RICKER RESTAURANTS: SERVING LONDON SINCE 1996
Will Ricker is the highly acclaimed restaurateur and founder of Ricker Restaurants group. Australian-born, Ricker arrived in London with a property background and a firm vision to popularise pan-Asian cuisine. In 1996 he launched his first restaurant: Cicada in Clerkenwell. Following its success, two years later saw the opening of Great Eastern Dining Room in Hoxton, with Notting Hill’s e&o arriving on the dining scene in 2001. Ricker’s natural entrepreneurial flair, and ability to create timeless yet iconic destinations led to e&o being quoted as ‘one of the first places in London that made eating out sexy’ (Evening Standard) His success story continued with 2003’s Eight Over Eight in Chelsea and XO in Belsize Park in 2007.
Next came Ricker’s first foray away from his pan-Asian concept with his debut Mexican ‘hidden dining’ concept was born in the form of La Bodega Negra in Soho and Casa Negra in Shoreditch. La Bodega New York (Dream Hotel group) followed and Stoke House, a steak restaurant in Victoria was completed in 2017 before further global expansion with E&O Athens in 2018 within the Athens Marriott and La Bodega Doha in the St Regis Hotel in 2019.
Ricker’s Midas touch and instinct perfectly captured the nuanced hedonistic nineties crowd and his growing network in London led to his restaurants quickly garnering celebrity attendance and even to this day, the list of A-list diners who frequent his establishments continues to grow. Famed names who have frequented his establishments include Kate Moss, the McCartneys, Dua Lipa, Victoria Beckham, Gwyneth Paltrow and Nicole Kidman. e&o has become as renowned for its celebrity clientele as it has for its Asian cuisine.