- Tom Booton will step down from his role as executive chef at The Grill by Tom Booton later this summer after six years at The Dorchester. In a statement posted on Instagram, Booton says that he is leaving the five-star Mayfair hotel to begin a new chapter in his career.
- Tao Group Hospitality is responding to changing diner behaviour and economic pressures with new menus that offer more accessible price points. Price alterations for existing dishes include Hakkasan’s charcoal grilled Japanese A5 wagyu beef with sake and black truffle honey sauce going from £105 to £95; and the price of Yauatcha’s £28 crispy duck salad being halved. Tao Group Hospitality’s UK boss Jared Boles says the decreases were achieved through a combination of reducing portion size and lowering operating margins.
- Gary Usher has closed his Manchester restaurant Kala after just over six years of trading. The chef announced the immediate closure of the restaurant, located on King Street, citing a fall in trade for the reason.
- Amy Poon will open her first permanent restaurant under her family’s venerable Poon’s brand later this year. Housed within the New Wing of Somerset House, Poon’s at Somerset House will seat 60 and will offer a menu that will ‘reflect dishes cooked and served in Chinese homes daily, yet are often unfamiliar in the West’.
- Street food collective KERB will open KERB Social Club this August, a retro-style bar in London’s Old Spitalfields Market where it says ‘American sports bar energy meets proper pub comfort, fused with an inclusive community buzz’. The bar will have a strong community element and lean heavily into the entertainment side of things. In addition to the main clubroom and terrace that overlooks Old Spitalfields Market, KERB Social Club will have five large private rooms where it will host hosting Super Bowl parties and which will feature games consoles, 100-inch TV screens, karaoke booths, pool tables, and darts.