Monday Bulletin: Stepping up efforts for a hospitality visa scheme

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

Visa scheme

Hospitality continues to struggle with staff shortages because the government has failed to take any decisive action on the issue. The latest figures from UKHospitality pinpoint around 200,000 vacancies across the sector – a number that hasn’t shifted in well over a year. Numerous chefs and restaurateurs – Robin Gill, Jon Spiteri, and Jack Stein among them – have shared a new campaign to see a new visa scheme introduced, which would allow people from EU countries to work in hospitality here for up to two years, mirroring the ‘seasonal work’ visa for horticultural workers. Lobbying for such a strategy has been ongoing but has been ignored to date. Many believe there is still hope, and ministers might yet listen. Sign here.

Casa do Frango

The Portuguese-inspired restaurant Casa do Frango has announced a third London location in Heddon Street, set to open this October. It will seat 200 covers over two floors and will include a separate bar called The Green Room. Diners can expect chicken grilled over an open fire, snacks in the vein of bacalhau fritters and Ibérico pork croquettes, and white port tonic chased by Vinho Verde. The group is planning an opening in Victoria next year, too. Saúde. 

Small plates

The team behind Peckham Cellars will open a new wine bar in Camberwell early next year. Helen Hall, Luke West-Whylie, and Ben McVeigh will open Little Cellars on Camberwell Church Street. Read more. 

Islington favourite The Compton Arms is being taken to a licensing review due to complaints from ‘five households’ in the area. Not only is it the inspiration for Orwell’s perfect pub, it is also an incubator for popular food residencies: Belly London followed Four Legs at the stoves. Show your support for the pub and find out more about the situation here.

A new restaurant and cocktail bar called Bantof will open in Soho on September 7. Pied a Terre’s Asimakis Chanoitis has assisted with the menu development at the new space, which will be of the sharing plates variety.

Queen’s Park favourite Milk Beach, known for its Australian-style all-day dining, will open its hotly anticipated Soho restaurant on September 12. It will be group’s second in London and will launch in Soho Estates’ Ilona Rose House.

Block Soho will open in St. Anne’s Court on August 25, serving ‘steaks, chops and seafood’ in a 120 cover space formerly occupied by Zelman Meats. The menu will serve steaks from the family-run Huntsham Court Farm.

This year’s coveted Gold Service Scholarship will open for applications on Monday September 5 and will close on Monday October 3. The competition will run over the autumn and winter before a final in mid-January next year. Details here.

Terre

Exclusive: The French chef Vincent Crepel will open his first solo venture outside his native France next month after being taken on by the prominent hotelier Loh Lik Peng. Vincent will open Terre, a modern restaurant at the five-star Castlemartyr estate in County Cork, Ireland.
Read more.

What a Mess

A new restaurant has launched in the art gallery Messums Wiltshire, with chef Chris Warwick at the helm. He has worked under Marco Pierre White and Jason Atherton. The Mess, as the restaurant is called, resides in a 35-cover space and features artworks by Stevie Petiffer, Rose Hilton, Francesco Poiana, and Makoto Karogshima. A ‘produce-driven’, four-course evening menu is available for £55 and, on Thursdays, the gallery will remain open late for diners.

Asma Khan

Asma Khan will reopen Darjeeling Express in a new location later in the year. Until then, the chef will host her restaurant as a pop-up in The Pembroke pub in South Kensington from August 24. Asma told CODE in March that she intended to move her 120-cover Darjeeling Express from Covent Garden, but stopped short of identifying a new site. In an Instagram update on her plans, she said of the pub: ‘It’s a temporary home, ironically in a place very close to my own. We’re looking forward to feeding you and seeing you here.’ 

Mitchell Damota

Mitchell Damota has been named the next resident chef at Clapton wine bar P. Franco. Formerly head chef at Burro e Salvia in Shoreditch, home to some of the finest pasta in London, Mitchell will bring ‘lesser-known pasta styles and dishes’ to P. Franco after a successful guest stint over June and July. An announcement from the venue said: ‘With such an enjoyable time had by all, we are thrilled to be able to have him back as a permanent member of our team.’ 

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