Talks open on Bewley's premises

The Campbell Bewley Group has begun talks with a number of parties with a view to reopening its Westmoreland Street premises as a cafe and restaurant.

A new cafe on the site, which has been vacant since its closure 10 months ago, is likely to be run under a similar management contract to the new Grafton Street Bewley's.

However, it will not bear the Bewley's livery or name, a company spokesman said.

Suggestions that one prominent Temple Bar restaurateur was about to finalise a deal on the premises were not accurate, the spokesman said. Negotiations had progressed to an advanced stage with a "small handful" of parties but there was "no exclusivity" at present, he said.

Bewley's Grafton Street was reopened with a cafe and two restaurants under its roof last May. The premises is run under a management contract by Jay Bourke and Eoin Foyle, owners of the Cafe Bar Deli restaurant chain.