Press

Click on the article below to enlarge:

Cardiff Life Magazine	South Wales Echo

Re-launch of WMC Restaurant

With effect from Monday 14th January 2008 Gilby's will be responsible for the operation of the Brazz Cardiff restaurant at the Wales Millennium Centre.  Over the next six weeks the restaurant will be redecorated and subsequently re-launched as Gilby's @ the Bay.

In making the announcement today Kevin McCarthy, Director of Brazz Cardiff, said ‘After over three years of operating Brazz we believe the time is right to capitalize upon the success achieved in establishing very strong links with Wales Millennium Centre's audiences and local businesses.  In taking the restaurant forward from a start up business we believe a re-launch will give us access to an even broader customer base. Having considered the re-launch of the restaurant ourselves we have concluded that our preferred option is to link up with a well established and respected local operator. So we are delighted that we have found such an operator in Gilby's Restaurant'.

‘We will continue to have a very close interest in the restaurant", he added, "with Gilby's operating under a management services agreement.  Throughout this strategic review WMC have been very supportive and I know they are very much looking forward to working closely with Gilby's @ the Bay.”

Gilby's is a long established Cardiff restaurant brand, with a very good reputation for the quality of its food and wines at its Culverhouse Cross restaurant. Judith Isherwood, Chief Executive of Wales Millennium Centre, welcomed the announcement. ‘Under the local management of Michael Standerline, James Thomas and Xavier LeBellego, there are exciting plans afoot, building on the success of Brazz, to introduce new dining experiences at the restaurant, and marketing it to a much wider audience. Last year the restaurant was nominated by the Telegraph as one of the UK's top three theatre restaurants'.

Michael Standerline, Director of Gilby's, said “We are pleased to have the opportunity to continue building on the success of Brazz and to work in partnership with Wales Millennium Centre to further the cultural and culinary life of Wales.”

He added “We will be using our local knowledge and we will also be able to call upon the experiance of Xavier who has worked with internationally known chefs such as Raymond Blanc, John Burton Race and Albert Roux, before opening The Red House in Marsh Benham, near Newbury. The Red House received the coveted Gastro Pub of the Year several times under his management, ans subsequently Forburys in Reading, which was in The Times' Top 10 French Restaurants in the South of England in 2006.“