Richard Griffin (Madame Zingara)

Thursday, November 20, 2014, 4:30 – 7:30 PM UTC

Dreamer, traveller, entrepreneur. The founder of Madame Zingara.

About this event

Dreamer, traveller, entrepreneur. The founder of Madame Zingara. After some travelling, Richard returned home and got his break with his own restaurant in Long Street. “It was a tiny store called Serendipity and it was based on my love for pasta. After that I opened House of Serendipity and Griffin’s, sold them and went to travel some more.” After satisfying his ever-present wanderlust he finished his degree at Le Cordon Bleu International in London (despite his lack of formal education) before heading back home. On his return he met Nicky-Anne (current Marketing Manager) and opened the original Madame Zingara in Loop Street in 2001. The restaurant was booked out for weeks at a time. The combination of over-the-top costumes and characters, friendly service, surprising food combinations and near-obsessive attention to detail amazed and delighted the Cape. Richard says it was never meant to be a long-term endeavor. “I was planning on selling the restaurant after two years but it just evolved into this larger entity, into a brand.” Since then, he has opened five other restaurants, a retail outlet and an eclectic laundromat in the Mother City with the latest Zingara endeavour being the much anticipated Company’s Garden Restaurant (Haarlem & Hope), which will be opening in spring this year.

Check out what happened

When

When

Thursday, November 20, 2014
4:30 PM – 7:30 PM UTC

Agenda

4:30 PMNetworking and Food
5:30 PMFireside Chat
6:30 PMNetworking