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The restaurant industry is in a somewhat more fortunate position than high street retail. Despite the rise of food delivery services (if food swooshed around on a bicycle and turning up cold is your thing) you still cannot replicate the act of breaking bread in a restaurant on the web.

The British high street is in rapid decline. Dave Lewis, the CEO of Tesco, reminded the government last week that if there is no immediate reform in the hefty business rates bills that bricks-and-mortar operators have to pay, then it will have actively led to the decline of the high street.

Surely restaurants, cafés, pubs and more leisure-focused operators can help save the high street and bring life back into declining town centres. However, as a client of mine reminded me over the weekend – one of the reasons they’re now opening in Paris instead of London is because there are no business rates there.

Have a good week.

Adam

The Harlot

Henry Harris is to open The Harlot in Chiswick, the latest in his series of collaborations with Harcourt Inns. The 17th century building was formerly Carvosso and as an all-day pub with dining room will have a slightly different focus in its menu from Harris’s other pubs – a more Mediterranean/Sicilian approach. There will be meat from HG Walter and Sunday roasts will be a speciality when it opens in November.

ChipNation

If you like chips, you’ll probably love ChipNation, which is due to open on Great Windmill Street later this month. There are a promised 7,000 flavour combinations (all vegetarian) and the potatoes will have been hand-cut and double-fried in pans, rather than basket fryers. Sounds like something that Soho’s party people will find very useful indeed on a night out.

Milk Beach

North-west London creeps ever onward in catching up with the rest of the city for interesting restaurants. Next up is Milk Beach, a new café and wine bar on Lonsdale Road in Queen’s Park. The founders Elliot Milne and Matthew Robley-Siemonsma have good pedigrees in coffee, but are also focusing on a small-plate menu with chef Chris Munnings (Duck & Waffle Local).

Awards season

It’s just three weeks till the Michelin stars are announced, but that’s not the only game in town. The shortlists are out for the Food Made Good awards, run by the Sustainable Restaurant Association, and for the YBFs, which are given out on 27 September. CODE sends its congratulations to all those in contention and looks forward to hearing the results.

Opening...

A vegan restaurant in Shoreditch? Yes, don’t sound surprised. Genesis will open on Commercial Street tomorrow. Meanwhile the Mr Fogg brand reaches Bedford Street later this week, with the launch of Mr Fogg’s Society of Exploration on 14 September. In two weeks, Kricket opens in White City, bringing their modern twist on Indian to the burgeoning area. And it’s been announced that legendary London restaurant Sweetings is to start opening in the evenings.

...and expanding

It’s good to see restaurants thriving and growing. The popular Danish chain Sticks’n’Sushi are opening their biggest site yet, on Kings Road, on 1 October. Also next month, Lady Bamford grows her empire with a new Daylesford Farmshop and Café on Sloane Avenue at Brompton Cross. And the Harts Group has announced that Casa Pastor, the big sister to its London Bridge Mexican sites will open in Coal Drops Yard on 26 October.

Ben Mulock

Ben Mulock has left Powderkeg after a year, and is to become executive chef for the Urban Leisure group, overseeing 10 sites, from next week. Mulock had previously been former senior sous chef at Salt Yard Group’s Opera Tavern and will be kept busy – the group’s bars and restaurants are spread out from Queen’s Park to Farringdon.

Clare Smyth

Congratulations to Clare Smyth, whose restaurant Core has added another accolade within its first year. It was placed at number three in the just-announced Good Food Guide awards, which is the highest ever new entry for the list. Number one, as last year, went to Restaurant Nathan Outlaw. Now we await the Michelin announcement…

Assistant General Manager, Smoking Goat

We are looking for a talented and creative AGM to join our team at Smoking Goat Shoreditch. We like to work in a friendly, fast paced environment where research, creativity and new ideas are encouraged from everyone.

We serve Thai Barbecue where our cooking is influenced by the street food stalls and late night canteens of Bangkok.

Click here to read more

Account Director, Fraser Communications

Fraser Communications is looking for a dynamic Account Director to join their team.  Specialising in public relations and social strategy for the restaurant and food industry, our client base includes high-profile chefs, restaurants and food brands in London and the UK.  You will be joining a group of passionate individuals with extensive experience in the industry.

Click here to read more

Wed 12 September

Fri 14 September

Sat 15 September

Sun 16 September

Do Virgos make the best chefs? Both Jason Atherton and Angela Hartnett celebrated their birthdays last week. Atherton enjoyed meals at Coombeshead Farm and Paul Ainsworth’s restaurant in Padstow to mark the special occasion.

Brexiteer Rocco Forte is celebrating. His hotel business posted pre-tax profits of £11.9m for the past year and he’s to open his first hotel in Shanghai in 2019.

The Dumbwaiter attended a talk at Asia House last week on Chinese restaurants and their future. Panelists included Jay Rayner, Andy Kwok of The Good Earth Group and Alan Yau, who said opening restaurants is now just a hobby for him.

Congratulations to chef Bryn Williams who tied the knot with Sharleen Spiteri over the weekend. The Dumbwaiter assumes the couples first song wasn't, “I don’t want a lover."

From Peckham to Piccadilly. Click here for The Dumbwaiter’s best bites of the week.

restaurant of the week
The Frog Hoxton
hotel of the week
The Culpeper

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