DEBATE: Does the Jamie’s Italian chain have only itself to blame for its demise? May 23, 2019 Does the Jamie’s Italian chain have only itself to blame for its demise? Patrick Clover, founder and chief executive of BLACKBX, says YES. It’s a sad story for all involved, not least the 1,000 workers made redundant, but to call Jamie’s Italian a victim of external forces is too simplistic. The climate for mid-market restaurants [...]
Why Domino’s Pizza sell-off was overcooked May 14, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. Hungry bargain hunters gobbled up shares in Domino's, correctly betting than an early slump was unfair. After selling 12 pizzas every second on New Year's Day, the rest of 2019 certainly hasn't panned out in the same emphatic fashion for Domino's Pizzaor its investors. Shares slumped as much as [...]
DEBATE: At $1.5bn, is plant burger firm Beyond Meat over-valued? May 2, 2019 At $1.5bn, is plant burger firm Beyond Meat over-valued? Chris Beauchamp, a senior market analyst at IG, says YES. For many, Beyond Meat’s IPO would seem to mark the perfect “market top” moment. A company producing a cutting-edge product, with ongoing losses and the risk that it may never make a profit, is seeking to become [...]
Subway launches first vegan sub after Greggs vegan sausage roll success April 17, 2019 Subway has jumped on board the vegan bandwagon after Greggs' vegan sausage roll proved a runaway success with everyone from flexitarians to – gasp – meat eaters. Read more: 25 weird items people left in their Uber rides The sandwich chain's new vegan sub lands in stores today priced from £3.80, alongside a vegan-friendly salad. [...]
The founder of Boxpark on making a modern market out of a shed, selling Boxfresh, and hiring a Michelin star chef April 15, 2019 For an industrial-looking shed, there’s something strangely inviting about this giant black and white box next to Wembley Stadium. Having opened its doors in December last year, this is Boxpark’s third site, and it’s also the largest, taking up 20,000 square feet of space. It’s essentially a stripped-back leisure centre – long tables are lined [...]
Why reports of Soho’s death have been greatly exaggerated March 28, 2019 When Casanova arrived in London in 1763, Soho was his first port of call. It was a place riddled with opium dens and brothels and coffee houses and restaurants, the place you went for cheap rent, good food, great drugs and the best parties. It’s been the go-to place for hedonists and sybarites ever since, [...]
Din Tai Fung Covent Garden review: Precision-engineering these Taiwanese dumplings comes at the cost of soul March 28, 2019 Eight years of writing restaurant reviews has not yet propelled me to culinary stardom. Nobody has asked me to be a judge on Celebrity Bake Off. Masterchef has never called. But I do have one claim to fame: I star in the staff training video for Taiwanese dumpling sensation Din Tai Fung. It happened in [...]
Working Lunch review: The Baptist Grill in Holborn merges the ecclesiastic with the extravagant March 19, 2019 In spite of, or perhaps because of, recent efforts by developers to rebrand uncool Holborn as happening ‘Midtown’, it’s a district of London one still tends to pass through without stopping to look around. But on one corner of the crossroads outside the Tube station is a boutique hotel worthy of attention. The charismatic L’oscar [...]
Is the proposed ban on TV junk food ads before 9pm just another example of nanny state regulation? March 19, 2019 Is the proposed ban on TV junk food ads before 9pm just another example of nanny state regulation? Daniel Pryor, head of programmes at the Adam Smith Institute, says YES. When the government wants to treat TV ads for fruit juice like soft porn, you know something has gone horribly wrong. There’s no legal definition of [...]
The inside track on the ultimate in slow cooking at Europe’s biggest annual snail festival, l’Aplec del Caragol March 5, 2019 Since its humble beginnings as a small riverside picnic among friends in 1980 to the grand foodie fiesta it is today, l’Aplec del Caragol occurs every May, about 100 miles northwest of Barcelona in the provincial town of Lleida. The party offers townsfolk and visitors alike a chance to enjoy a weekend celebrating one of [...]