Friday five: the week's top restaurant stories
- Glynn Purnell has said he is ‘heartbroken’ after closing the doors to his Michelin-starred Birmingham restaurant Purnell’s after 17 years trading. In a statement, Purnell expressed deep sadness over the closure, citing a combination of economic pressures and the ongoing challenges faced by the hospitality industry. The restaurant’s final service was held on Saturday (12 October).
- Luxury Lancashire hotel Northcote Manor has been put on the market. Savills is marketing the Ribble Valley property, which houses Lisa Goodwin-Allen’s Michelin-starred Northcote restaurant, with no guide price listed. According to the hotel’s listing on Rightmove, Northcote Manor had a total turnover in excess of £6.5m in 2023.
- Shabir Hussain, the chef known affectionately as the ‘king of curry’, has died at the age of 56. The chef and restaurateur was behind the Akbar’s group of restaurants, which operates 10 venues across the north of England and the Midlands as well as Scotland. As a mark of respect, all restaurants within the group have closed temporarily and will reopen for dinner on 18 October.
- Chef Adam Handling has said that he is aiming to win a second Michelin star at his Covent Garden restaurant Frog by Adam Handling by 2026. Speaking at OpenTable’s Hospitality Summit in London earlier this week, Handling described how he was taking a longer-term view to gain even greater approval from Michelin’s inspectors, with next year intended to be a transformative period for the restaurant.
- Honest Burgers will relaunch its restaurant near London’s Liverpool Street Station later this year as the first site under the group’s new smash burger QSR brand. The restaurant will be converted to a Smashed by Honest ‘pop up’ with the aim of launching in either late November or early December. Restaurant understands that the group intends to open a dedicated site soon after, likely with a smaller footprint that will suit the quick service restaurant model.
For more of this week's headlines, click here.
