Queen’s Birthday Honours list
As announced at the week end, Honours have been awarded to individuals in the hospitality sector as follows.
OBE:
Jill Stein, founder and director of the Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall
Andy Wood, chief executive of Adnams, the brewer, hotelier and wine merchant
MBE:
Geoffrey Acott, national treasurer of the Craft Guild of Chefs
Jillian MacLean, founder of the Drake & Morgan bar group
Clare Smyth, chef patron of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Royal Hospital Road
Moving Venue takes flight to France
Moving Venue is spreading its wings across the Channel for the 50th Paris Air Show, 17th to 23rd June at Le Bourget airport. Over 2,113 exhibitors from 144 countries will be in situ, with 151,000 trade visitors anticipated to attend.
Moving Venue will once again be managing hospitality pavilions for some of the world’s major aerospace companies, including civil and military helicopter suppliers, along with providers of components and systems for aircraft engines and airframes.
Moving Venue relationship with the aerospace sector dates back to 1992. The caterer has worked on airshows in Paris, Dubai and Singapore and is again confirmed to manage hospitality programs at Farnborough Airshow on 14th-20th July 2014.
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The Pig to blooms at Hampton Court Flower Show
Many hotels boast kitchen gardens, but few are as central to the very heart of the place as the walled wonder at Brockenhurst-based THE PIG. Now this award winning hotel and restaurant is bringing a taste of The New Forest to south west London as they showcase their talents at next month’s RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.
THE PIG’s pop up kitchen will incorporate a sunken dining area and two raised beds full of early summer crops. From this delightful base, head chef James Golding and his trusty lieutenant, forager Garry Eveleigh, will be launching things in style from Tuesday 9 July with a series of cookery demonstrations that capture THE PIG’s culinary ethos: fabulous, uncomplicated and simple British garden food, true to the micro-seasons and influenced by the forest.
THE PIG is a 26 bedroom country house, billed as a restaurant with rooms, where is driven by the gardener, forager and chef. The result is THE PIG’s famous 25-mile menu, that changes daily and what it can’t get from its garden and grounds is sourced locally.
THE PIG, Beaulieu Road, Brockenhurst, Hampshire, SO42 7QL
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York’s St Leonard’s Place to become hotel
The sale of St Leonard’s Place, York – sited close to York Minster – has been agreed by developer Rushbond, with Ambiance Hotels making the acquisition.
The well known Grade two listed building has been in use as City of York Council offices, but work will start in early 2014 to convert it into a flagship hotel. Ambiance will be working in partnership with Harcourt Capital and Hotel Land & Development.
Stewart Lewis, director of Ambiance Hotels, said: “This was a unique opportunity to acquire a stunning building at the heart of the city’s major attractions. York has a proven pedigree as a visitor destination and we are excited about developing an iconic hotel that creates a new chapter in the special history of St. Leonard’s Place.”
Jurys Inn invests in Meetings & Events with £1 million and new Group Manager
Jurys Inn has injected over £1 million into refurbishing the group’s meeting rooms and break out areas over the last two years. New décor, furnishings, LCD mounted projectors and white screens, as well as other technical equipment have all been upgraded.
This investment forms part of the hotel group’s wider plans for this key area of growth: across its portfolio of 31 properties in the UK and Ireland, there are 204 meeting rooms collectively providing 2,882 delegate spaces (theatre style), and Jurys Inn has not only developed a great value, inclusive day delegate package, they have also worked hard to achieve AIM accreditation – the industry’s only accreditation which is committed to driving up standards of the UK’s meetings industry.
Added to this, Gemma Royle, who has worked for Jurys Inn for nearly seven years, has been appointed Group Meetings & Events and Sales Support Manager. In her new role, Gemma will be responsible for developing and training the company’s M&E Co-ordinators, as well as looking at ways to improve best practices across the group in order to further strengthen the company’s position in the Meetings & Events marketplace. Gemma will also work closely with the MIA and their code of conduct to ensure that the group is delivering to the highest standard within the marketplace, as well as continuing to work towards achieving AIM gold level accreditation for the company.
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Elior UK increases education sector turnover by £10m
Contract caterer, Elior UK, has had its most successful year ever in the education sector, increasing its turnover by almost £10m in 2012/13.
Its latest win is a new five-year contract with the University of Chichester providing breakfast, lunch and evening meals as well as Costa Coffee outlets, conference and banqueting services across two campuses for 4,500 students rising to 5,000 over the course of the contract.
Other recent wins include School of Oriental and African Studies, Lincoln University, John Leggot College, Henley College Coventry and Bracknell and Wokingham College, as well as significant contract renewals such as Charterhouse, Northern College, Kingston University and Oxford High School for Girls (part of the Girls Day School Trust).
This dramatic sector growth follows a restructure of the education team, headed up by Paul Fisher, director of education at Elior. With a focus on training, teamwork and specialisation of roles, the team has gone from strength to strength.
Canada Day London and Shuttlecock-Inc to bring a Taste of Québec to the West End
As part of their 8th annual celebrations, the team behind Canada Day International have launched their first London-wide food festival for summer 2013 and aims to bring traditional flavours to Canadian expats while introducing Londoners to the very best in Canadian cuisine.
The Taste of Canada campaign will take place over six weeks across the capital, culminating on July 1st in an elegant one-off event in Trafalgar Square. For one day only the square will play host to Vieux-Québec, a Canadian-inspired pop-up restaurant brought to London by Shuttlecock-Inc. Located on the north terrace of the Trafalgar Square, they will be carving out a little corner of Quebec City with their Vieux-Québec pop-up.
The result of collaboration between talented Mile High chef, Ollie Templeton, and the acclaimed Canadian chef, Marc St Jacques, Vieux-Québec will serve a range of dishes infused with the taste of Canada throughout the day.
Marc St Jacques is Executive Chef at Toronto’s prestigious Auberge du Pommier and recently won the top honours at the Gold Medal Plates Canadian Culinary Championships in Kelowna, British Columbia. He will also prepare Canada Day London’s gala sponsor dinner at Canada House on Trafalgar Square.
The creative collaboration between Ollie and Marc St Jacques will combine Ollie’s spirit of adventure with Marc’s acclaimed Canadian cuisine, ensuring that this Canada Day on July 1st will truly be an unforgettable feast for all the senses.
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TCG’s Lamb Inn celebrates Ale Festival success
The first Ale Festival run by The Lamb Inn in Norwich has delivered a 12% increase in wet sales over its 11-day duration in May and June. Run as part of the annual Norwich City of Ale campaign, The Lamb Inn offered 16 ales, sourced mainly from local brewers including Adnams, Bees and Wolf.
Ales were served from the pub’s award-winning beer garden, which over the May Bank Holiday weekend was filled with drinkers enjoying the sunshine, along with live bands and a Festival Barbecue cooked and served by the Lamb’s team.
A landmark on the Haymarket in Norwich for more than 300 years, the Lamb was restored to its former glory by a £250,000 refurbishment 18 months ago. General manager Clive Hitchens, said, “We’re delighted with the results, not just in terms of sales uplift over the 10 days, but also the legacy: the Lamb Inn is now firmly on the map for local cask ale lovers. We’re already planning our next ale festival for September.”
TCG’s focus on building its cask ale offer across the business has resulted in sales from September last year to April this year rising by nearly 7% by volume and, of the 75-strong estate, 95% have now achieved Cask Marque accreditation.
TCG’s annual cask ale festival ‘Proud of Our Ale’ will be running again for a month from the end of September, starting in Cask Ale Week. Last year cask sales increased by an average of 25% in the 53 pubs and bars which took part.
Brakes wins three golds at BFFF Awards
Brakes has won three gold awards and a silver at the British Frozen Food Federation’s (BFFF) Annual Awards, and was the only company to receive three golds.
Brakes Pulled Pork was named the winner in the Best New Main Course / Meal Centre Product – Traditional Style Cuisine category. Brakes Sweet Chilli Chicken Snack Box was named Best New Main Course / Meal Centre Product – International Cuisine. And in the Best New Meat Free / Vegetarian Product category, Brakes had two winners, with Brakes Asparagus & Pea Girasole receiving the gold award and Brakes Vegetable Chow Mein Snack Box picking up silver.
Heidi Easby, Brakes category merchandising director, said: “Quality food is the foundation of our business and we are dedicated to deliver innovative products that meet the ever-changing and diverse requirements of our customers so we are delighted to receive recognition for four of our new products. To win three gold awards, and to be the only company to do so, is a fantastic achievement and a glowing endorsement.”
Country Choice, part of the Brakes Group, also scooped an award: its new Millionaire’s Shortbread won Bronze in the Best New Bakery/Pastries Product category.
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Joe’s Southern Kitchen and Bar set for Covent Garden
Launching on 4 July 2013, is set to bring the authentic taste of the Deep South to Covent Garden, serving up great American food with Southern hospitality and London finesse.
Previously Navajo Joe, Joe’s Southern Kitchen and Bar signals a brand new direction for the long established Maxwell’s Restaurant Group. Back in the early 1970s, Brian Stein opened Maxwell’s Hampstead – a huge success. In the 1980s, Maxwell’s moved to the West End, and the group now boasts eight venues, including Café De Paris, PJ’s Bar and Grill and Roadhouse.
Now, Brian Stein and Maxwell’s are moving forward by returning to the beginning, and embracing the newest version of the American food trend Maxwell’s started 40 years ago. The result is an American food offering that looks beyond the burger, all impeccably served in a buzzy, exciting and unpretentious environment.
Housed in a converted warehouse and set over three floors, the interiors of Joe’s Southern Kitchen and Bar will be old school Americana with a modern urban edge: warm earthy exposed brick is complemented by steel topped tables and rich scarlet leather banquette seating and the walls are adorned with vintage Coca Cola signs.
The Deep South is famous for being a little bit soul, a little bit rock n roll – and Joe’s Bar will be the place to go to hear the best of Southern American music and its influences.
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Talkington Bates wins Discovery Court Business Centre
Independent contract caterer Talkington Bates has shown the appeal of its offering by scooping the contract to provide a range of food and drink for over a thousand workers at Discovery Court Business Centre in Dorset.
The company was successful in a pitch to take over the on-site catering at the business centre in Poole as part of a three-year rolling contract worth £500,000. Improvements to the catering offer include sandwiches, which are now freshly made-on-site, and a fully functional coffee bar complete with cakes and pastries which replaces a self-serve station.
Talkington Bates will provide a hot and cold food offering, including a salad bar and freshly made, bespoke sandwiches alongside ‘grab and go’ fridges. It is a split-level catering facility encompassing a restaurant and a coffee bar, accessible to both workers and visitors.
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