Friday Five: the week's top news
- Copenhagen restaurant Geranium has been named the best in the world at The World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards 2022. The three Michelin-starred restaurant, led by chef Rasmus Kofoed and sommelier Søren Ledet, was also named The Best Restaurant in Europe 2022 at the ceremony this week, which marked the 20th year of the prestigious global gastronomic ranking. Jeremy Chan and Iré Hassan-Odukale's seminal central London restaurant Ikoyi, which was named as the American Express One To Watch 2021 and featured on The World's 50 Best longlist (51-100) last year at number 87, entered the 50 Best list for the first time this year, coming in at number 49. It was one of two UK restaurants - both hailing from London - to feature on the list, the other being 50 Best stalwart The Clove Club, which ranked at number 35. Sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, The World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards 2022 list has restaurants from 24 territories in five continents worldwide.
- Pubs and restaurants across the country temporarily closed their doors earlier this week as UK temperatures hit a record 40.2C. The Drapers Arms in London's Islington was among those to confirm on social media that they would not open on Monday (18 July), while Liverpool-based restaurant group Maray closed its Bold Street site in Liverpool on Monday and Tuesday (18 and 19 July). Laksamania on London's Newman Street also closed, as did Italian restaurant Zamanis in Ashby, Leicestershire.
- Food manufacturer Heinz has entered the virtual restaurant market with a breakfast concept launched in partnership with Lean Kitchen Network. Available via Uber Eats, Heinz Brekkie already has two London dark kitchens and hopes to expand by making use of underutilised kitchens across the UK including those in hotels, pubs and supermarkets. The menu features breakfast buns, breakfast bowls, hash brown dippers, bagels and sides. All featuring established Heinz products, options include The Hot One breakfast bun; The Full Vegan; and Truffle Hash Brown Dippers.
- Hospitality leaders have reiterated calls to ease Brexit visa rules to stem the escalating jobs crisis hitting the hospitality sector. Sacha Lord, one of the UK's four Night Time Economy Advisers, has called for a relaxation to current visa rules to allow international entry-level hospitality staff to enter the workforce. It comes as new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that accommodation and food service activities showed the largest increase in vacancies between April and June this year, with the number of available jobs rising a further 10,200 to top 175,000 in total.
- A quarter of hospitality bosses are considering closing within the next year due to unprecedented energy costs. That’s according to a representative poll of 300 business owners carried out on behalf of digital energy services company eEnergy. Sky-high energy bills have had a severe impact on businesses across the hospitality and leisure sector and prices show no sign of stabilising with over 90% of business leaders surveyed saying they did not expect energy prices to return to last year’s levels within the next 12 months. In response, 83% of those surveyed may look to cut staff hours or make redundancies to plug the gap. eEnergy says that while the energy crisis has been caused by record energy prices, it has been exacerbated by poor energy efficiency.
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