Searcy's rises to challenge of making Gherkin a tasty option

Private catering firm Searcy's has won the deal to provide fine dining and corporate hospitality at the top of Swiss Re Tower in London, better known as "the Gherkin".

Richard Corrigan, director of Searcy's and chef-proprietor of one-Michelin-starred restaurant Lindsay House, will oversee the operation of an 80-seat restaurant at the top of the tower.

Due to open in May 2004, the hospitality facilities will also include private dining rooms and a lounge and bar with panoramic views of the capital. They will be for the exclusive use of tenants and their guests. The first tenants, reinsurance company Swiss Re, move in this December to occupy floors 2 to 15. At full capacity, the tower holds nearly 4,000 workers.

Searcy's beat off bids from Compass's fine-dining arm, Restaurant Associates, and Charlton House. It adds the Gherkin to a number of prestigious contracts including the Bank of England Club, Bear Stearns International, and the Hurlingham Club. Searcy's also runs restaurants at the Barbican, Royal Opera House and the National Portrait Gallery, and two London restaurants - Lindsay House and the English Garden - in partnership with chef Corrigan.

The Gherkin will not have a designated staff restaurant, but at ground level a retail plaza will include restaurants and bars. The Sir Norman Foster-designed building stands on the former site of the Baltic Exchange, which was destroyed by an IRA bomb in 1992.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 25 September 2003