Friday Five: the week's top news
- Chef Tommy Banks and his family have confirmed plans to open a restaurant in York. The team, who run the Michelin-starred Black Swan at Oldstead, will launch Roots this autumn.
- The Polpo group has announced the closure of its Spuntino restaurant in Bristol. It comes four months after the company shut its sister Polpo site in the city, as well as a pub in London and restaurant in Exeter. The group says it is focusing on plans to expand Spuntino in to airports going forward.
- Tom Kerridge has been keeping busy as always - the chef has launched an outside catering and events business in partnership with Brand Events. Lush by The Hand and Flowers will see the team at his two Michelin-starred pub of the same name offer bespoke catering for dinner parties, street food festivals and more.
- TGI Friday's is facing the first strike over tipping practices in the UK. It comes after the chain proposed redistributing 40% of all waiter's tips received on credit or debit card to back-of-house staff. The Unite union claims TGI's is using the tips to top up wages of kitchen workers instead of giving them a pay rise, something the chain has denied.
- Craig Johnston, the 2017 MasterChef: The Professionals champion has joined judge Marcus Wareing's restaurant Marcus at The Berkeley Hotel as senior chef de partie. Johnston was just 21 when he triumphed in the BBC show, making him the youngest winner in its ten-series history. Wareing was left "speechless" when tasting his winning menu in the series finale, which aired in December.
For more of this week's news, click here.
