From £8 pints to Chinatown launches, here is the latest hospitality news from the CODE Bulletin

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

£8 pint?

Many will remember when £5 pints arrived. A barrier was broken and people became upset. When it happened, in January 2009, The Times reported Marco Pierre White, at a pub he then owned in Newbury, Berkshire, was the business owner who first introduced the revelatory cost. He was classically unapologetic at the time. More than a decade on and pint-based headlines emerged again: last year, the £7 mark was eclipsed. More uproar, apparently, at least among excitable social media types. Well, now we’ve reached £8 for a frosty one in at least one London pub, according to the FT. The newspaper didn’t say where but it did mention the price of a pint in the UK has increased more than 70 per cent since the financial crash in 2008, and has shot up rapidly more recently due to ‘spiralling inflation’. Brexit, lockdowns, and the war in Ukraine have all had an impact, unsurprisingly. We know pub executives have been reluctant to raise prices as the industry looks to recover from successive lockdowns. But with so many challenges, what are they to do? Prices can only hold for so long. We’re going to see a lot more pint-based headlines over the coming year.

Casamia to close

The acclaimed Bristol restaurant Casamia will close after almost 25 years. The Michelin-star restaurant, one of only three to hold the accolade in the city, is run by chef-patron Peter Sanchez-Iglesias, who said the business is no longer ‘financially viable’. ‘With margins so tight, every table counts,’ said the chef, who in 2017 was named ‘Chef of the Year’ by our sister titleThe Good Food Guide. ‘The project has served some amazing food – imaginative, complex and fun and for me personally it’s been a breath of fresh air and really invigorating to see a restaurant operate so well in such an original way’, Peter said. Read more.

Chinatown launches

Two new restaurants are coming to Chinatown later this summer. The Eight, a Hong Kong-style tea room, and Zhang Liang Malatang, the popular Sichuan hot soup shop, will open on Shaftesbury Avenue, marking the UK debut of both brands. Inspired by Hong Kong tea rooms in the 1950s, The Eight will be a café and restaurant serving hot milk tea and the brand’s homemade ‘Ginseng drink’ alongside traditional Hong Kong dishes. Rice wrapped in omelette with wagyu beef and rickshaw noodles will be on the menu, and snacks will include Hong Kong curry fish balls and red bean pudding cake (Put Chai Ko). More here.

Dip & Flip

Exclusive: South London burger restaurant Dip & Flip has permanently closed. The restaurant group confirmed the news to CODE last week. A forfeiture notice was seen at the brand’s Battersea location, and the Dip and Flip Twitter account appears to now be inactive. Facebook also now lists the restaurant as permanently closed. A social media message from Dip & Flip said: ‘Thanks so much for your enquiry. We have closed our restaurants permanently. Thank you for the love.’ Dip & Flip, which opened in 2013, specialised in gravy-dipped sandwiches and griddled ‘smashed’ burgers and had two locations in Wimbledon and Battersea, as well as a delivery service. At one time, the company also had sites in Tooting and Brixton.

Dinings SW3

Masaki Sugisaki, executive chef and owner of Chelsea’s Dinings SW3, is heading to Cornwall this July for two short kitchen residencies. The ex-Nobu chef, who is known for his blend of Japanese and European flavours (sushi and sashimi are on his restaurant’s menu alongside asparagus with tahini and blue lobster sliders), said taking Dinings to Cornwall has been a ‘long-term ambition’ of his. ‘Cornwall is my favourite place in the world, and I try to get down there as much as possible throughout the year to meet with the fisherman, and I always come back with so much inspiration,’ Masaki said. ‘I can’t wait for people to enjoy my dishes directly overlooking where this beautiful seafood is sourced.’ Masaki will take over The Idle Rocks in St Mawes on July 7 with the help of the restaurant’s head chef Dorian Janmaat (formerly of the two-star Manoir aux Quat‘Saison in Oxfordshire) to serve a seven-course seafood menu. Dishes will include salmon tartare sushi, sea bass with sake steamed koji, and a main course of St Mawes lobster with British wagyu beef. Then, on July 9 and 10, Masaki will cook an ‘informal Japanese feast’ at Tavola, the Hidden Hut’s Italian sister restaurant, featuring yuzu-dressed native oysters, grilled hand dived scallops with wasabi, and seafood dashi paella.

Regenerative agriculture panel talk

Honest Burgers has become the first burger brand in the UK to develop a regeneratively farmed beef supply chain in response to the British farming and carbon crisis dominating the industry. As of this month, six restaurants in its 40-strong group will serve beef from regenerative farms with the aim to reduce its carbon footprint and the environmental impact of eating beef. By the start of 2024, Honest hopes to be sourcing all beef from regenerative farms. To talk more about farming and its future, there will be a panel talk at Liverpool Street Honest Burgers on June 20 between 6-8pm. Entry is free and includes a a burger and a drink. Email [email protected] to secure your place.

Karen Jones

Café Rouge co-founder Karen Jones has been made a dame in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for her services to business and hospitality. Jones (who already has a CBE) helped set up the French restaurant chain in 1989 and is now executive chairman of Prezzo, chairman of both Hawksmoor and Mowgli restaurant groups, and is on the board at Deliveroo. ‘I’m deeply honoured and feel incredibly fortunate because I am keenly aware that such recognition is only possible because of unceasing work from many talented people to whom I am deeply indebted,’ she said. ‘Business is fascinating, and hospitality is my passion: to be recognised for services to both makes me want to be better and do more.’

Jill Whittaker

Jill Whittaker, manager director of the hospitality company HIT Training, has been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. Jill, who has worked in the industry for more than 40 years, was given the title for her services to hospitality apprenticeships and management. She said: ‘I am hugely grateful to have been chosen for this prestigious honour. I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside a vast number of talented individuals and industry bodies during my career and I’m extremely proud of the positive change we’ve achieved in that time. I look forward to continuing my work and collaborating with colleagues… to continue supporting the future leaders of the industry.’

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