Barry Larsen

Barry Walter Larsen (19 December 1956 – 11 June 2023) was a Scottish multi-millionaire businessman. He once owned almost all of the Wimpy restaurant franchises in Scotland.

Early life

Larsen was born to Walter and Elsie. He grew up in Inverness, Scotland, and attended Balloch Primary School and Inverness High School.

Career

Larsen gave Michelin-starred French chef and restaurateur Loïc Lefebvre his first head-chef position, at La Riviera, a restaurant at the Glenmoriston Town House Hotel in Inverness. Larsen changed La Riviera's name to Abstract, before opening a second restaurant, named Contrast, next door in June 2006.

In March 2007, after three years in Inverness, Lefebvre moved to Edinburgh, where he and Larsen had planned to open a second location under the Abstract name. After a disagreement, Lefebvre returned to France in May 2007. The second location closed on 31 December 2009.

La Riviera/Abstract was featured in a Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares episode which aired in June 2005. Gordon Ramsay and his team visited the restaurant the previous winter. The show revisited the restaurant twice: once two months after the original; then again two years later. After the visits, the restaurant won the Scottish Hotel Restaurant of the Year award.

Personal life

Larsen was married to Hilary. They lived on Larsen's estate in Newmore, Muir of Ord.

Death

Larsen died in 2023, aged 66.

References