Friday Five: the week's top news
- White pizza and tomato-less pasta dishes could become a more prominent fixture on Italian restaurant menus in the UK as businesses grapple with both rising prices and ingredient shortages. The price of tomatoes has increased as much as fourfold in the past year, from £5 a case to £20 a case, according to the Federazione Italian Cuochi UK (FIC UK), a chefs’ association. The price of canned tomatoes has also doubled, it said, from £15 a case to £30. Meanwhile, the cost of iceberg lettuce has soared from around £7 a box to £22. It comes as the UK finds itself in the grip of a fruit and vegetable shortage that has seen tomatoes, in particular, become harder to come by in supermarkets and shops. Other ingredients that are in short supply include cucumbers, peppers, broccoli and cauliflower.
- Edinburgh-based chef Brian Grigor is joining forces with sommelier Glen Montgomery to launch an ambitious 'chef's table' restaurant on the Scottish capital's Hamilton Place in Stockbridge in the spring. Called Eòrna, the 12-cover countertop restaurant will serve an 'ever-evolving' tasting menu with a focus on pairing seasonal ingredients and classic old-world wines. Grigor, who previously led the kitchen at Edinburgh’s Number One at The Balmoral for four years, and Montgomery, who spent nearly three years as head sommelier at Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, will oversee all aspects of the restaurant. There will be no other chefs or front of house staff, with the pair describing the Eòrna as a 'pared back, intimate, yet sophisticated dining experience'.
- The AA has revealed its three and four Rosette Award winners for 2023 with just one restaurant - chef Carlo Scotto's Mayfair venue Amethyst (pictured) - receiving four. The restaurants to receive three Rosette are nearly all recent launches, and include Ben Wilkinson at The Pass in West Sussex, One Devonshire Gardens by Hotel du Vin in Glasgow, Thornbury Castle near Bristol, The Dog and Gun Inn in Cumbria and Restaurant 1890 by Gordon Ramsay and Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal (both in London). According to the guide, establishments with three AA Rosettes are ‘outstanding restaurants achieving standards which demand national recognition well beyond their local area’ while those awarded four AA Rosettes are considered ‘among the top restaurants in the country’. Once again, the AA did not award any restaurants its maximum five Rosette rating, which is reserved for ‘restaurants at the very pinnacle, where the cooking compares with the best in the world’.
- Chef Andy Sheridan is to relocate his restaurant 8 from Birmingham to Liverpool. Sheridan will be leaving Birmingham’s city centre to relaunch in Liverpool, at a site near to the Cavern Club. A date for the move has yet to be set. Sheridan and his business partner Sam Morgan are also launching a pub in Gloucestershire this spring. They will also open a second edition of Black & Green, having opened in 2022 at Barnt Green, near Birmingham.
- Upmarket bakery chain Gail’s is looking to join the likes of Gregg’s, Costa, Starbucks, Tim Hortons and Leon by moving into the drive-thru space. According to reports, the currently 110-strong brand is searching for sites of between 2,000sq ft and 4,000sq ft with space for at least 20 cars across London and the South East. Gail’s is yet to confirm if any specific locations have been chosen as potential sites for opening.
For more of this week's headlines, click here.
