Alexandra Miller, founder of EL&N London, seeks to elevate the everyday dining experience beyond the UK and into the UAE. We learn more.
What can you tell us about EL&N London that few people know?
Our journey began in London’s prestigious Mayfair, when we launched our Park Lane location back in 2017. Since then, we have been elevating the café culture scene with our specialty coffee, innovative food menus and elevated designs. Now boasting 35 global stores, we’ve firmly established ourselves as a prominent brand in the F&B industry. Drawing on my 10-plus years in luxury fashion, I crafted a distinctive brand, drawing on my fashion background for inspiration. Furthermore, our style-led interiors and elevated food and drink offerings, particularly late at night, have added to our uniqueness.
The brand has already established three cafes in the UAE. Why has EL&N London decided to expand its presence in Dubai?
Having launched in DIFC, expanding across the Emirates was always part of the plan. Furthermore, upon opening in the UK, we recognized that a significant portion of our clientele were from the UAE, becoming steadfast patrons. As a result, we were quickly able to identify the want and need for EL&N in Dubai. Therefore, we have decided to predominantly focus on openings across the city in the next couple of years.
EL&N London is known for its unique spin on dining and Instagram-worthy settings. What is the importance of design when it comes to the culinary experience?
Design plays a pivotal role in our global success. Moreover, our distinctive interiors swiftly earned us the title of “most Instagrammable café,” captivating social media. This varied from our pink aesthetic and flower walls to using premium quality finishes on our cake bar counters and furniture. While we will always remain pink at the core, our designers have been working internally on a style evolution this year. Consequently, you will start to see this rolling out in our upcoming store openings. We prioritize premium finishes in more neutral-toned settings, maintaining the picture-perfect backdrops but with a fresh new twist. Furthermore, Dubai Festival City will be one of the first to see the new direction from EL&N. The designs are stunning, with new features unprecedented for us, sure to captivate locals and become instant favorites.
What are EL&N London’s future projects?
We have some extremely exciting projects in the pipeline. In Dubai, our Dubai Festival City opening is scheduled for May, with the Dubai Hills opening following in June 2024. Additionally, we are working on expanding our presence across Jumeirah and bringing more of the brand to Abu Dhabi. Moreover, upcoming stores feature fresh designs, maintaining beloved menu classics like all-day dining, Spanish lattes and freshly baked cakes.
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