Biography

Nick spent the first years of his life living in Aynhoe Mansions in Brook Green, W6 before moving to Holland Villas Road in Holland Park W14 and subsequently to Launceston Place W8. In 1963 he went to Norland Place School, a junior school famous for the nannies that wait outside to collect their charges each afternoon. In the 1960’s these nannies would have sported grey uniforms and have been specially trained for the position. These days they are more likely to hail from an Eastern European background and be dressed by New Look.

In 1965 Nick joined Hill House School in Hans Place in Knightsbridge, run by the Townend family, headed by Colonel Stuart Townend. The school had just changed from a Preparatory School to an International Junior School with a branch in Glion-sur-Montreux, which Nick was able to attend. Hill House was particularly famous as having been attended by Prince Charles, who was the first heir to the throne to wear a school uniform and attend school outside the Royal Home.

In 1971 Nick’s father tragically died and Nick moved to St Edmunds boarding school in Canterbury famous for its education of the families of the clergy and whilst Nick was there became home to the Cathedral Choristers.

Nick and his family moved to Ealing Common in 1972 and he went to the sixth form Putney College before undertaking an HND course in Catering and Hotelkeeping at the Ealing Catering College. This took the form of what became known as a ‘sandwich course’, not in any way related to the famous bread product invented by Earl Sandwich but because students attended part of their term at the college and part in the commercial environment. Nick was lucky enough to become a management trainee with the Metropole Group, which launched him on his career in the hospitality industry.

At that time the Metropole Group included the Ship Hotel in Brighton, where Nick understudied the Hall Porter, the Queens Hotel in Newton Abbott where he undertook his Sous-Chef training and the Imperial Hotel in Torquay, where he worked in junior positions in the bar and restaurant. All the roles provided the ideal grounding for his future leadership in the industry.

In 1978, Nick’s first appointment from college was as Assistant Manager at the Great Fosters Hotel in Egham, Surrey. Nick joined at the same time as Richard Young, the current General Manager, and they spent five happy years there under the direction of John Baumann who promoted Nick as his Deputy following the impressive start to his career.

Nick was tempted away from Great Fosters by Gordon Campbell Grey in 1983 when he asked him to help set up and develop, ‘The Feathers’ hotel in Woodstock, close to the birthplace of Winston Churchill in Blenheim Palace. Nick worked tirelessly as the new General Manager and the hotel became an instant ‘hit’ with weekenders from London.

In 1985, the draw of London’s gastronomic ascendancy took Nick to his next challenge, as General Manager of Masters Restaurant in Queens Gate, Kensington. A feature of the restaurant was its long cocktail ‘American bar’ reputed at the time to be the longest in London. Masters became the scene for many raucous parties, particularly on Sundays when the ‘brunch’ extending into late evening. It was also the venue for the after show party for the London production of the award winning musical ‘le Cage aux Folles’.

At the age of 27, in 1987, Nick became the Managing Director of Leith’s Restaurant in Notting Hill Gate having been asked by the famous chef, author and catering school owner, Prue Leith, to develop the restaurant whilst she pursued her ever more demanding business career. Nick rose to the challenge and during the course of the next 13 years developed the restaurant to one that was not only renowned for its fine food, gaining a coveted Michelin star, but also as one of the top restaurants in the UK for its wine list.

Nick’s passion for fine wine had been nurtured back in the 70’s by John Baumann but his position as MD at Leith’s enabled him to experiment with many unusual and significant New World wines and in 1995 he won acclaim from the Automobile Association receiving their top award for ‘the UK’s Best Wine List’. This was followed by a unique accolade from the US Wine Spectator magazine winning their Award for Excellence for 12 consecutive years.

1998 brought Nick a new challenge when together with Chef Alex Floyd he set up Leith’s in Soho. This stunning new restaurant, designed by Nick’s life partner, Daniel Hopwood, specialised quality English food and quickly gained an award for its vegetarian dishes.

Developing any new restaurant in the best of times is always a challenge and this Beak Street restaurant unfortunately was not as successful as had been hoped and was sold by the owner Sir Christopher Bland to Firmdale Hotels who decided to close it in July 2000.

The stresses and strains of the hospitality industry, especially in developing any new business led Nick to take a year out in to celebrate the Millennium. In 2000 he decided to take his ‘Grand Tour’ around Spain indulging in his special interest in wines from the Iberian Peninsula. It was during this time that Nick honed his journalistic skills creating a magnificent record of his trip around the many vineyards, top restaurants and boutique pensions. He was writing an article every fortnight for “FoodnDrink” online magazine in addition to a regular column in Harpers On-Trade, hardly a rest for tight deadlines. However, Nick had a thoroughly enjoyable time in Spain getting under the skin of the culture, people and gastronomy. He returned in the autumn and started to make plans for the next phase of his career.

In January 2001 Nick set up TNT Communications to continue his wine journalism but also as a Hospitality Industry Consultant. He soon secured his first project setting up a restaurant and bar within a private members club that was due to open off The Strand in July that year. Once again Nick faced a substantial challenge but this time it was the premises, which extended three floors below ground level in subterranean London where stocks of food an wine had been stored in bygone days.
 
The Adam Street Private Members Club opened its doors on time and to budget and the success of the current business is testament to the detailed planning and design that Nick put together in those early days. Current customers of the Club include L’Oreal, Duran Duran, Play Station and Sadie Frost.

In 2002 Nick won a commission from the Square Meal organisation and Mercedes Benz to take various models of the prestige car to vineyards in Europe. This was a commission he almost lost after his first article mentioned the wrong model of car but all was forgiven because of the superb commentary that he gave on the vehicle and the fine wines that he tasted on his trip. In fact Mercedes were so impressed by Nick’s journalistic skills that they commissioned him to make further trips to France, Spain, South Africa and New Zealand.
In 2003 Nick perceived a gap in the market and diversified to set up a new company Wine of the Times. Supplying new and interesting wines not currently on the market to the hotel and restaurant world, as well as providing a “virtual sommelier” service to his private customers. Nick based his new operation with business partner Jack Scott in Jascots wine and distribution centre in Park Royal. The company grew fast with very successful wine tastings held at the Adam Street Private Members Club attended by key members of the wine media, restaurateurs and wine buyers. The unique collection of wines personally selected by Nick and not normally available from other merchants proved of great interest to the industry.

During his career Nick won accolades from all corners of the wine industry and these include:

• Former Chairman of the Cava & Penedes Wine Institute
• Former Chairman of the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino d’Espana
• Member of The Champagne Academy & Chairman 2005
• Member of The Grandes Maisons d’Alsace
• Member of The Napa Valley Vintners Association
• Diplome d’Honneur des Vignerons de Champagne
• The Agriculture Medal of Catalunya from President Jordi Pujol
• Vice-President of The Sommeliers’ Club of Great Britain

Nick has been a regular panel Judge at Decanter, WINE Magazine, and The International Wine Competition. He was also one of the six judges on the panel of the prestigious Glenfiddich Awards 2002.

Tragically, aged 45, in September 2005, Nick fell ill on an aircraft at Stansted Airport waiting to take off for Nice for one of his regular trips to the Languedoc wine region of France. Nick suffered a severe cardiac arrest and the inability of the authorities to deal with the condition quickly meant that he suffered a lack of oxygen to the brain. This has left Nick in a vegetative state, a condition that has curtailed his ability to live a normal life.

As a testament to the extraordinary impact that he had on the hospitality and particularly the wine industry during his exciting career in 2006 Nick was awarded “The Outstanding Contribution of the On-Trade” award by the Drinks Business magazine. The editor of the magazine commented “Nick’s exceptional work ethic, attention-to-detail and ability to put all at ease around him, plus many other fabulous qualities, make Nick Tarayan worthy of this special award.

In 2006 Nick’s many friends, business associates and family got together in the main hall of the Inner Temple to celebrate his life’s work but also to raise money for The Nick Tarayan Bursary. The Bursary has been established to sponsor student interest in the study and professional presentation of wine. The committee, which has been set up to oversee the granting of funds, identifies candidates who show a specific interest in developing their careers in the wine industry. Bursary contributions have also been made to the nursing home in London where Nick is cared for, to provide a physiotherapy suite when residents and patients can be cared for according to their needs.