News in brief Foodservice & Restaurants
GAUCHO SALE RUMOURED Zeev Godik (pictured), co-founder of the Argentine- themed steak restaurant group Gaucho, is reported to have put the company up for sale.
The Dutch businessman, who won
the Restaurateur of the Year – Group Catey in 2012, has hired Canaccord Genuity to handle the sale, according to The Sunday Times. Godik and his private equity
backer ICG are reported to be likely to ask for £140m to £150m for the restaurant chain. It is not known whether any deal
would include Gaucho’s sister brand Cau, which operates at a lower price point and has expanded more rapidly in recent years than the pricier Gaucho.
OYSTER HERPES FOUND IN ESSEX RIVER Movement of live Pacific oysters in the Essex area has been restricted after an outbreak of oyster herpes was confirmed in the River Roach. The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) confirmed that controls had been extended to the River Crouch, River Colne, and River Blackwater, as well as the River Roach. The measures have been put in
place to stop the disease spreading to other parts of the coast, and anyone – such as importers, farmers and fisheries – wishing to move any live Pacific oysters into and out of the area must consult the Fish Health Inspectorate. Cefas stressed that there
was no risk to human health as the virus only affects molluscs, although the strain is believed to have killed more than eight million oysters thanks to an outbreak in Whitstable, Kent, in 2010.
DF MEXICO TO OPEN ON TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD The team behind Wahaca, the London-based Mexican street food restaurants, is to launch its second DF Mexico diner almost a year after the first. DF Mexico (named after the Mexican name for the country’s
12 | The Caterer | 31 July 2015
Tim Jones (left) and Bill Toner (right), chairman and chief executive of the newly formed CH&Co Group, will be interviewed by ITN anchor man Alastair Stewart at this year’s Arena Face2Face event. The annual Arena Face2Face
interview and lunch will be held at
BOCCA DI LUPO PAIR TO OPEN ITALIAN STREET FOOD SITE Bocca di Lupo owners Jacob Kenedy and Victor Hugo are to open Vico, an Italian street food restaurant, in London’s Cambridge Circus. The pair said the food
would be inexpensive while cutlery would be frowned upon at Vico, which will serve pizza by the slice and a range of polpette and arancini, alongside fried seafood. There will be minimal seating to encourage an atmosphere that evokes an Italian piazza. The front of the building
will feature a Gelupo counter similar to the pair’s site at London’s Archer Street, with on-site production.
More online
www.thecaterer.com
capital, the Distrito Federal) is expected to open its second branch on Tottenham Court Road early this September, having opened its first at London’s Old Truman Brewery near Shoreditch in July 2014. The 130-cover diner will serve dishes inspired by the way in which US and Mexican cuisine influence each other.
ITN’S ALASTAIR STEWART TO QUIZ CH&CO GROUP BOSSES
Lambeth Palace on Wednesday 30 September 2015. In June of this year, CH&Co
and Host Catermasters Group merged to form CH&Co Group with a combined turnover approaching £200m. The pair will be questioned
on several topics, including the motivation behind the merger, financial implications, company dynamics, competition and long- term plans.
GRAYSONS SECURES £6M DEAL WITH FRANCIS CRICK INSTITUTE Catering firm Graysons has secured a new three-year deal with the Francis Crick Institute in London that is expected to generate more than £6m in total turnover. The contract will see Graysons
manage the 300-cover staff restaurant and the staff café for the 1,500 people on site. Graysons will also be responsible for running the public café and providing hospitality services for meeting rooms and events.
MARSTON’S PLAYS DOWN LIVING WAGE EFFECTS Pub group Marston’s has played down the effects of the introduction of a National Living Wage, as it unveiled a modest increase in sales across its business. The company issued a trading
update for the 41 weeks to 18 July 2015 last week, revealing that like-for-like sales in its destination and premium pubs was 1.7% ahead of last year, including like-for-like food and wet sales both up 1.6%. In the last 10 weeks of the period, like-for-likes were up 2%. It plans to build another 25 pub-restaurants in the current financial year. Meanwhile, Marston’s said that the government’s plans to introduce a mandatory Living Wage by 2020 were “consistent with our expectation that the gap between the National Minimum Wage and the Living Wage would be closed over time”.
www.thecaterer.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76