Friday five: the week's top hospitality stories
- More details have been revealed about Jamie Oliver's return to the UK restaurant scene. The TV will open Jamie Oliver Catherine Street in a Grade I listed building in Covent Garden in November, which will be positioned as a produce-focused restaurant. He will be supported by a number of long-standing team members, including head chef Chris Shail, who previously worked alongside Oliver for eight years and general manager Caezer Cruz who has worked with him for 16 years.
- Bavarian brewery and beer brand Paulaner is looking to bring its trio of microbrewery restaurant and bar concepts to the UK. Paulaner Franchise & Consulting GmbH, a subsidiary of Paulaner, has instructed property adviser Christie & Co to seek out several franchise partners to roll out the concepts across the UK. The company operates three restaurant types - a Bräuhaus with an on-site micro-brewery, the Wirtshaus where the focus is on a menu matched with Paulaner beers, and traditional Bavarian pub the Bierhaus. The company says it hopes to open up to 10 UK venues in the coming years.
- A man has been charged with arson in relation to a fire that destroyed Andrew Pern’s The Star Inn at Harome in November 2021. The 28-year-old from Helmsley will appear in court later this month to face a charge of committing arson with recklessness as to whether property would be destroyed or life endangered. The Grade II-listed 14th-century Michelin-starred pub and restaurant, which has been run by chef-patron Andrew Pern for the past 25 years, was 'reduced to ashes' as a result of the blaze.
- Central London-based Italian QSR pasta brand Guido’s will open a flagship site in Holborn later this year. Set to launch in October on Holborn’s Kingsway, the 15-cover site will feature kiosk ordering and join the group’s two existing takeaway-only sites, which are located nearby on New Fetter Lane and Chancery Lane. The brand’s Padua-born founder Guido Oselladore says he is hoping to create the Italian equivalent of Shake Shack.
- The husband and wife duo behind Lancaster’s Journey Social have made their fine dining debut with their restaurant Now Or Never, located within a Grade-II listed site in the city’s historic quarter. The 20-cover restaurant, run by chef Jeff Marshall and his front of house counterpart Nichola Marshall will ‘cleverly challenge the modern British culinary norm by introducing Japanese and Middle Eastern flavours and techniques whilst utilising hyper-local and seasonal British ingredients’.
