Friday Five: the week's top news
- Rosa’s Thai Cafe founders Alex and Saiphin Moore have acquired the Ceviche restaurant group, and the Ceviche and Andina brands it owns, as part of a management led buy-out deal. Three of the group's six sites will continue to operate as part of the deal, including the original Ceviche restaurant in Soho; Andina in Shoreditch; and Casita Andina, also in Soho.
- A combination of rising overheads, fewer alcohol sales, and a weaker pound has continued to impact the UK’s Top 100 restaurant groups according to accountancy group UHY Hacker Young. New figures published by the firm reveal that the top 100 restaurants (calculated by turnover) made a loss of £93m in the last 12 months, down from a pre-tax profit of £37m this time last year.
- Jamie Oliver is to launch a new casual dining concept overseas later this month, converting his his Jamie’s Italian sites in Bali and Bangkok into Jamie Oliver Kitchen, which will be run by franchisees. Menus will include dishes such as a soft-shell crab burger with green papaya salad and sriracha mayonnaise; and beef cheek cooked in Indonesian spices.
- Chris Leach and David Carter are to launch a restaurant based on the concept established during their four-month residency at 10 Heddon Street. Manteca will open on Great Marlborough Street in Soho today (22 November), and will revolve around nose-to-tail cooking, hand-rolled pastas, and re-cooked cuts to share.
- A 3,500sq ft food hall is to open today (22 November) at The Riverwalk redevelopment on the banks of the River Wear in Durham. The Food Pit will ‘showcase the best of the North East’s street food scene’, and feature seven food and drink operators including the Durham Sausage Company; Mr Wae; and Spread from the Med.
For more of this week's news check out the links below, or click here.
