Fine Dining

Banks pledge to increase lending to small businesses

10-Feb-2011 By Becky Paskin

The UK’s biggest banks have agreed to increase lending to SMEs by 15 per cent, as part of the government’s Project Merlin initiative.

Bistro du Vin to launch at old Eastside Inn site

09-Feb-2011 By Becky Paskin

Hotel du Vin is to launch its first standalone Bistro du Vin concept on the former site of Bjorn van der Horst’s Eastside Inn in Clerkenwell in April.

Samosa café opens first site in Reading

09-Feb-2011 By Lorraine Heller

An Indian couple have opened their first Samosa café in Reading, with the aim of bringing ‘authentic’ Indian street food to UK consumers throughout the day.

Ramada Encore to target Newcastle business guests

09-Feb-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Quay Hotels has started construction of a new Ramada Encore hotel in Newcastle-Gateshead, which is due to be completed in just over a year.

Malcolm John opens fifth restaurant in Putney

08-Feb-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Chef Malcom John will be opening his fifth restaurant at the end of next month, a 100-cover seafood and grill site located in London’s Putney.

How to use apprenticeships to drive hospitality business

08-Feb-2011 By Lorraine Heller

People 1st has launched an apprenticeship strategy aimed at helping hospitality businesses meet their staff needs and improving the long-term performance of the sector.

Bruno Loubet plans to open second London restaurant

08-Feb-2011 By Becky Paskin

Bruno Loubet has plans to open a second restaurant in London, and is currently looking for a site, BigHospitality can reveal.

The Playboy Club returns with executive chef Judy Joo

08-Feb-2011 By Becky Paskin

The Playboy Club, which left London’s Park Lane in 1981, is to return to Mayfair this summer with Iron Chef and Market Kitchen regular Judy Joo executive head chef.

Saturday Kitchen’s James Martin to open Leeds restaurant

08-Feb-2011 By Becky Paskin

BBC’s Saturday Kitchen host James Martin has announced he is to open his first UK restaurant in 10 years – within Alea Casino in Leeds.

Breakfast: Can you afford to miss out?

07-Feb-2011 By Becky Paskin

Hotels have benefited from the breakfast opportunity for years, but with the economic downturn biting at the heels of many hospitality businesses, restaurant and pub operators are now waking up to the potential revenue provided by early morning service...

OpenTable partnership offers fine dining phone booking

07-Feb-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Tablebook.me, an outsourced reservations service, has joined forces with the booking website OpenTable to help fine dining restaurants maximise their customer service and fill more tables through telephone reservations.

Hotel managers face chop from UK immigration list

07-Feb-2011 By Chris Druce

The experts that advise the government on work-based immigration have called for hotel managers from outside the EU to be struck off the Tier-2 list.

ACF calls for entries to pastry competition

07-Feb-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Professional and trainee pastry chefs are being invited to enter a chocolate desert competition, which organisers ACF hope will raise the game of the sector in the culinary world.

AFWS training scheme follows Michel Roux TV show

04-Feb-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The Academy of Food and Wine Service has launched a training framework that it hopes will continue the momentum created by the BBC2 series Michel Roux's Service, which aimed to raise the profile of front-of-house careers.

Businesses urged to enter 2012 events into London diary

04-Feb-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Hospitality operators planning special events for the London Olympic Games next year are being urged to enter their events into a Culture Diary set up by the city to ensure better planning and communication of all activities.

Art at The Butchers Arms and collagen menu at Gilgamesh

04-Feb-2011 By Becky Paskin

Restaurants, pubs and hotels including The Butchers Arms in Hepworth and Gilgamesh in Camden, tell us what promotions they’re running to attract customers.

Carl’s Jr premium burger chain prepares mass UK openings

03-Feb-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The US premium burger chain Carl’s Jr is preparing to launch a string of franchises in the UK, and is seeking companies interested in taking these on.

Does a big budget equal success at the Bocuse d’Or?

03-Feb-2011 By Becky Paskin

The Bocuse d’Or, the “Oscars” of the culinary world, sees chef teams from across the world invest thousands of pounds into competing for a coveted trophy of the competition’s founder, Paul Bocuse.

Major restaurant groups join sustainability pledge

03-Feb-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Restaurant groups D&D London, Prezzo, Las Iguanas, Le Pain Quotidien and Ping Pong have all pledged to improve the sustainability of their businesses and have joined the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) to help them achieve this.

Zara co-founder to open London Bulgari hotel

02-Feb-2011 By Chris Druce

The co-founder of the Spanish fashion empire that owns Zara is in final-stage talks to invest £350m in a “super-luxury” London hotel bearing the Bulgari name.

Hoteliers launch campaign for hospitality VAT of 5%

02-Feb-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The head of budget hotel group Travelodge is leading a campaign to reduce VAT for the hospitality sector to 5 per cent ahead of the London Olympics.

Sushisamba takes top floors in Heron Tower for first EU restaurant

02-Feb-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The international restaurant group Sushisamba has signed a lease to operate the restaurant and sky bar at the top of London’s Heron Tower.

Highlight healthier menu options before calorie counting, says expert

02-Feb-2011 By Becky Paskin

Restaurants should add a “healthy eating” section to menus before fully calorie counting every dish, an expert has advised.

Pret A Manger remains most admired brand

01-Feb-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Pret A Manger and McDonald’s are the UK’s most admired food and beverage brands by people in the industry, according to a new survey released today.

Risks to UK tourism threaten Olympics legacy, warns BHA

01-Feb-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The UK tourism and hospitality sectors stand to lose out on the full benefits of the Olympic Games if the country does not address a number of major obstacles it faces, the chief executive of the British Hospitality Association told industry leaders yesterday.

Food Trends 2011: Dining Trends

31-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

Vouchers and discounts have meant big business for restaurants over the last year, but with consumers increasingly looking for value in more than just their wallets, and with warnings that vouchers could permanently damage brands, restaurants will need...

YO! Sushi becomes first restaurant chain to join Facebook Deals

31-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

YO! Sushi has been selected as the only restaurant group to participate in the launch of Facebook Deals, a new way for organisations to reward users that “check in” with Facebook Places.

Ask the Experts: What’s the best way to launch a social media campaign?

31-Jan-2011

Simon Beck, business development director at PR consultancy Hills Balfour, answers one reader's question on launching a social media campaign.

Brittania Hotels acquires Pontin’s

28-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

The Brittania Hotel Group has successfully acquired leisure group Pontin's as a going concern, after the group fell into administration in December.

Salon Culinaire 2011 Results: Live Theatre

28-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

The Hospitality Show once again returned to the NEC Birmingham this week, bringing with it the Salon Culinaire 2011.

Pearls of Wisdom: Yotam Ottolenghi

28-Jan-2011 By Joe Lutrario

Born in Israel, Ottolenghi worked as a journalist before heading to the UK in 1998 to study at the Cordon Bleu. He oversees four Ottolenghi branches in London, while his new restaurant, Nopi, opens in Soho later this month.

Considerate Hoteliers call for entries to sustainability awards

27-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Hotels are being urged to send in applications for the Considerate Hoteliers Association (CHA) Awards, which recognise sustainable, environmentally friendly and socially responsible practices in their operations.

Salon Culinaire 2011 Results: Salon Display

27-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

The results of the Salon Culinaire Salon Display competitions, in which hoards of chefs and patissiers strived to create platters, sculptures and decorative foods, have been announced.

Tapas restaurant opens second site in Charing Cross

27-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The owners of the Spanish restaurant Jamon Jamon, located in London’s Camden, have purchased a new site in central London, where they plan to open a second branch next month.

Restaurants not online are ‘invisible’, says research

27-Jan-2011 By Joe Lutrario

A worrying number of restaurants are not embracing technology and the internet to promote their businesses, research from online reservations and marketing service Livebookings has found.

Heston Blumenthal opens Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental

26-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

BigHospitality has some sneak preview pictures of Heston Blumenthal’s first London restaurant Dinner, which is to launch on 31 January at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Denmark wins the Bocuse d'Or 2011

26-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

Denmark has won the Bocuse d'Or 2011 at the competitions world final held in Lyon today, with Sweden and Norway finishing in second and third places respectively.

Arena’s Savoy Lecture resumes with Compass chief exec

26-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The hospitality networking group Arena is re-launching its annual Savoy Lecture event, which will kick off this year with a talk by Richard Cousins, group chief executive at Compass.

Jamie’s Italian sets opening date for Sydney site

25-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Jamie’s Italian is one step closer to foreign shores, with the opening of the much anticipated Sydney site expected in July this year.

Industry can pay for hotel star scheme, says government

25-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The national tourist board has confirmed that its hotel star rating scheme will not disappear, but that it may change format if it loses government funding next month.

Thomas Keller plans Harrods pop-up restaurant

25-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

Thomas Keller plans to launch a pop-up restaurant at Harrods in November, BigHospitality can reveal.

Government set to abandon support for hotel star-rating system

24-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

The star rating system used to rank the quality of hotels is set to lose Government backing, after ministers decided consumer review websites offer more accurate information.

Brighton’s Chilli Pickle moves into myhotel

24-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

Brighton restaurant The Chilli Pickle has taken over the restaurant space at myhotel in the city, after Company of Cooks mutually ended its contract with the group in October last year.

Food trends 2011: Top ingredients

24-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

BigHospitality brings you an exclusive insight into which ingredients will be top of the agenda for some of the UK’s top chefs this year.

Historical Devon hotel sold for undisclosed sum

21-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Devon’s listed Boringdon Hall Hotel has been sold after just three months on the market.

Boutique hotel The Lazy Cow set for aggressive expansion

21-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The pub and restaurant operator Urban & Country Leisure is scrapping plans to invest in country pubs this year, and will instead pump its funds into expanding its successful Lazy Cow boutique hotel and restaurant brand.

Nobu Matsuhisa at Nobu, and Valentine’s house party at Ackergill Tower

21-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

Restaurants, pubs and hotels including Nobu Park Lane and Ackergill Tower, tell us what promotions they’re running to attract customers this Valentine’s Day.

Career Profile: Debbie Hinckson

21-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

Debbie Hinckson has spent the majority of her career operating airport restaurants for The Restaurant Group. Now, with just two months under her belt as operations manager for the 40-strong casual dining chain Giraffe, she told BigHospitality why her...

Growing market share: top tips from Virgin Atlantic

20-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Virgin Atlantic has grown in just over 25 years to become the country’s preferred travel brand. Here, the airline’s marketing director shares his top tips on how to grow market share and develop customer loyalty – a strategy he says is easily adaptable...

W Hotel Leicester Square for sale ahead of opening

19-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

The owners of the London development that is home to the W Hotel London-Leicester Square, are planning to sell the property just weeks before its opening on 14 February.