The Bowler has every base covered

A new upmarket brasserie on the London Borough of Wandsworth’s answer to Charlotte Street – the Bellevue Road – claims to have smashed the suggestion that you can’t appeal to every market.

The Bowler, which opened in mid-June, offers visitors a cocktail bar and lounge area with large TV screen for sporting events, as well as fine dining restaurant and snug.
 
Founder and owner Alexander Kersjes says his outlet appeals to families, young couples as well as sportsmen from the adjacent Wandsworth Common.
 
“The old adage in hospitality is that you can’t appeal to every market but we are trying to break that idea,” he told the drinks business.
 
The venue, which is Kersjes’s first restaurant since he left event company Altitude, also has live music on Friday and Saturday nights and, he says, is already attracting repeat visits.
 
“People are coming back – and with more people. That really excites me, especially in August,” he said.
 
The restaurant is just a few doors away from the famed Chez Bruce restaurant which is currently closed for refurbishment and extension into the neighbouring property.
 
The Bowler is also close to Brinkley’s Kitchen, part of John Brinkley’s chain of restaurants renowned for their inexpensive and comprehensive wine offering.
 
Kersjes says his wines, supplied by Bibendum, will shortly move to a cash margin model like Brinkley’s.
 
He also said that The Bowler would not be his only restaurant, although he won’t be rolling out the concept as a chain.
 
“I’ve been looking at a site in Teddington and another massive site near Battersea’s Queenstown Road – the old Rileys Pool Hall.
 
“It’s a massive site and an exciting proposition,” he commented, adding that he would like to install a nightclub, restaurant and gym in the building – not under The Bowler brand.
 
“There’s lots in the hospitality world I’d like to do,” he admitted, “for example I’d love to do an excellent sports bar.”
 
As for his current start-up The Bowler, Kersjes concluded: “I’m ecstatic at how this has gone, and we’ve not done any marketing.”
 
Patrick Schmitt, 17.08.2010