Nick Lander

‘The Art of The Restaurateur, which Phaidon published in autumn 2012 is my first book and became an Economist Book of The Year. Like many of the restaurateurs profiled, my path into the world of restaurants has not been straightforward

After Manchester Grammar School, Cambridge University and forays into the worlds of textiles in Manchester and commodity trading in London, I fell into the restaurant business when I bought L’Escargot in Soho, central London in 1980. This then became one of the capital’s most renowned restaurants.

Ill-health forced me to sell and in 1988 I became the restaurant correspondent for the Financial Times, a role I fulfil to this day, and where I initiated the first British restaurant promotion, Lunch for a Fiver, in 1993. All my writings can be found on www.nicklander.com

In 1992 I began to act as a hospitality consultant to arts organisations across London. These include and have included: The Southbank Centre; the British Museum; the Royal Albert Hall; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Glyndebourne Opera; Somerset House; The Roundhouse; the V&A; the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford; the British Film Institute; Chiswick House; the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, Hyde Park, and Zest at JW3 the Jewish Community Centre which opened in late 2013.

In the renaissance of St Pancras International I was responsible for the installation and selection of the operator for the Champagne Bar and St Pancras Grand as well as for many of the other café and bar operators. I am now fulfilling the same role for Argent plc in their development of King’s Cross, the 67 acre site that is currently the biggest single urban regeneration project in Europe. Caravan, The Grain Store, Dishoom and The Greek Larder have been hugely successful and several more restaurants are opening there in 2015.