News

30th May 2019           The award-winning Saffron Summer in Chessington, will be serving a special gastronomic 3 course menu, designed by its executive head chef, Awanish Roy, for Father’s Day on Sunday 16th June.   Starters offered are:  Corn fed chicken breasts, chilli-cumin marinade, coriander chutney; Kheema Pav, Bombay style lamb […]

28th May 2018 The Chinese chain Happy Lamb Hot Pot is set to make its UK debut this summer, in Bloomsbury, London. Originating in Mongolia, Happy Lamb Hot Pot has sites across the US and Canada and has now set its sights on the London restaurant scene. The company will open a restaurant in The

25th May 2019   Wagamama is to introduce gender-neutral toilets in 50 of its UK restaurants in time for the inaugural London Transgender Pride on 14th September.   In future, all new Wagamama restaurants will incorporate gender-neutral toilets as a standard design feature.  The first site to be converted will be its test kitchen, Noodle Lab,

20th May 2019   A letter from the home secretary to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), which urges the government to drop the £30,000 salary threshold for migrants to work in the UK, has been described as “positive and pragmatic”.   Instead of the threshold, the MAC suggests companies pay the “going rate”.   UKHospitality

19th May 2019 Sushi brand Maido has opened on Tottenham Court Road, London.  Maido Sushi has partnered with the Planet Organic store to create London’s “first sushi bar that uses only sustainably sourced fish and organic ingredients, free from preservatives, MSG and artificial additives”. All fresh fish comes from organic farms or Marine Stewardship Council-certificated

18th May 2019    Durham-based Lebanese restaurant Lebaneat is to expanded outside the city with a fourth site, in Yarm.  The company, which specialises in authentic Lebanese cuisine,  in a former Lloyds Bank branch in High Street.   Lebaneat operates a restaurant in Durham as well as the newly opened Lebaneat Wrap House and an

17th May 2019   Amazon, the mail order company which avoided  (for a second year in a row) paying tax on its $11.2bn profit, is investing hundreds of millions in Deliveroo, which will be used to finance a growth in its ‘dark kitchens.   Amazon is leading a new $575m (£450m) Series G preferred shared

16th May 2019   The Golden Dragon restaurant in north London is marketing itself as a summer wedding venue, with ornate Chinese illustrations instead of floral themes, for up to 360 guests.   Designed by  Stiff + Trevillion, the restaurant’s decor “flashes hints of golden hues and rich reds complemented by intricate black ink detailing.”

15th May 2019   The owner of a Surrey restaurant who used stolen VAT money to pay her children’s school fees has been jailed. Huey Jun Khoo and her business partner Jing Fu, used an off-the-record card machine at the Bon East Chinese restaurant in Farnham to defraud HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of £180,000

14th May 2019   Husband and wife pair Pete and Jo Morrison, formerly Giggling Squid operations director and Wildwood managing director respectively, are to launch a new restaurant concept called Jo & Co in Hove, East Sussex, in June.   The pair met whilst working at Ask and Zizzi restaurants in 1998. The new restaurant