Friday Five: the week's top news
- Confusion arose when struggling restaurant group Gaucho was asked on Twitter it was accepting vouchers for its failed chain of CAU restaurants in its eponymous steakhouses. In a now deleted Tweet, Gaucho replied: “Due to CAU going into administration, your vouchers are not valid at Gaucho." British steakhouse Hawksmoor then tweeted offering all holders of defunct CAU vouchers a free round of drinks at Hawksmoor restaurants and its sister Foxlow.
- Gunpowder Holdings founder Harneet Baweja will close two of his east London restaurants this month. Himalayan sharing plates restaurant Madame D, which opened in May last year, and the more recently opened Gul & Sepoy will both close by the end of the month.
- The team behind the Michelin-starred Black Swan at Oldstead have confirmed they will open their second restaurant, Roots, in York this September. Chef Tommy Banks and family want the 50-cover city site to echo the same ‘farm to fork’ ethos as the Black Swan, which was named the best restaurant in the world by TripAdvisor in 2017.
- Neapolitan pizza restaurant and bar Proove will add a third restaurant to its Northern portfolio this summer, with a Sheffield opening scheduled for August. The opening, on the site of a former Prezzo at the Centertainment leisure park, will be the second in the city for the group, creating 45 new jobs.
- Chinatown businesses held a five hour protest this week in response to what they believe to be unreasonable treatment at the hands of immigration services and police. The protest, organised by London Chinatown Chinese Association, saw businesses stage walk-outs at midday, when they assembled at Newport Place along with community leaders; and activists.
