Here is our weekly round-up of what the national and local restaurant critics are writing about, for the week ending 7 February 2021. England is still in national lockdown, with restaurants and pubs closed (many are operating a takeaway or delivery service): https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-local-restrictions. All of Wales is at alert level 4, with similar restrictions to […]
London’s India Club, which is steeped in nostalgia and one of the more affordable dining options on the Strand, has extended its fundraising drive as it looks to launch a legal challenge against its landlords. The owners of the historic building within which the India Club is housed is Marston Properties. For some time the […]
A new Indian fine-dining concept called Heritage was due to open in Dulwich but its launch was postponed by the pandemic. Rather than waiting around, it will instead launch a little differently with a new takeaway service on February 16. “Putting a contemporary spin on traditionally grounded recipes, Heritage Home Dining will bring nostalgic family-taught dishes […]
“The 2021 Spring Budget, due to be announced on March 3, will be the most important and impactful in the UK’s modern history.” These are the words of UKHospitality. How could one disagree? We will all be bracing ourselves and hoping for positivity. What’s crucial is the Government committing to support businesses further. After all, […]
London’s Casa Cruz could lose its licence after the restaurant hosted a lockdown party for Rita Ora. Will we miss it? Our annual poll was not kind to it and recent snapshot we took on Twitter showed little sympathy to the restaurant. Rita Ora’s Lockdown Party – should Casa Cruz lose its licence for hosting […]
A new 6,875 sq ft restaurant from the hospitality entrepreneur Brad Stevens will open at the Liverpool One development. The businessman will open a branch of his Mamasan restaurant concept in a 200-cover space in Liverpool once national lockdown restrictions have eased. The concept offers south east Asian inspired food and cocktails and debuted in […]
A Treasury minister has suggested further business rates support might be offered to hospitality businesses. We don’t know for sure, but it would be a huge boost for pubs and restaurants. For now, we can only hope the Chancellor Rishi Sunak comes good in his Budget next month. If what the financial secretary to the […]
Here is our weekly round-up of what the national and local restaurant critics are writing about, for the week ending 31 January 2021; the first few round-ups of the year are often short due to reviews being replaced by articles on Veganuary and Dry January, but reviews are especially thin this year with so many […]
The government currently has “no plans” to extend the VAT cut for hospitality, tourism and leisure businesses, despite industry calls for the tax break to continue while coronavirus restrictions are still in place. The Chancellor Rishi Sunak last year reduced VAT for hospitality from 20 per cent to five per cent as part of emergency […]
There is speculative talk operators be given a “halfway house” reopening over Easter. That is restrictions will still be in place, in part, and the hospitality industry will not be allowed to fully get going until May or beyond. The industry has understandably mixed feelings at the prospect of a slow and gradual reemergence. Many […]