Friday Five: the week's top news
- TriSpan has acquired a stake in Mowgli Street Food, with the Indian restaurant’s existing investor Foresight exiting the business. The global private equity firm is backing the continued expansion of the Indian street food brand, which was founded in 2014 by Nisha Katona. Under the terms of the investment, Katona and her 15-strong management team will maintain a “significant interest in the company”, with Katona continuing to lead the group as CEO in its next phase of growth.
- Roux Scholar and former The Gilpin Hotel and Lake House executive chef Hrishikesh Desai has been named chef patron of Cumbria’s Farlam Hall. Desai - who attracted a Michelin star for his cooking at the nearby The Gilpin Hotel’s HRiSHi restaurant - will relaunch the Brampton hotel and wedding venue’s Cedar Tree restaurant in April. The overhauled restaurant will offer ‘simplicity with oodles of class and an unexpected twist to make guests smile’ with example dishes including Jerusalem artichoke velouté, paired with honey from the garden, served with a mushroom duxelles spiced cumin raviolo.
- Los Mochis owner the Thesleff Group has acquired long-running Italian institution Sale e Pepe on Sloane Square in London's Knightsbridge ahead of the restaurant's 50th anniversary. The acquisition includes the leasehold of the premises and the existing brand of the restaurant, which the Thesleff Group claims it will be 'bringing back to its former glory days'. Sale e Pepe originally launched in 1974 and has attracted an illustrious clientele over the years of royalty, politicians, actors and singers with regular patrons including Rod Stewart, Sir Roger Moore, Priscilla Presley and Ringo Starr.
- Mark Hix has said he 'won’t go down without a fight' after being ordered to take down an outdoor decking area attached to his Lyme Regis restaurant. The chef and restaurateur has launched a petition to save the deck after an extraordinary meeting of Lyme Regis Town Council (LRTC) held on 25 January saw a majority of councillors vote for the outdoor area to be removed. It's the latest episode in an ongoing row between Hix and LRTC over the outside decked eating area attached to his Oyster and Fish House, which overlooks the Jurassic Coast.
- The hospitality sector has recorded the fastest-rising wages in the UK over the past decade with average weekly earnings for full-time workers rising 53% between 2012 and 2022. Data from the Office for National Statistics, which has been analysed by accountancy firm Hazelwoods, shows that average weekly earnings for full-time workers in the accommodation and food services category have gone from £328 per week in 2012 to £502 per week in 2022. Additionally, hospitality workers have also experienced the fastest wage inflation in the past year, with average weekly earnings jumping 23% from £409 in 2021to £502 in 2022.
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