Fine Dining

What you’re doing: Christmas special

What you’re doing: Christmas special

By Lorraine Heller

Christmas in hospitality this year will be all about adding value to your services so you attract – and keep – new customers, while at the same time keeping your costs down. If you’re stuck for ideas as to how to go about doing this, take a look at what...

Pearls of Wisdom: Claire Clark

Pearls of Wisdom: Claire Clark

By Becky Paskin

The former pastry chef at Napa Valley’s The French Laundry has been running a pop-up patisserie at Harvey Nichols in London, and has hopes of opening her own dessert-focused restaurant concept in Mayfair next year

Profitable Christmas: Data capture for January

Profitable Christmas: Data capture for January

By Lorraine Heller

Christmas is a time for good cheer, plenty of treats, and general jolliness. But if you’re in the hospitality industry, Christmas is all about welcoming those extra people who come through your doors, and making sure you find ways to bring them back.

Profitable Christmas: Adding value to hospitality

Profitable Christmas: Adding value to hospitality

By Lorraine Heller

Tightened consumer belts over the Christmas period need not be as damaging to the hospitality industry as you might fear. Despite the expected slowdown, here are some simple measures that can keep people coming through your doors.

Pizza Express unveils radical restaurant template

Pizza Express unveils radical restaurant template

By William Drew

Casual dining giant Pizza Express has unveiled its new restaurant design template in Richmond, featuring a central theatre-style kitchen, banquette-seat tables with their own parabolic roof domes, bespoke music and fresh furniture and tableware

Profitable Christmas: Cut seasonal costs

Profitable Christmas: Cut seasonal costs

By Becky Paskin

With consumer spend expected to drop this Christmas, the last thing you’d want is for your business expenses to eat away at your potential profits, but there are several small, low cost initiatives you can implement now to tackle your growing outflow.

Profitable Christmas: Attract spend-wary customers

Profitable Christmas: Attract spend-wary customers

By Becky Paskin

Although the hospitality sector is recovering well after the recession, and despite consumers’ traditional increase in spend during December, the Government’s £80bn spending cuts may mean that restaurants, pubs and hotels will need to work just as hard...

Food group expands at ExCel London as Olympics approach

Food group expands at ExCel London as Olympics approach

By Lorraine Heller

The food and drink firm Creativevents has added a new ‘healthy’ café to its catering facilities at the ExCel London convention centre, as part of its investment strategy leading up to the Olympic Games

After Hours with… Matthew Tomkinson

After Hours with… Matthew Tomkinson

By Lorraine Heller

Matthew Tomkinson worked his way through the lowest to the highest kitchens, gaining a Roux scholarship and several Michelin stars along the way. Thirteen years after setting off on his culinary journeys, he is now head chef at the Montagu Arms in Beaulieu,...

Stinchcombe strikes again at Young Chef Young Waiter

Stinchcombe strikes again at Young Chef Young Waiter

By Becky Paskin

Mark Stinchcombe, the inaugural Young National Chef of the Year, has now also been named as the winner of this year’s Young Chef Young Waiter competition alongside Ben Dantzic from Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles

Government spending cuts will hit hospitality, says expert

Government spending cuts will hit hospitality, says expert

By Lorraine Heller

Hotels are likely to be hard hit by the Government’s £80bn spending cuts announced yesterday, according to a hospitality expert at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), who predicts that tightened economies will have a knock-on effect on business travel

London Restaurant Festival names best menus

London Restaurant Festival names best menus

By Becky Paskin

Dishoom, Juniper Dining, L’Anima and Bistro Bruno Loubet offered the Best Festival Menus during the London Restaurant Festival (LRF), which has drawn to a close this week

Hospitality leaders back government spending cuts

Hospitality leaders back government spending cuts

By Lorraine Heller

The heads of pub, hotel and restaurant operators Whitbread and Fuller’s have joined leaders of some of the UK’s largest companies in a strong show of support for the government’s proposed spending cuts

Pearls of Wisdom: Jun Tanaka

Pearls of Wisdom: Jun Tanaka

By Becky Paskin

The Saturday Kitchen stalwart and head chef at Pearl Restaurant in London is near to finishing a month-long Street Kitchen tour with Mark Jankel, as part of the London Restaurant Festival

Business Profile: Drake & Morgan

Business Profile: Drake & Morgan

By William Drew

Inspirational and driven, entrepreneur Jillian MacLean is rapidly expanding her young company, Drake & Morgan, to be the envy of the bar-restaurant sector

6,300 bars, pubs and restaurants to close by 2015

6,300 bars, pubs and restaurants to close by 2015

By Martyn Leek

Two new studies released today have claimed that 6,300 pubs, bars and restaurants will fail by 2015 and that some 6,685 companies in the leisure sector are currently struggling with “significant or critical” financial problems of £57.5bn

The Restaurant Show 2010 continues

The Restaurant Show 2010 continues

By Becky Paskin

Day two of The Restaurant Show has been even bigger than the first, with the culmination of the World Chocolate Masters UK final, the Compass Junior and Senior Chef of the Year competitions and even more chef demonstrations

Day one highlights from The Restaurant Show 2010

Day one highlights from The Restaurant Show 2010

By Lorraine Heller

So far The Restaurant Show 2010 has drawn record crowds, with many restaurateurs and chefs descending upon Earls Court 2 to source new suppliers, see chef demonstrations, and watch their peers take part in industry competitions