Monday Bulletin: The Crudo Group opening in Hackney and Dave Mothersill’s Furna in Brighton

Catch up on the latest industry news stories of the week from the CODE Bulletin

Exclusive: New Bath restaurant

The Westcountry’s Beckford Group will open a new restaurant in Bath next month, focusing on ‘modern British lunch and dinner’. The Beckford Canteen will be housed in a former Georgian greenhouse in the centre of town and will feature 40 covers inside and another 40 in the restaurant’s ‘hidden garden’. In charge will be Ollie Sutton, who made his name in Bath at the popular Beckford Bottle Shop, and the chef George Barson, who has worked at River Cottage in nearby Devon, at Viajante with Nuno Mendes, and for Heston Blumental at Dinner. Most recently Barson was chef director at Cora Pearl in Covent Garden. His menu will be one of ‘provenance and seasonality’, with dishes such as cured pig’s jowl; pheasant terrine; gurnard with shellfish sauce and sea beets; and veal cheeks with Jerusalem artichokes and onions. Read more.

Voice on the ground: Si Toft

‘Last week, I closed my restaurant, The Dining Room, in Abersoch, north Wales, for the winter, with no guarantee that I’ll open again in spring. It’s a scary situation to be in, but one many small businesses are likely to find themselves in this year. I’ve suspected for a while that closing temporarily would be inevitable. After almost a decade of sticking it out through the quieter months – riding on waves of busy summers – we decided three or four years ago that to do so wasn’t viable, and we reduced our opening times and paused service…’ Read more. 

Small Plates

• There’s been an update on Brat’s new Soho site, via Eater. As mentioned, the third restaurant from the team will be in the former Byron Burger on Beak Street, and will open early next year. The brilliant Tomos Parry will oversee the launch. 
   
• Jesse Dunford Wood, the chef-owner of Parlour and Six Portland Road, will open Harvest restaurant in Kensal Rise early next year. The restaurant will be located in a former curry house and will serve ‘colourful, approachable, seasonal and British-led menus’. 
   
• Grafter, the luxury, serviced workspace provider, has announced the unveiling of its first premium location in London at Bedford House, 23 Bedford Square. Situated in the heart of Bloomsbury, this flexible workspace will open in November.
   
• The Greyhound on the Test, a 16th-century retreat in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, is set to welcome three culinary heavyweights to its kitchen for a series of one-off charitable suppers to raise money for The Alex Lewis Trust. Kicking off the series will be Adam Byatt on 22 November, with Tom Kerridge following in January, and Phil Howard in February. More.
   
• After a series of successful pop-ups in Fitzrovia and Old Street, the Crudo Group will open its first fully fledged restaurant on Mare Street in Hackney this week. Expect pisco sours and four styles of ceviche, each made with its own leche de tigre powered by a 12-hour fish stock. 
  
  
• The Pelican in Notting Hill has been a standout opening this year. If you’ve not been in for a pint and a plate of mince on toast, do so. Alternatively, head to the Cotswolds, where owners James Gummer and Phil Winser – both from the area – have opened a pop-up at The Bull Inn in Charlbury. 
  
  
• Matt Fletcher has returned to the Landmark London hotel to oversee the opening of a new gastropub, The Caterer reported. The Great Central Pub will serve classics such as Scotch eggs, prime steak pies, and fancy fish finger sandwiches. Posh pubs are having such a moment, aren’t they? It’s good news.

Obsession

Northcote Obsession will return on 20 January with a new stellar line-up of 20 chefs. Taking place over 17 nights and led by The Stafford Collection’s executive chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen, the 2023 festival will include the likes of Brad Carter, Tommy Banks, Anna Haugh, Santiago Lastra, Luke French, and Alex Nietosvuori.

Furna

A new restaurant from the Yorkshire-born chef Dave Mothersill will open in Brighton on 30 November. Furna will ‘offer a multi-course tasting menu that celebrates high quality, British-grown ingredients served with creativity and consideration.’ The restaurant will be the first solo venture from Mothersill, who has worked at The Gingerman, Terre à Terre, and The Salt Room.

Tom Kerridge

Tom Kerridge will close his Manchester restaurant the Bull and Bear at the end of the year. The restaurant, at Manchester’s Stock Exchange hotel, opened in partnership with GG Hospitality’s Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville in 2019, but a decision has been made to close the premises on 31 December. Neville said he had enjoyed ‘every single minute’ of the partnership but said he felt the hotel and restaurant had become ‘slightly disconnected’. Kerridge added in a statement: ‘We feel the need to concentrate on our Marlow and London sites and this allows us to look at further opportunities within these areas, therefore we have mutually decided to part ways. We would like to thank all our guests for the amazing support they have given us, and all staff have been offered roles elsewhere within the business. We wish GG Hospitality and the Stock Exchange all the success in the future.’

Thomasina Miers

Thomasina Miers has said her Mexican restaurant group Wahaca is having to turn down bookings due to a shortage of staff. Miers told the Hospitality Rising podcast that the business would be in a position to expand and create jobs if recruitment in the industry wasn’t such a challenge. She said: ‘Quite simply, we can’t take as many bookings. We have people wanting to have bookings at our tables, and we don’t have enough staff. However, we could feed more people, open more restaurants, and create more jobs if we had the staff to do it.’ She added: ‘I think the future of restaurants is in a crisis right now. Unless, culturally, something shifts in this country, we won’t be able to go out to dinner. We won’t be able to get to that amazing service. Monday nights, Sunday nights, Tuesday nights, forget it – restaurants will be shut because there just aren’t enough people to support the industry.’

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