Friday Five: the week's top news
- Renowned Swedish chef Björn Frantzén will make his UK restaurant debut next month with the launch of Studio Frantzén at Harrods in Knightsbridge. Spanning two floors in a custom-built space within the iconic department store, Studio Frantzén is described as a 'neo-Nordic concept infused with Asian influences' and will feature a restaurant, rooftop terrace and bar area. Frantzén, who worked in England early in his career, is one of the world’s most decorated chefs, running a total of seven restaurants in Sweden and Asia.
- Chefs and restaurateurs across the country are being forced to close sites either for the winter or, in some cases, permanently as a result of spiralling costs. Last weekend, Oxfordshire restaurant Crockers Henley has permanently closed its doors, with owner Luke Garnsworthy blaming the 'bleak economic outlook'. Meanwhile, Michael Caines's waterside restaurant and bar The Harbourside Refuge in Porthleven, Cornwall, is to close through the winter in a bid to weather the economic storm currently battering the sector. And in Bristol, Larkin Cen's Woky Ko group has permanently closed its restaurants on Queens Road and at the city's Cargo development, with the chef citing rising price pressures.
- The ‘world’s biggest hospitality recruitment initiative’ targeting the next generation of workers has launched this week with the backing of chefs including Tom Kerridge, Rick Stein, Angela Hartnett and Raymond Blanc. The recruitment campaign, ‘Rise Fast, Work Young’, has been launched by Hospitality Rising and is backed by more than 300 hospitality businesses and global brands and is the industry’s response to help tackle the sector’s jobs crisis, which stands at around 400,000 vacancies. The campaign showcases the opportunities and promise that come with a career in hospitality with a dedicated site highlighting the current vacancies across the entire industry.
- French-owned Italian restaurant group Big Mamma is to launch its first West London location early next year on Kensington High Street. Jacuzzi will be the group's fourth London site and have 170 covers spread over four floors. Housed in a former bank, the 4,000sq ft space will include a botanical mezzanine with retractable glass ceiling; alabaster walls; and stucco ceilings. The basement level will feature the group's first 'disco toilet', complete with glitter ball and a 'cove of mirrors'. Jacuzzi's menu will feature a typically indulgent selection of Italian dishes and include starters of cured ham from Onesto Ghiradi served with gnocchi fritti; and a main sharing plate of truffle pasta with fresh black truffle, truffle cream and parmigiano foam, which is prepared tableside in a 4kg wheel of pecorino.
- The hospitality industry will be staging its latest protest next month at Parliament Square in London, urging the Government to make policy changes to prevent catastrophic closures within the sector. Marking the third HospoDemo protest in two years, demonstrators from all corners of the sector including restaurants, bars, pubs, clubs, hotels and cafés are encouraged to come together and stand up for their industry on Monday 14 November. Coming at a time when operators are struggling with spiralling costs, ongoing labour shortages and the cost of living crisis, the latest demonstration will demand a VAT reduction to 10% on food and drink sales, including alcohol sales; call for the business rates holiday to be reinstated; and the introduction of a visa scheme to allow overseas workers to work in the sector again.
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