Marlon Abela (born 1975) is a Lebanese-British restaurateur, businessman and columnist. He is the founder and chairman of the Marlon Abela Restaurant Corporation (MARC), a privately owned international hospitality company based in

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Early life

Marlon Abela was born in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

in 1975. His father, Albert Abela, was the chairman of the Abela Group, a catering business, and a luxury hotelier. His mother, Barbel, is German. Abela grew up in

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal dialect, Provençal oc, Grassa in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional it, Grassa) is the only Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence- ...

, France, and

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

Career

Abela started working for his father's business at the age of seventeen. By 2001, he served as its executive vice president. Abela founded the Marlon Abela Restaurant Corporation (MARC) in 2001. The company is headquartered in Mayfair. Abela serves as its chairman. Via the company, he is the owner of Umu and The Greenhouse, two restaurants in

, London. Both restaurants received two

Michelin star The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

s. He also bought ownership of The Square restaurant from co-owners, chef patron Phil Howard and wine expert Nigel Platts-Martin, in March 2016 for . He also became the owner of Morton's Club, a private members club on

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Kent ...

in Mayfair. In

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York City, he owned another restaurant called A Voce, which closed. With François Payard, Marlon Abela co-founded François Payard Bakeries, a chain of bakeries, which closed in New York in 2018. In 2014, Marlon Abela acquired the historical wine merchant OW Loeb. In early 2018 a series of delays in payments to suppliers and deliveries to clients triggered a series of hostile press articles. Abelas's company said in January 2018 "O.W.Loeb intends to honour its commitments to their clients and is in the process of doing so." The company relocated to the MARC head office in Mayfair with new senior personnel, and said that Abela was "looking forward to implementing new strategies". Abela is a columnist for

Spear's Magazine ''Spear's'' (formerly known as ''Spear's WMS'' or ''Spear's Wealth Management Survey''), founded in 2006 by William Cash, is a bimonthly British magazine for high-net-worth individuals and those in the financial service industries. It has been c ...

, where he writes about wine. Abela was served with a

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

petition by lawyers in October 2019. In 2020 The Square was shut down by administrators during lunch service, Umu went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

, and Morton's Club also ceased trading. However, Umu is still trading under new ownership.

Personal life

In 2011 Marlon Abela married Nadya Abela, originally from Russia and they have two children together. Marlon has two more children from his first marriage. Nadya announced on Instagram that she is now separated from him.

References

1975 births Living people Lebanese restaurateurs Lebanese company founders Lebanese columnists British restaurateurs British gastronomes British company founders British columnists Lebanese people of German descent British people of Lebanese descent British people of German descent Wine writers Lebanese emigrants to the United Kingdom Lebanese expatriates in France Lebanese expatriates in Monaco {{England-business-bio-stub