Friday Five: the week's top news
- MEATliquor has secured a new location for its flagship restaurant in Marylebone, which has been forced to close to make way for the construction of a hotel. It will relocate to the former Match Bar site nearby on Margaret Street.
- The Patisserie Valerie saga rumbles on, with laid-off staff telling the BBC they are still waiting to receive their final wage packets and bonuses after the company fell in to administration. The ongoing investigation in to its accounts has also reportedly discovered that fictitious Groupon vouchers were used to inflate the cafe chain's sales.
- The Byron burger chain has received £10m funding from its existing investors, which it will use to refurb its c.50 remaining restaurants. It comes after the company - currently undergoing a "complete overhaul" of its menu, design and service style - shut 19 sites under a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) in 2018.
- It's been six months since Atul Kochhar parted ways with Michelin-starred Benares after tweeting that Muslims have "terrorised" Hindus, now the chef is returning to London with plans to open another Indian restaurant. Kochhar has teamed up with Tina English, former commercial director at The Cinnamon Club, to launch Kanishka in Mayfair next month.
- Well-regarded independent restaurant Sosban in Llanelli, Wales has closed after eight years, with its owners citing the "rising costs" of running a restaurant. Sosban was launched by former Welsh rugby players Stephen Jones and Dwayne Peel in 2011, and its executive chef Andrew Sheridan appeared on Great British Menu in 2018.
For more of this week's news, click here.
