End of the road: Soho’s al fresco festival to end in September August 26, 2021 It has been one of the few positives to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic, but as the virus recedes it appears so will Soho’s al fresco revival. Westminster City Council has informed businesses that traffic will be re-introduced to Soho’s streets at the end of September, bringing to an end the weekend and evening [...]
Jamie Oliver Group revenues fell 20 per cent last year amid lockdown August 21, 2021 Turnover at the Jamie Oliver Group fell by 19.7 per cent to £30m as the company felt the force of the pandemic and lockdowns, according to reports. Pre-tax profits for the group, made up of Jamie Oliver Holdings and Jamie Oliver Licensing, fell by 41.2 per cent to £4.9m according to The Times. The Holdings [...]
The award for London’s least hygienic borough to eat goes to… August 21, 2021 Waltham Forest is the most unhygienic London borough in which to eat, according to new research shared with City A.M. this afternoon. The area tops the list as London’s least hygienic borough for food as 13.2 per cent of its businesses received a rating of 2, meaning improvements are necessary, while 1 which means major [...]
Pig review – Another unexpected Nicolas Cage triumph August 20, 2021 Where do you even begin with Nicolas Cage? Once a respected Oscar winning star, he’s now largely known for two things: his eccentricity, and his output. He makes an awful lot of films, most of which are low budget dross, but every now and again the intense actor makes a movie that succeeds in spite [...]
Elephant & Castle restaurant stripped of licence after ‘machete’ attack August 19, 2021 An Elephant & Castle restaurant has lost its licence to sell alcohol after a man was left with a “possible machete” wound. Southwark Council’s licensing sub-committee revoked El Rincon Costeno’s licence at a virtual hearing on August 10 following an incident in July where police officers were called. Officers were called at around 2.40am on [...]
The British Kebab Awards: Westminster’s unlikely mainstay event August 18, 2021 For the uninitiated, the British Kebab Awards probably sound like something attended exclusively by shop owners and those people from YouTube who eat the same food for every meal. While these two categories of people should not be taken for granted, the event is in fact better known in SW1 as a mainstay on the [...]
Franco Manca’s Fulham Shore eyes expansion despite sliding revenue August 17, 2021 Hospitality group Fulham Shore, which owns Franco Manca, has seen its annual revenue nearly sliced in half due to the restrictions on restaurants for most of the year. The group pulled in £40.3m in revenue in the year to 28 March, after it had plunged 41.3 per cent from the £68.6m it raked in last [...]
Just Eat posts revenue surge of 52 per cent but struggles to turn a profit in fight for market share August 17, 2021 Strong demand for food delivery amid the last of the Covid restrictions persisted in the first half of the year and boosted Just Eat Takeaway’s revenue, but efforts to increase its share of the crowded market impacted profitability. Revenue in the first six months of the year grew to €2.6 bn (£2.2bn) – a 52 [...]
One of the world’s finest wines is Kent’s Squerryes 2011 Brut August 16, 2021 Get ready for something seriously tasty to tickle your tastebuds. Over 18,000 wines were blind-tasted at the largest, most renowned wine competition internationally, The Decanter Awards. The Judges then allocated the select few winners Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum medals, but this is not the pinnacle. Get ready to feel patriotic. Of those 18,000 wines, [...]
DoorDash swings to loss in second quarter since IPO August 13, 2021 Aggressive expansion into a crowded global grocery delivery market plunged SoftBank-backed DoorDash into a wider than expected loss in the second quarter since its December 2020 IPO. The NYSE-listed food delivery firm reported a net loss of $102m in the second quarter, wider than the $74.6m loss Wall Street had been expecting. This translated to [...]