Owner
Eren Ali & Ajith Jaya-Wickrema
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Career : Metrodiner is the privately-owned operator of the Las Iguanas line of Latin American-themed restaurants. Some of the earlier, smaller venues were originally called Café Iguanas. The group is majority-owned by its co-founders, Sri Lankan Ajith Jaya-Wickrema and Turkish-Cypriot Eren Ali. Private equity firm Piper Private Equity also holds a stake in the firm. The restaurants serve up authentic Latin American food against a backdrop of Latin design and music. The cuisine is a fusion of Latin American Indian, Spanish, Portuguese and African influences and the signature dish is Ximxim Brasilian lime chicken. The restaurant bars (or Cachaçaria) serve Cachaça, a spirit distilled from sugar cane that is the national drink of Brazil. Metrodiner produces its own brand of the spirit (Las Iguanas Magnifica) from its own sugar field and production plant just outside Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. *April 1991: Metrodiner opens its first Las Iguanas in St Nicholas Street, Bristol, but closes the property in May 2002 as it no longer fits the brand specification. *1995: The group opens new branches in Cardiff and Clifton, Bristol. The Bristol branch, which occupies the site of the founders’ Johnny Yens Wok Diner restaurant, is originally branded Café Iguanas. *December 1997: A second Café Iguana opens in Bath. *July 1998: A fifth Las Iguanas opens in Birmingham. *2002: Metrodiner raises £3.9m for expansion from the Royal Bank of Scotland and venture capitalist Piper Private Equity, which takes a stake in the company. *2003: The group opens new branches in Sheffield and Leicester. In October, it buys its own Cachaça sugar cane field and distillery on the Fazenda do Anil (or Indigo Farm) estate outside Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The operation is overseen by the plantation owner, master Cachaça maker João Luiz. *2004: An eighth Las Iguanas opens in Nottingham. *2005: New venues in Leeds and Brighton take the brand to nine restaurants. In 2007 the group was bought out for £27 million from Piper Private Equity by a group backed by Bowmark Capital with a view to expanding to 100 outlets. The two principals still own significant equity.
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