Friday Five: the week's top news
- The industry has paid tribute to chef Andrew Fairlie, who passed away at the age of 55 this week. The first ever winner of the Roux Scholarship in 1984, his eponymous restaurant at Gleneagles remains the only two-Michelin-starred site in Scotland. The team at Restaurant Andrew Fairlie said they will "take strength and huge pride in continuing to burn the flame of outstanding cuisine, service and culture that he established."
- Claridge's has confirmed the long-running rumour that the team from New York's Eleven Madison Park are to open a restaurant at the hotel this summer. Chef Daniel Humm and Will Guidara will launch Davies & Brook, which is billed as a 'fine dining restaurant without pretense'.
- A French chef who was the first to ever successfully ask to be removed from the Michelin Guide has found his restaurant back in the 2019 France edition with two stars. Sébastian Bras', whose Le Suquet restaurant in Laguiole held three-stars for 18 years, said the decision was 'strange' and felt Michelin was sending a message that restaurants had 'no choice but to live under pressure'.
- Patisserie Holdings has called in administrators in the wake of the accounting scandal at the chain. 71 sites have closed, including the original Patisserie Valerie in Soho, with the loss of 920 jobs. In an update on Thursday, CEO Steve Francis called the closures "bittersweet".
- 19 new restaurants have been awarded a three or four rosette ratings by the AA, including Roganic in London and the Fordwich Arms in Kent. See the full list here.
For more of this week's news, click here.
