You recently sold the South African and African rights to Mugg & Bean, a concept you started in 1996. Where did it begin?
Working in food is something I have wanted to do my whole life.
I’ve been in the restaurant business in Johannesburg since 1979 [Filmater owned the restaurants Linger Longer, Scratch Daniels, Fat Franks and Leipoldts] – there were many in the early days. Mugg & Bean is really a product of all those influences and getting to a point where we had a mechanism of franchising. It was based on a Chicago style of restaurant my wife Judi and I liked, that was really the seed. We sat in this coffee shop in 1992 and thought this may fly in South Africa. At the time, we were going broke and things were tough. One forgets that the economies were as bad as they are at the moment.
You must have so many food memories over the years. Are there some that stand out? Continue reading….
Photo: Katherine Muick-Mere.
