November 9, 2025
After a million-dollar renovation – the duo's unique restaurant will soon open
In November, Smålandsposten met Kevin Marrio Pereira and Michael Dsouza. The restaurateur friends had ambitious plans. What was previously the Derés café, in the middle of central Älmhult, they wanted to tear down and replace with a two-story gastropub. The old parking area behind the premises would become a large outdoor terrace.
The guys hoped to open as early as spring. But when spring came, the renovation hadn't even started. The reason was that the building permit was delayed. Morgan Svensson, CEO of Smålandsbostäder, which is rebuilding the premises together with the restaurateurs, does not want to say exactly what caused the delay. However, he says that one of the problems was that they needed to change the ceiling height in the basement.
The project finally got the green light in early July, and since then, they have been working diligently to rebuild the premises. The new plan is to open the restaurant in mid-January. We have waited patiently. But in the last six months we have received great support from Älmhult Municipality, says Michael Dsouza. He and Kevin Marrio Pereira are standing on what will become the 500-square-meter outdoor terrace. The old garage doors in the building's basement have been torn out and replaced with large windows. Our vision is to have concerts out here in the summer. We want it to be Älmhult's next "hang out place", says Michael Dsouza. Inside the windows is the frame of a bar counter and the future kitchen. There, a construction worker is in full swing installing tiles on the wall.
The restaurant, named Two Guys, will consist of two parts: a pub with a pool table and darts on the ground floor and a gin and wine bar and restaurant on the upper floor. It will be a gastropub, a mix between fine dining and a pub. We will cook international food, like homemade pasta, tender meat and hamburgers. And a touch of Indian food, says Kevin Marrio Pereira.
The restaurant buddies previously ran Golfkrogen in Äskya, but they abandoned that venture in December 2023. After that, the search began for a new, more central location where the guys could create their dream restaurant. We have known since the golf restaurant that we wanted to create something for the community in Älmhult, says Michael Dsouza. We want to create more life in the city center, adds Kevin Marrio Pereira.
Michael Dsouza says that investments of several million have gone into the renovation project. The guys agree that the venture involves a risk. The restaurant industry is risky. That's just the way it is. But I think the concept will work, says Michael Dsouza.
The plan is for you to open in two months. How does it feel to be on the verge of opening your own place like this?
It hasn't quite landed. But I'm proud of what we've accomplished. In many ways we're strangers here, we don't really fit in, we don't speak the language fluently and that makes everything more difficult. But I've always known that I want to start a restaurant, in that way it's cool, says Kevin Marrio Pereira.
How do you view the competition for restaurant guests in the village?
Our concept is unique. We will not compete with anyone.
But in the restaurant industry, you're always competing for guests with others, right?
Yes, maybe in bigger cities. But in small towns it's better to cooperate than compete, I think.
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