Brothers who fed Tiger's cubs facing future of uncertainty

Restaurateurs made their name with Bang at start of boom but club's failure could bring it down too, writes SUZANNE LYNCH

IN WHAT appears to be another parable illustrating the rise and fall of the Celtic Tiger, two of Dublin’s best-known restaurant-owners have found themselves at the mercy of the courts, facing mounting debts and an uncertain future.

The news that Simon and Christian Stokes’s club Residence – which opened its doors just as Ireland’s economic boom was fading – has entered examinership will surprise few, but the fact that the future of their restaurant Bang is now in question will take many by surprise.

To many the Stokes brothers seemed different. Unlike many in the hotel and pub business who have fallen victim to the recession, Simon and Christian Stokes did not build their business on the back of an ever-expanding portfolio of leveraged commercial property.

The twins were restaurateurs first, business gurus second.

The only children of designer and restaurateur Jeff Stokes, and interior designer and business owner Pia Bang, the 34-year-olds were exposed to the inter-connected worlds of food and business from an early age.

Having worked in their father’s restaurant Unicorn, which he co-owns with Giorgio Casari, the brothers opened Bang restaurant on Merrion Row in 1999.

The 80-seater restaurant was an immediate hit, its sophisticated yet trendy image attracting a fashionable and moneyed clientele.

In 2003 the brothers bought the Clarendon in Clarendon Street in Dublin, which they renovated and reopened in 2004. They later sold the building in a sale and leaseback deal, and are currently in a legal dispute with property developer Bernard McNamara over rent on the property.

The brothers next turned their attention to 41 St Stephen’s Green, a four-storey, ivy-clad building located around the corner from Bang and Unicorn and owned by Johnny Ronan of Treasury Holdings.

Having been granted planning permission and a licence for a members’ club, the brothers took a lease on the property at an annual rent of over €200,000.

The club aimed to mirror the growing popularity of private members’ clubs in London and New York, even though, under the terms of its licence, the club could not refuse entry to the general public on grounds of non-membership.

In May 2008 the club opened, charging an annual membership fee of €1,600 and an initial joining charge of €250.

The lavishly-decorated interior included a concierge service, nightclub, meeting facilities, screening room, restaurant and a garden – at a cost of over €3 million to the owners.

But while the timing of Bang had been impeccable – opening just as the Celtic Tiger economy was taking off – the timing of Residence was to abet the club’s downfall.

When Residence opened its doors in the summer of 2008, its holding company already had debts of at least €47,000.

Yesterday the club entered examinership, owing millions of euro and potentially bringing Bang restaurant and the Clarendon pub with it.

It remains to be seen whether the business can be successfully rescued from the examinership process.