Upmarket restaurant bosses hint at collaboration after Alderley deal
Two of the most active restaurant operators in the North West have struck a deal over the iconic Luciano restaurant in the wealthy Cheshire village of Alderley Edge.
San Carlo Group has acquired the site from rival Gino D’Acampo and will reopen it as a San Carlo in the village well known as a home of footballers and wealthy business people and the setting for TV series The Real Housewives of Cheshire.
In a turbulent few years for the restaurant sector, celebrity chef Gino D’Acampo’s business was bailed out for £21m in 2021 by Individual Restaurants Group owners Tarsem Dhaliwal and Malcolm Walker, owners of Iceland.
Last service will be on Valentine’s Day and the site will reopen in five weeks as San Carlo, after a refurbishment and rebrand.
Steven Walker, chairman of Gino D’Acampo’s restaurant business, says: “The deal is part of our strategy to focus on opening upmarket restaurants in central London and major UK cities such as our imminent openings in Leeds and Manchester, together with international locations. I wish Marcello and his father Carlo the very best of success for the future and could not think of a better home for this fabulous location.”
Commenting on the deal, Marcello Distefano, managing director of San Carlo, says: “We are delighted to acquire such a prominent location in our heartland the North West and look forward to welcoming it into our Italian family.”
A joint statement concluded: “After 20 years of competing with each other at the top of the premium Italian dining scene, Steven and Marcello see this as the start of a collaboration as they eye further opportunities together in the UK and overseas.”
