Bewley's cafe on Grafton Street is to reopen next month following the completion of a management deal between the Campbell Bewley Group and the owners of the Cafe Bar Deli restaurant chain.
Under the terms of the deal, welcomed yesterday by Lord Mayor of Dublin Michael Conaghan, Bewley's will remain the sole occupier of the premises, but the operation will be managed by Jay Bourke and Eoin Foyle.
Mr Bourke and Mr Foyle own Sherland Entertainments, which operate several successful bars and restaurants in Dublin including Cafe Bar Deli, Eden, Odessa, the Market Bar and the RíRá nightclub.
While the premises will retain the Bewley's name and will continue to house a cafe, there will be a wider range of food on offer, the Campbell Bewley Group said.
In keeping with tradition, there will be a cafe and patisserie on the ground floor, serving breakfast from 8am. The first floor will accommodate a fish restaurant called Mackerel, and a branch of Cafe Bar Deli serving Italian food will occupy space on both the ground and first floors.
Bewley's Cafe Theatre will be reinstated on the top floor of the building, with cabaret and jazz performances in the evening.
The redesign will incorporate the famous Harry Clarke stained-glass windows installed by the Bewley family in 1927 which will be "lit and used to wonderful new effect" a spokeswoman for the company said.
Mr Bourke said he could not give an exact date for the reopening, because the remodelling and renovation was not yet complete, however, he was aiming for a date around May 17th.
Lord Mayor Michael Conaghan, chairman of the Save Bewley's Cafe Campaign, said he was delighted that Bewley's was reopening.
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