Grind snaps up former Jamie’s Italian site in Greenwich September 6, 2018 Fast-growing London coffee and restaurant brand Grind has snapped up a former Jamie's Italian site in Greenwich for its biggest site to date. The site on Nelson Road was one of 12 restaurants shuttered by Oliver's company at the start of this year as part of a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). Grind now plans to [...]
The Weekly Grill: Santosh Shah, executive chef at The LaLiT London, explains how the tandoor oven changed his life September 5, 2018 What’s new? For the return of game season, we’ve launched a new six-course tasting menu at Baluchi, the pan-Indian restaurant at The LaLiT London. It’s all about bringing out the amazing smoky notes of game through the use of carefully balanced spice blends and traditional tandoor cooking. What’s your earliest food memory? Eating Bagiya, a [...]
Everyman revenues climb higher as cinema chain plots expansion September 5, 2018 Boutique cinema chain Everyman reported soaring revenues this morning as it rolls out to new sites around the UK. The company will open a cinema at the City's Broadgate development next year, making it just the second cinema in the Square Mile after the Barbican. The figures Revenue for the six months to 5 July [...]
M Restaurants founder to lead Gaucho as new owners take control September 5, 2018 Administrators have confirmed the sale of Gaucho to a pair of banking groups, and the appointment of M Restaurants founder Martin Williams to lead the business. As City A.M. has previously revealed, Investec and SC Lowy bought out the company's debt last month with a view to a takeover. Today administrators at Deloitte said Gaucho had been sold [...]
Native restaurant review: Neal’s Yard’s loss is Southwark’s gain as this zero-waste restaurant moves across London September 3, 2018 Last month I wrote about how Covent Garden is changing from a bunch of fancy shops to an all-singing, all-dancing billionaire’s paradise, complete with luxury flats and restaurants like Petersham Nurseries, where you can drop £200 before you’ve even glanced at a wine list. In a fortuitous segue, this month I’m writing about Native, a restaurant [...]
Berry Bros & Rudd boss Dan Jago interview: Uncorking Britain’s oldest wine merchant September 3, 2018 The flagship shop of Berry Brothers & Rudd has remained unchanged for over 300 years. Famous customers, from Byron to Churchill, have stepped through the doorway and left St James’s Street behind for a wood-panelled room replete with bottles of top-notch plonk. In the back room, one of the walls has been repurposed after previously [...]
Focus On Knightsbridge: Who actually lives in the land of Harrods and what homes are set to be ‘superior’ to One Hyde Park? August 31, 2018 Fast cars, flagship designer stores and fancy restaurants are all things that characterise Knightsbridge in the London hive mind. But who actually lives amongst this finery where, according to Hamptons International, the average home goes for £3.5m? “Vietnamese, Turkish, American, Bahrani, French, Italian…” reels off Charlie Willis, head of London residential agency at Strutt & [...]
Focus On Covent Garden: The tourist trap turned foodie hotspot also does homes August 31, 2018 Who lives in Covent Garden anyway? To most Londoners, this historic 17th century piazza is synonymous with street performers and burger bars. It’s always been a place to pass through on the way to the theatre, rather than a place to spend much time in or, god forbid, live in. But all that is changing [...]
Sales down again for Frankie & Benny’s owner The Restaurant Group but share price rises August 31, 2018 Frankie & Benny's owner The Restaurant Group reported another slip in sales this morning, as this year's changeable weather deterred punters from eating out. But shares in the company were up 3.8 per cent in early trading as it flagged improved trading since the end of the first half of the year. The figures Like-for-like [...]
Margin pressure and bad weather take a slice out of Pizza Express profits but overall sales grow August 29, 2018 Pizza Express unveiled what it called a "resilient" performance today, despite pressure on margins driving down profits. The restaurant chain, which is owned by Chinese private equity group Hony Capital, has faced cost pressures as well as a significant impact from this year's changeable weather. The figures Group turnover in the 26 weeks to the beginning [...]