ONE MORE THING: HIS BENTLEY'S restaurant in Dublin might not have survived the recession, but Irish celebrity chef Richard Corrigan appears to be faring well in Britain.
Latest abridged accounts filed in the UK for Richard Corrigan Restaurants Ltd show that its subsidiary, Bentley’s Seafood Restaurants Ltd, made a tasty profit of £460,538 in 2010.
In the previous year, it whipped up a surplus of £375,521. Bentley’s closed 2010 with capital and reserves of £137,460.
Corrigan is a Michelin star chef with two restaurants in Britain – at Mayfair and Lindsay House. He qualified to cook for the Queen's 80th birthday celebrations via regional heats for the BBC's Great British Menuand also has a TV show on RTÉ.
The chef, who was born in Dublin but grew up on a farm in Meath, courted controversy here in recent years by taking swipes at the quality of Irish chickens and sausages.
Corrigan opened Bentley’s Oyster Bar Grill in Dublin in 2008 close to the old Anglo Irish Bank headquarters on St Stephen’s Green. But it closed some time ago to make way for the Cliff Townhouse, which promotes itself as a luxury boutique hotel and restaurant.
Corrigan told The Irish Timeslast year that he had a row with the landlord over the rent. "We ain't f***king Manhattan," was how he put it at the time.
Bentley’s was on the site of the old Brownes restaurant, owned by Barry O’Callaghan. Corrigan took a 30 per cent stake in the business – Brownes Investment Company – in April 2008, with documents filed in the companies office here indicating he paid €300,000 for the shares.
He was listed as a shareholder in its annual return as of September 2010, with O’Callaghan being the other shareholder. But Corrigan stepped down as a director in March 2010.
Brownes is an unlimited company so there is no information as to how the business is performing.
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