Coffee entrepreneur Bobby Kerr and Joe and Anne Barrett, who are siblings of property developer Richard Barrett, have teamed up to acquire Bang Cafe on Merrion Row and plan to reopen it next Thursday.
The trio have decided to retain the name and some of the favourites from the old menu. The cafe will employ about 25 staff. It is understood that the consortium paid about €200,000 to ACCBank to secure the lease, fixtures and fittings and the name.
Bang, which seats some 85 diners, closed in January when its owners, Stokes brothers Simon and Christian, ran into financial difficulties. It had traded for 10 years and was doing about €3 million in turnover annually.
Mr Kerr, who has run the Insomnia cafe chain in Ireland, said: “We’re not going to do anything wildly different. It was always a happening place. We think there’s a lot of equity in the name and it’s a cracking location.” He said the cafe would pitch itself at the mid-market. “Our main courses will be priced at €20-25,” he said.
Mr Kerr said the investors would spend about €100,000 to launch and promote the restaurant. Mr Kerr will lead the sales and promotion side of the restaurant. He recently stepped aside as chief executive of Insomnia to become its chairman.
This was to allow himself time to pursue other projects, including his investments from the RTÉ show Dragons' Den.
“I’m going to be working two days a week with Insomnia and three days on my other stuff,” Kerr said. “That’s my new plan. I have so much going on that something had to give.”
Barrett will lead the cafe’s operations. He has 20 years experience in restaurants in the US. Anne Barrett is a former partner with Bloxham Stockbrokers.
Both are siblings of Treasury Holdings’ Richard Barrett, who has an interest in Town Bar Grill on nearby Kildare Street.
The management team will be headed by Adrian O’Connor, formerly of Elephant & Castle in Temple Bar and Simon Barrett, a nephew of Joe and Anne, who has worked at Town Bar & Grill.
Phil Yeung, former chef de cuisine at Town Bar & Grill, is head chef.
This move marks Mr Kerr’s first major involvement with a restaurant. “It’s the similar type of business [to Insomnia], just with a different twist,” he said.
