- Husband and wife Giorgio and Plaxy Locatelli have announced the sudden closure of their well-known Marylebone Italian restaurant. Locanda Locatelli, which has occupied a spot within the Hyatt Regency London - The Churchill for the past 23 years, has posted a statement on its website saying it is no longer open. “With a heavy heart, for reasons out of our control, we are now permanently closed,” the statement reads. “We will miss all of our clients, many who have become friends. But when one door closes, another opens, so please check our social media for updates on our new project.”
- Paul and Emma Ainsworth have bought The St Enodoc Hotel in Rock, Cornwall. The husband-and-wife team are adding the 21-room hotel to their The Ainsworth Collection, joining the couple’s Michelin-starred Padstow restaurant Paul Ainsworth at No6, Caffe Rojano by Paul Ainsworth, The Mariners pub, and Padstow Townhouse. The boutique property, which overlooks the picturesque Camel Estuary, is the only hotel in Rock and will enable the Ainsworths to offer more of their customers accommodation, building on the six rooms currently available at their Townhouse property.
- Gary Usher has closed his Burnt Truffle restaurant in Heswall after 10 years of trading. In a post on X, the chef and restaurateur said the restaurant was now closed as the 10-year lease had come to an end and he wasn’t going to renew it. “I could have renewed that lease, but the honest truth is that I’ve never been able to make it work here,” Usher says in a video post. “I’ve been honest about how difficult the Government have made it over the last few years but ultimately I’ve never been able to make it work here so the best business decision for us is to close.”
- More than 700 McDonald’s junior crew members have joined a legal action against the fast food giant following allegations of widespread harassment across its UK estate. Law firm Leigh Day says it has been instructed by hundreds of young current and former McDonald’s workers – some as young as 19 – to take legal action on their behalf, with over 450 McDonald’s restaurants implicated in the claims so far.
- Burger & Lobster will open a restaurant in Brighton’s The Lanes next month, its first new UK site in eight years. It will be a second play for a regional presence for the Misha Zelman-led group, which has previously operated restaurants in locations including Cardiff, Bath and Manchester. On 15 Market Street, the restaurant will join nine London sites and nine international sites in locations including New York, Singapore, Bangkok and Kuwait City.