Tom Sellers, the chef behind two-Michelin-star Restaurant Story in London, will open a restaurant at the Carbis Bay Estate in Cornwall this summer. MOR, which takes its name from the Cornish word for ‘sea’, marks a return to Carbis Bay Estate - just outside St Ives - for Sellers, following the success of his 2019 pop-up, Story by the Sea. The menu will revolve around a raw bar and charcoal grill and will focus on high quality produce, including hand-dived scallops, day-boat fish and ex-dairy beef, as well as vegetables grown in an on-site kitchen garden. The restaurant will take the space previously occupied by Adam Handling’s Ugly Butterfly restaurant, which relocated to Newquay last year, with interiors drawing inspiration from Japanese Shintoism and Cornish Celtic mysticism.
Entrepreneurship advisor to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Alexandra Depledge, has said the hospitality sector is “not where my efforts are” and that the UK “doesn’t need any more restaurants”. In an interview with Insider Media, Depledge said she was not “anti-hospitality” but argued that the UK economy should move away from “slow and steady” SMEs in favour of fast-growing start-ups. She added that while retailers such as B&M may currently be among the UK’s largest employers, they should not necessarily remain so in 10 years’ time. Depledge also defended recent tax rises while acknowledging anger within the business community. “It’s quite incredulous that people are agog that taxes have gone up,” she said. “You don’t inject the level of support into an economy that we did during Covid and not expect that something has got to give.”
Fulham Shore, the group behind the Franco Manca and The Real Greek brands, has appointed advisers to review its strategic options. The casual dining operator is working with Alvarez & Marsal on a review that could include a sale or restructuring. The group said the review would ‘ensure both brands are on the strongest possible footing to realise their long-term potential’ during what it described as a challenging trading environment that had affected operators across the restaurant sector. Fulham Shore, which operates around 70 Franco Manca pizzerias and 28 The Real Greek sites, was acquired by Toridoll Holdings for £93.4m in June 2024, at the time citing intentions to expand both in the UK and overseas.
Six years after its conception, Pizza Express is finally launching its delivery-first brand, Mac & Wings, nationwide via Deliveroo from 3 March. It will offer a menu that includes chicken wings served with a choice of dips, including spicy tomato & chilli, sweet & smoky BBQ, and pizzanaise, as well as buttermilk chicken tenders and a range of mac & cheese, available in a classic; mushroom; pepperoni and jalapeño; and pancetta flavours. Sides such as slaw, onion rings, and crispy potato bites will also be on offer. Mac & Wings was initially tested in July 2020 across 13 London Pizza Express locations as part of efforts to offset Covid-related losses.
The chef behind Michelin-starred Sabor and newly starred Legado, Nieves Barragán Mohacho, will take up a three-month residency at The Donovan Bar at Brown’s Hotel. Launching on 9 March as part of the hotel’s culinary collaboration series, it will serve a menu of Spanish-inspired small plates designed for sharing, including seared tuna with ajo blanco and confit artichoke with lovage aioli. On the inspiration behind the dishes, Barragán Mohacho said: “For this residency, I wanted to create food that truly belongs at The Donovan Bar.” Cocktails to accompany the menu will be crafted by Salvatore Calabrese and director of mixology Federico Pavan, with options ranging from citrus-led serves to drinks incorporating Spanish flavour notes.