Friday five: the week's top restaurant stories
- Renowned French chef and author Michel Guérard has died at the age of 91. Guérard, whose Les Prés d'Eugénie restaurant in southwestern France has held three Michelin stars for more than 45 years, was considered to be one of the founding fathers of the nouvelle cuisine movement, an approach to cooking characterised by lighter, more delicate dishes and an increased emphasis on presentation. He later created what he dubbed 'cuisine minceur' (slimming cooking), an evolution of nouvelle cuisine that was even lighter with a focus on reducing the use of salt, sugar and fat (especially butter and cream). Following the announcement of his death, tributes for Guérard poured in from across the industry. Chef Chris Galvin described him as his ‘first inspiration’. A post on the Roux Scholarship’s official Instagram page said: “We are deeply saddened to learn that the legendary chef Michel Guérard has passed away. A very good friend of the Roux Family, we have treasured our moments with him and our thoughts are with his family.”
- The bulk of Rick Stein’s restaurant group returned to profit last year following a challenging 2022 in which it reported a loss before tax of £347,000. Whilst turnover dropped 5% to just under £11.9m, Stein’s Trading reported operating profit up 106.2% to £63,000 for the 52 weeks up to 31 December 2023 with all bank borrowing repaid. Stein’s Trading sister business, Seafood Restaurant Padstow didn't fare as well but improved its operating profit by 32.1% for the 12 months ending 31 December 2023. Overall, across both companies, a ‘significant reduction’ in its operating loss was delivered, reduced to £250,000 compared to an overall loss of £1.47m in 2022. Following the ‘positive’ result, Stein’s Trading says it is planning to expand its restaurant portfolio and is actively seeking a site in central London.
- McDonald’s is marking its 50th anniversary in the UK with plans to open a further 200 new restaurants in the next four years. The expansion, revealed as part of the new report called McDonald’s at 50, reflects a £1bn investment from McDonald’s and its franchisees in the UK and Ireland, and comes less than a month after the fast food giant reported a worldwide sales decline of 1% in the second quarter of 2024. The roll out will include testing new restaurant formats, with new ‘drive to’ sites recently launched and additional smaller formats being trailed this year; as well a renewed focus on opening high street locations.
- Chef David Stevens has left his job as group executive chef for The Wolseley Hospitality Group for a senior role with the restaurant operator’s former owner, Jeremy King. According to his LinkedIn page, Stevens left The Wolseley Hospitality Group earlier this month to join King’s new group as executive chef of the soon-to-launch Simpsons in The Strand in London’s Covent Garden. Charles Hilton has taken over Stevens’ role at The Wolseley Hospitality Group having spent the past eight years as head chef at the group’s Brasserie Zedel restaurant in Piccadilly.
- The Government is facing renewed calls to appoint an allergy tsar after a teenage girl with a severe dairy allergy died after drinking a Costa Coffee hot chocolate. Hannah Jacobs, 13, died within hours of taking a sip of the drink on 8 February 2023. Last week, an inquest found there had been a ‘failure of communication’ between the coffee shop staff in Barking, east London, and Abimbola Duyile, Hannah's mother, who ordered the drink and told the barista it had to be made with soya milk. Assistant coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe said: “The root cause of this death is a failure to follow the processes in place to discuss allergies combined with a failure of communication between the mother and the barista.” Costa Coffee said it had ‘listened to everything the coroner has said’ and will ‘respond appropriately’. Following the inquest, Duyile joined calls for the Government to introduce an allergy tsar to co-ordinate responses to allergy management, diagnosis and care an allergy tsar to co-ordinate responses to allergy management, diagnosis and care.
For more of this week's headlines, click here.
