Rushmore Group has sold leading cocktail bar The Player in London to the team behind one of Paris’s top bars.
The basement site in Soho has been taken over by the owners of Sherry Butt in Le Marais who plan to extensively refurbish it and relaunch it later this year with a totally new concept.
The Player was originally opened in 1998 by legendary bartender Dick Bradsell. After he closed it in 2001, Rushmore Group owner Jonathan Downey reopened it in partnership with US bartender Dale DeGroff.
News of the closure and sale of The Player was broken by Jonathan on Twitter last week. He added: “The new owners plan to do something different and we wish them well.
“The Player was about great drinks/times/tunes and I will miss it but so many new things happening and time to let someone else have a go.”
Sherry Butt in rue Beautreillis was launched in September 2012 by Cathleen McGarry and Amaury Guyot, who were previously at Experimental Group’s Curio Parlour and Prescription Cocktail Club. They were unavailable for comment.
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