Condé Nast to open branded restaurants across the world

Condé Nast, the magazine publisher whose titles include Vogue, Vanity Fair and GQ, has launched a new business division aimed at starting licensed restaurants around the world.

Condé Nast Restaurants, which will be based in Hong Kong, has lured Stuart Nielsen, the regional director of food and beverage and design for the Middle East & Africa at InterContinental Hotels Group, to become director of restaurants.

Nielsen, who will report directly to Condé Nast International chairman Jonathan Newhouse, said: "The opportunity to open branded restaurants with Condé Nast is a dream for me and I am thrilled to take it on. It is a business with huge potential."

The idea for restaurants came from Moscow where, for several years, Condé Nast licensed Vogue Cafe and GQ Bar to an independent operator, Arkady Novikov, and recently opened the Tatler Club.

Newhouse said Condé Nast will target markets around the globe, including new and emerging markets in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. The target markets will include some countries where Condé Nast titles are published and others where the publications do not appear.

"Restaurants are a natural way to extend our brand values and to reach our customers while championing the highest standards of quality," he said. "We can do so in our magazine markets and in countries where for one reason or another, we don't publish."

Newhouse listed some of the potential markets as Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, China, Japan, Korea, Turkey, Brazil and Uruguay. Condé Nast plans to partner with "experienced, highly reputed" restaurant operators in these markets.

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By Daniel Thomas

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