Former Fat Duck CEO launches Wonderland Restaurants

James Bulmer, former Disney executive and CEO of The Fat Duck Group, has formed Wonderland Restaurants, a collection of creative individuals pulled together to create an ‘academy of curiosity and wonderment’.

Wonderland Restaurants will join London’s growing experiential hospitality sector, working on a number of restaurant concepts and products.

The company has also launched ‘Wonderland Labs’, dedicated to accelerating and evolving food and drink innovation for both existing and future projects.

“Wonderland Restaurants is a rich melting pot of some of the finest creative minds and storytellers from the world of food and magic,” explains Bulmer. “Our company’s vision is to bring curiosity, imagination, emotion and wonderment to the hospitality sector in a way never seen before and build an international portfolio of immersive food concepts. I’m incredibly excited to be steering this hugely dynamic team of talented individuals, with an exciting project planned for this year.”

The core team includes creative director Mike Bagale, former executive chef of three-Michelin starred Alinea in Chicago; group executive chef Cláudio Cardoso, former group executive chef of Sushisamba; innovation director Mark Garston, former head of central development for The Fat Duck Group; and chief illusionist Chris Cox, who is a self-proclaimed ‘mind-reader’ and mentalist magician.