Aldo Zilli sells remaining London restaurants to Bill's Produce
Celebrity chef Aldo Zilli has sold his two remaining London restaurants to Bill's Produce.
The chef, who formerly ran seven outlets, has decided to bow out of the London restaurant scene after selling Zilli Fish and its adjacent Zilli Café on Brewer Street in Soho. He still has four sites at Center Parcs.
The Soho restaurants have been taken on by grocery and café concept Bill's Produce, which will launch its third London outlet - it already has sites in Covent Garden and Islington.
Bill's Produce, which was founded by Bill Collison in the East Sussex town of Lewes in 2001, is backed by Richard Caring and run by the entrepreneurs behind French bistro chain Côte. It currently has five outlets, including restaurants in Brighton, Reading and Cambridge.
In an interview with the London Evening Standard Zilli blamed the increased presence of chain operators for his exit from Soho.
"Soho is not the same Soho it used to be; there are lots of big chains coming in who are willing to pay the charges," he said.
"Chains give people more choice but it's changing the character of Soho, it's becoming like Dubai. The landlords are responsible for me getting out of Brewer Street, they became the greediest people in the world."
Davis Coffer Lyons acted for Bill's Produce.
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By Kerstin Kühn
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