Friday Five: The week's top news
- 8 Hoxton Square, the sister site to Soho's 10 Greek Street, has closed its doors after just under four years of trading. The well-loved restaurant received a glowing review from critic Marina O'Loughlin in 2014, but cited 'underperformance' of the site as the reason for the closure.
- Is time up for Byron? The beleaguered burger chain has proposed a restructure of the business under a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) that could lead to the closure of up to 20 of its nearly 70 sites. The group's creditors will vote on the CVA on 31 January.
- There was another victory for the @WeWantPlates movement this week after a council warned that restaurants serving food on poorly maintained wooden boards could pose a health risk to diners. Birmingham City Council issued the advice after Ibrahim's Grill and Steak House in the city was fined £50,000 for using boards described as 'incapable of being cleaned'.
- Jonny Lake has announced he is to leave his role as executive chef at The Fat Duck Group after 12 years at the business. The chef, who joined The Fat Duck in Bray as chef de partie in 2005, will leave in March to pursue personal projects.
- Polpo has put its Exeter restaurant on the market after selling its site in Bristol and Ape & Bird gastropub in London's Cambridge Circus. In a statement, managing director Scott Macdonald denied the closures were related to the current economic climate. "We enjoyed a record-breaking final quarter of 2017 and we are continuing to grow the Polpo and Spuntino brands in 2018," he said.
For more of this week's news click here.
