzo, Modern European, 1995

Bluebird, Modern European, 1997

Zinc Bar and Grill - Opened in 1997

The Orrery - Modern European - opened in 1997

Guastavino’s NY, American, 2000

References

External links