Winged Boots interviews: Asher Grant. international nightlife entrepreneur

My career began accidentally. I was spraying perfumes in Harrods when a friend suggested working as a nightclub promoter. It sounded fun and I made more money that night than I had in a month spritzing fragrances. I slowly climbed the hospitality ladder from there.
 

I borrowed ideas from America and thought this would really take off in our capital. At the time everyone told me ‘London's too cool for all of this stuff’ but I kept strong believing everyone loves having their name in lights.
 

The London REIGN is like a big Vegas or Miami-style venue. It's all about entertainment and living to the excess. TABU LDN is in the building which used to be Mahiki - a really famous club in the 2000s - and has a Tokyo underground street party vibe. It couldn't be more opposite to REIGN by design. Then PIRANA is a very vibey, very sexy, very energetic restaurant with phenomenal food. It’s the kind of place to celebrate anything and everything.
 

Festive dining is where you start by having dinner and then slowly as the night progresses the music and the energy changes and you end up dancing on your table. It's definitely not a nightclub but it's also not just a normal restaurant. And that is exactly what we have created at PIRANA London. When you book, you’re there for the whole night and you're there to have fun.

This category of hospitality has expanded massively across the world and in every city other than London. No two markets are exactly the same, but humans are the same; and if they like dancing on tables in Vegas, they'd probably like dancing on tables in London.
 

I think PIRANA will be the brand that goes the most international and it will lend itself to beach clubs as well as traditional restaurants in other territories. We’re really excited about its future.
 

Saint-Tropez would be the Holy Grail because it has so much legacy and history. Our clients frequent Saint-Tropez a lot and I think it'd be a really exciting challenge for us.

I love travelling. I'm newly married and would say that my love language is travel. I think we're so lucky to live on this planet and I am forever blown away by its beauty. You've got the Alps, the rainforests in Brazil, the endless oceans… there's so much variety and I can't believe we only get 100 years (if we’re lucky) to try and see it all. When my wife and I are planning a trip, it’s always a challenge of striking the balance between going to places that we've visited before and we love, with trying somewhere new. I learnt to fly helicopters last year, and it's completely changed my life. Now, every time we go away, we'll try and get a flying day in as well. You can be in the most remote places very quickly and it adds a whole new dynamic to your travel experience.
 

We’ve really fallen in love with Cape Town in recent years; namely the mix of the people and the breathtaking scenery.
 

We just got back from Lake Como. We stayed at Passalacqua, which was voted the number one hotel in the world last year. We got married the year before in Villa Balbiano, which is just up the lake, and stayed in the Grand Hotel Tremezzo.

I’ve never been to Brazil, so if I could just click my fingers that would be my top pick. Or, the total opposite, but I'd love to go to the Antarctic.
 

South America and New Zealand.

First is Tutankhamun. I'm convinced that aliens built the pyramids so I’d invite him to get all the sauce. It'd be great to have Einstein, and then to add some politics I’d invite J.F. Kennedy. Which means you probably need a movie star… Tom Cruise, because he and I could talk about helicopters and motorbikes. And finally Richard Branson. He looks like he's got the work-life balance spot on.
 

From start to finish, the level of service was next level. From the moment we landed to the second we left it felt like there was a VVIP mark next to our name.
 

Unanimously. If you want to travel in luxury with absolute peace of mind there shouldn't be another thought.
 

Saint-Tropez
“L'Opera is one of the most fun restaurants you can visit on planet Earth.”

Las Vegas
“It’s very hard to beat Hakkasan: it’s still one of the best nightclubs in the world.”

Miami
“Go to Kiki on the River on a Sunday. It’s completely unique, not operated by one of the major groups, but the place goes absolutely crazy.”

Mykonos
“Excluding Sundays, Scorpios. The food, the energy… it’s something you can really only experience in Mykonos - and now Bodrum”

Courchevel
“La Ferme Saint Amour is a really fun festive dining experience; one of the best I’ve seen in the world. The transition is perfect.”