The adventure began in Dudelange six years ago, when Maria Dias opened a hairdressing salon. “I’ve been developing this concept of a hairdressing salon with a whole range of services for customers for eight years now,” says Maria Dias, now 38. For the past two years, she has occupied a beautiful two-storey premises on the corner of Rue Philippe II and Rue Notre-Dame in Luxembourg. It’s a prime location that has enabled her to develop a concept store that stands out from the usual range of shops: on the ground floor, behind a beautiful shop window, there is a bar-restaurant, open to all; the first floor is reserved for the hairdressing salon and a beauty area. The whole space has been lovingly decorated by the owner in collaboration with an interior designer.
Upstairs, the hairdressing salon is spacious and bright. Photo: Trust
“The salon’s customers spend many hours with us, because we offer a painting service that takes time to achieve a good result without damaging the hair,” explains Dias. “That’s why I wanted to create a special place that would take care of a number of services to help our customers.” So, as well as the hairdressing salon, customers can access beauty-related services--manicure, pedicure, make-up--as well as the catering offered by the establishment on the ground floor. “And because Trust is a special place, we want to go even further and offer a concierge service from February onwards.” For a subscription fee of around €100 per month, guests will be able to access a range of services including dry cleaning, ticket purchasing, restaurant reservations, ideas for outings at partner prices, car washing, flower delivery, parcel delivery, etc.
Trust restaurant, a standalone establishment
As Dias is not a restaurateur herself, she has teamed up with Linda Abdiche to run the restaurant on the ground floor. “I’m actually one of Maria’s customers,” explains Abdiche, a 34-year-old who has worked in the restaurant business for several years. “I was totally taken by her concept and we decided to join forces for the restaurant side of things.” Maria remains the owner of Trust, but the restaurant is managed directly by Abdiche.
The restaurant’s dining room is comfortable and beautifully furnished. Photo: Trust
“When we opened two years ago, we already had the Trust Café,” says Dias. “But with Linda’s arrival, the focus of the establishment was changed.” Abdiche continues: “I’m originally from Lyon and I have this culture of the Bouchons, of a shared cuisine. The aim is for our food to be good, tasty and to make people want to come back again,” says the manager, who also sources some of the products herself. To take charge of the kitchen, she asked Bruno Fernades, aka Patanegra (former chef of the Déjà Vu restaurant, which closed last summer) to join her. As a result, the chef has revamped the entire menu, which now offers creative cuisine at moderate prices.
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During our visit, we had the chance to try a number of dishes, including beef tartare served with Nori seaweed chips (€10), green houmous with basil pesto and parsley oil (€8), the surprising octopus hot dog (€15), a beetroot-burrata risotto (€25) and a surprising ceviche of sea bream with chanterelle mushrooms (€25). The desserts are in the same vein, with a particular favourite being the black sesame crème brûlée (€8), as well as a very good chocolate mousse with grilled grapefruit slices (€8).
In the front area, the space has been converted into a bar for which mixologist Margaux has invented in-house cocktails: Pink Trust (€16.50), Datte with me (€16.50) and mocktails including the Orient Express (€10) with its spicy notes.
“I’m also going to be introducing a range of events,” says Abdiche. “We’ve already started with the wine & cheese afterwork, and we're going to continue with DJ nights and drag queen events thanks, I hope, to the help of Madame Yoko who had the Barnum.”
Development ambitions
Trust currently employs 10 people. But Dias has no intention of stopping there. “The Trust in Luxembourg is a prototype for me. The aim is to develop this concept in other European cities, starting certainly with Paris. But to do that, I still need to find financial investors.”
In the meantime, she is concentrating on development in Luxembourg and intends to expand her customer base even further. To achieve this, she is developing a marketing strategy based on recommendations: “If customers bring us new customers, we make a commercial gesture to thank them. That’s why we often work with influencers,” says the entrepreneur. It’s a strategy that's worked so far, coupled with a desire to constantly improve hairdressing practices and techniques so as to be at the cutting edge--and even a forerunner--in this service offering.
, 34 Rue Notre-Dame, Luxembourg. The restaurant is open from Tuesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner.
This article was originally published in .