Guilbaud resigns from own restaurant

MICHELIN-STARRED chef Patrick Guilbaud has stepped down as a director of his award-winning restaurant, Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, according to filings at the Companies Registration Office.

Stephane Robin and Guillaume Lebrun, the manager and chef of Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, remain as the sole directors of Becklock Limited, the holding company for the restaurant.

Mr Guilbaud’s resignation – which took effect on November 1st, 2009 – comes as Venu, the restaurant run by Patrick Guilbaud’s son Charles, and of which Patrick Guilbaud is the main shareholder and a director, posted a loss of over €230,000 in the 12 months to the end of April 2009.

Despite stepping down as director of his eponymous restaurant, Patrick Guilbaud remains a director of Venu’s holding company, Guilstep Ltd.

Mr Robin and Mr Lebrun are the other directors of Guilstep, along with Charles Guilbaud.

The abridged balance sheet for Guilstep shows the company owed €2.6 million to creditors at April 30th, 2009, €1.8 million of which is attributed to “directors accounts”. It is not known which directors are owed this money, which is listed under “amounts falling due within one year”.

The company’s annual return shows that Patrick Guilbaud owns 50 per cent of the business’s issued share capital, Mr Lebrun holds 30 per cent, while Charles Guilbaud and Mr Robin each hold 10 per cent of the ordinary shares issued.

The company has fixed assets totalling €2.3 million.

Charles Guilbaud opened Venu Brasserie in early 2006 in South Anne Street in Dublin.

His father’s restaurant, Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, is one of Ireland’s most exclusive restaurants. Founded in the early 1980s, it is the only Irish restaurant which currently holds two Michelin stars.

Although located in the Merrion Hotel, it is run as a separate company.

The most recent accounts available show that Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud made a profit of €152,300 for the year ended August 2008.

In recent years Patrick Guilbaud has also designed his own-brand crystal for Tipperary Crystal.