Monday Bulletin: Ice cream sandwiches and pineapple pizzas

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

Happy Endings

An ice cream sandwich pop-up? Headline news? Well, Happy Endings is just so, so good, and – not only because of the heatwave – CODE was pleased to hear about the East London business opening a takeaway hatch at Goddard & Gibbs, the bright new seafood restaurant inside One Hundred Shoreditch. For three months from now, Happy Endings will be selling a rotating menu of their excellent ice cream sandwiches, as well as soft serve and ‘signature sundaes’. One is a mix of vanilla, fresh banana, honeycomb, morello cherries, whipped cream, pecans, and sprinkles. Bonkers, and probably very popular. Founder Terri Mercieca said: ‘I am so excited to be making desserts and sundaes again. It was the bread and butter of the business when we started, so to have the opportunity to do it, and in such a prime location at Goddard & Gibbs, down the road from where it all started in Spitalfields, is fantastic.’ 

Yard Sale

Yard Sale Pizza has assembled three of London’s most talked about chefs to create a new roster of unique and unconventional signature pizzas. Ixta Belfrage kicks things off on August 17 with an argument in favour of the much-maligned Hawaiian: her creation is topped with maple-glazed pineapple, fresh Sicilian sausage, charred spring onion, curry habanero onions, and fresh jalapeños. After, Singburi head chef Sirichai Kularbwong will debut his ‘Gaeng Pizza Gang’, making use of kua kling dry fried pork, pickled mustard greens, fresh Thai shallots, green peppercorns and Thai basil for toppings, before Forza Win steps in ahead of its Camberwell reopening with a pie topped with braised harissa lamb neck, tomatoes, pink pickled onions and fior di latte mozzarella. 

Small plates

Salt Bae’s London branch of Nusr-Et turned over more than £7m in its first 14 weeks of trading (September to December 2021), accounts filed with Companies House revealed. No wonder he doesn’t even bother with gold leaf here any more. 

Months after launching Arcade Food Hall at Centre Point in Tottenham Court Road, JKS Restaurants has announced a second, which will open at Battersea Power Station in 2023. Read more about the development here. 

Soho institution the Groucho Club has been bought by Artfarm, the international hospitality group led by the former Fortnum & Mason CEO Ewan Venters. Talk of the acquisition had been doing the rounds over the last few months, but on Thursday morning the club confirmed the deal. 

Hot Dinners reported that the huge space left by Aster’s departure from Victoria will soon become The Palm House, a restaurant inspired by Cuba and Miami’s 1930s clubhouses. It’s the latest concept from the Incipio Group, known for the likes of Pergola and The Prince.

Legacy

The Grand hotel in York has announced a new fine dining restaurant, Legacy, which will be led by head chef Ahmed Abdalla and will focus on modern British cuisine. Abdalla has past experience at the likes of York favourite Skosh, and the esteemed Whatley Manor, and said he wants to turn Legacy into a ‘destination restaurant’. 

Rudy’s

The Manchester-based pizza group Rudy’s has announced another new branch as it continues its expansion across the UK. Fresh from its most recent launch in Soho, London, as well as sites in the likes of Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, and Birmingham, Rudy’s will open its 13th venue a little closer to home in Didsbury. 

Katlego Mlambo

Katlego Mlambo has been named head chef at Peckham favourite Kudu, arriving from South Africa where he has worked at some of the country’s leading restaurants – including the restaurant and jazz venue Marabi Club in Johannesburg – and starred in his own TV show on The Food Network. We’ll be catching up with Katlego to talk about his new role soon. 

Christian Onia

Christian Onia has been appointed head chef at Sumi, the sister restaurant to two-Michelin-starred Endo at the Rotunda. The Notting Hill site will reopen in September. Christian has been working with Endo Kazutoshi to develop new dishes, including a seafood gohan with scallops, octopus, tiger prawns, squid, mussels, clams, trout roe, and prawn dashi.

To get the CODE Bulletin direct to your inbox every Monday morning sign up here