Friday five: the week's top stories
- Restaurant businesses that employ 250 or more staff now have to display the calorie content of dishes on their menus as from 6 April. Under the rules venues must display calorie counts ‘clearly and prominently’ at the point of choice – typically a menu – along with the statement that ‘adults need around 2,000 kcal a day. Businesses that fail to comply could be hit with a civil sanction of £2,500 as an alternative to criminal prosecution but those that continue to four the rules could eventually face criminal proceedings.
- CHIK’N, the quick-service spinoff of Chick 'n' Sours, is to rebrand as Chicken Shop under a new partnership with Soho House Group, with a significant expansion drive planned. The business intends to open 10 new sites – a mixture of restaurants and delivery-only kitchens – by the end of they year under its new brand name, which was first established by Soho House in 2012. While the original incarnation of Chicken Shop centred on rotisserie chicken, the new iteration will continue CHIK’N's focus on fried chicken.
- Front-line teams in hospitality are feeling under increased pressure as the sector emerges from the Covid pandemic with industry staff shortages a major contributor, a new study shows. The survey-based report, Transforming The Employee Experience In Hospitality, from employee experience platform Harri and data and insight consultancy CGA, reveals that many workers have become less satisfied with their jobs with nearly half (45%) saying their employment is less appealing now than it was previously. The survey also shows that teams would welcome more and better implemented technology in the workplace, with digital clocking-in and out, smart scheduling and shift management highlighted as areas that technology could help improve their work experience the most.
- Tom Kitchin and his wife Michaela are opening a new restaurant on the site of their former Southside Scran venue in Edinburgh. Called KORA by Tom Kitchin, it will open in Edinburgh’s Bruntsfield area this spring and will ‘present a passionate celebration of Scotland’s land and sea, in an homage to honest gastronomy’ according to the release details. Named after the goddess of spring, flowers and vegetation in Greek mythology, KORA will represent Kitchin’s passion for working with the seasons and will continue his ‘from nature to plate’ ethos with what is described as a ‘zealous approach’ to local and seasonal cooking.The new venue will have a 65-cover dining space as well as a separate bar area.
- The Lanesborough Grill will launch on 25 April with former The Bingham Hotel and The Goring chef Shay Cooper at the helm. Cooper joined The Lanesborough London last summer from Julie’s Restaurant in Notting Hill having won Michelin stars at both The Bingham and The Goring. The Lanesborough Grill is located in the hotel’s ‘richly decorated’ main dining room, which is naturally illuminated during the day by a domed glass roof and by chandeliers in the evening. The a la carte menu will ‘champion regional artisans and the very best of seasonal produce from around the country’.
