Cafe Med

After 20 years exploiting niche markets for a clutch of companies, Simon Binder is on his own - and relishing the freedom.

The philosophy behind his new restaurant, Cafe Med, near London's Ladbroke Grove, is a simple one. "The essence of this concept for me is local," he explains. "I really wanted to have a restaurant where I would like to eat if I lived locally."

He had already owned and run his own restaurant when, in his mid-20s, he began work with Bob Payton as bartender at the Chicago Rib Shack. "I wanted to learn," he explains. "Bob taught me how to control the business side, how to translate volume into profit."

This is where he also learnt about concept catering. "There was no-one to touch him in those days," he recalls. "No-one else knew how to carry a concept through." Many imitators since have failed, Binder maintains, because they have simply tried to import ideas without further development. "I really believe when you find a concept you have to tailor it to your market. A lot of American concepts haven't worked over here because they didn't understand the UK market."

At the age of 27 Binder became operations manager of Robert Earl's company, President Entertainments, charged with developing a budget high street chain of pasta restaurants. The company opened 10 branches of Pasta Mania in as many months - the central kitchen alone cost £1m. Binder remembers the era as a crazy time. "It was really exciting," he says. "None of us ever slept!"

When gambling and leisure group Pleasurama bought out President Entertainments, Binder became its marketing director, but soon Mecca had gobbled up Pleasurama. Binder had had enough.

"That was the 1980s, one big circle of buy-outs," he says. "I thought, to hell with this. I don't want to be part of more company takeovers, where you have no control over your destiny."

Joining up with Robert Earl again in a new company, Worldwide Leisure, he developed two new concepts earmarked for sites in fast-growing shopping malls. The first, Mamma Amalfi, which opened in shopping malls in London, Hatfield, Sheffield and Essex, was based on the long-established Amalfi restaurant in Old Compton Street.

Then there was the 7,500sq ft Rock Island Diner, with its 1950s memorabilia and dancing waiters, which opened at the London Pavilion in Piccadilly, and Meadowhall in Sheffield.

When the Piccadilly site boomed and Meadowhall bombed, the experience reinforced for Binder the notorious North-South cultural differences. "The attitude in Sheffield was: ‘you're not coming here to tell us what to do.' I had fantastic exposure on TV and every local paper - it had absolutely no effect on the business!"

But generally life was good. The company was notching up annual profits of £850,000 when, in 1993, the Pelican Group put in its £6m offer. It was amicable but for Binder, it was time to go. "I wanted to develop something new," he declares.

With Cafe Med, there's no simplistic formula. Binder has gone for a carefully-styled, buzzy ambience and a small, eclectic menu. He expects that success will be through word of mouth. "It's very much about letting the locals know we are here and then being good enough to bring them back," he says thoughtfully.

"At Piccadilly, if you got it wrong, there was always another batch of tourists coming along. Here, there is no second chance."