Big Egg Hunt
The Jumeirah Carlton Tower and Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel are taking part in the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt this month. The charity event, run by Action for Children and Elephant Family, entails 200 specially-designed giant eggs being ‘hidden’ around the capital with the person locating all 200 in with a chance of winning the £100,000 Diamond Jubilee egg. To coincide with the event, both hotels, who will house eggs designed by Sophie Conran and Rhea Thierstein, have launched specially created eggs menus featuring some special egg dishes – from one hour cooked hen’s egg with baby leeks and wild mushrooms to Eggs Royale (pictured). Jumeirah Carlton Towner GM Derek Picot said the company’s brand promise was to be ‘culturally connected, generous and imaginative’ so supporting the event helped helped it meet its aim.
Magnificent seven
Pub operator Orchid Group has set up a scheme to motivate staff at its 290 pubs to come up with ideas to support key dates in the year and share them with other branches which it ultimately hopes will boost footfall and sales. The company has created a dedicated website where staff can interact and share ideas through the scheme which it has dubbed the Magnificent Seven. On St Patrick's Day sales were up after pubs ran promotions such as offering shamrock shaped pizzas (Leeds), a shamrock hunt (Blackheath) and live folk music (Brighton) and plans are afoot to support Easter and the Diamond Jubilee. "From Easter Egg hunts and royal knees-ups to doing something nice for our Dads or simply relaxing over a long weekend there is a lot going on in the next few months," said Simon Dodd, commercial & people director at Orchid Group. "The Magnificent Seven will help us make the most of these events and gives us the perfect opportunity to drive sales and welcome in more people."
Valentine Warner pizzas
TV cook and food writer Valentine Warner has teamed up with PizzaExpress to create two limited edition pizzas, available across the UK from next month. Warner is the latest guest chef to collaborate with PizzaExpress following in the footsteps of Theo Randall and Francesco Mazzei. It is the first time his dishes will be available on the high street. His two creations - the fennel and salami pizza and the puttanesca pizza - are inspired by Warner's time spent as a waiter at PizzaExpress in the 1990s. Commenting on the partnership, Warner said: "I've been going to PizzaExpress all my life and even worked there as a waiter during my student days. I'm really proud of the two pizzas we've created and am excited to see them on the menu of my favourite pizza place." The pizzas will be available from 24 April.
Black Day
Korean restaurant Kimchee in London is planning promotions to attract the singleton customer on 14 April, better known as Black Day, a day when those who didn’t receive a gift on Valentine's Day, commiserate and mourn their single lives by coming together to eat a traditional noodle dish known as Jajang Myeon. Kimchee will serve a special Black Day menu for £14.99 which includes a Future Lover mocktail and the traditional Jajang Myeon.