This week’s Diary includes Russel and Juliette Joffe’s plans after stepping down from Giraffe, Five Guys’ anniversary, Alan Yau on the streets of London and Ed’s scaled-down concept.
Watch this space
After the news that he and his wife Juliette were to step down from Giraffe, the company they founded in 1998 and sold to Tesco for £48.5m last year, Russel Joffe told Diary that they were leaving the business in a good place and with a good team to continue to take it forward. Joffe, who reiterated the parting of ways was amicable, said he and Juliette would take some time out after the process of finding a successor was concluded, but didn’t rule out a return to the sector. He said: “At present it is too soon to say what the next journey will be, but I am an entrepreneur and like working on new concepts. I particularly enjoyed working on the new Wondertree site with TRG at Terminal 2 Heathrow.” In the meantime, the couple can continue to aid the development of their son Gideon’s fledgling restaurant business, which incorporates three sites in the capital, Chez Bob, Chooks and Monkey Nuts.
Take five
Earlier this month, Five Guys, the popular US burger chain, celebrated its first year in the UK: 12 months in which it has opened 11 sites. The company is currently taking a small breather on the openings front, with its next site due to open in Solihull on 4 August. However, Diary understands that it is set for a busy run up to the end of the year. As we have already reported it has lined up openings on former Pizza Huts at Harlow Winter Gardens and Cambridge Leisure Park, plus the former Café Rouge site in Bristol’s Cabot Circus and the Pesto restaurant site in Glasgow. Diary now hears that the group is also close to securing a further two units in the capital, in its quest to add further flagship sites to join its debut unit in Covent Garden. It is thought that one site under consideration is close to St Paul’s.
Be here Yau
It seems that acclaimed restaurateur Alan Yau has been playing his own game of how many hoardings he can have up around London at one time. The founder of Wagamama and Busaba Eathai currently has hoardings up in Berwick Street for his proposed gastropub, Duck & Rice; and in Berkeley Street and Dover Street covering both openings to the former Automat American Brasserie site. However, Diary’s money is on Yau’s site on the corner of Wardour Street and Shaftesbury Avenue being the first to see the hoardings come down. The site is to be called Babaji, which will be an all-day casual restaurant offering contemporary, authentic Turkish cuisine, with Pide (Turkish pizza) central to the menu.
The lives of Leon
Last Thursday marked the 10th birthday of healthy fast food concept Leon. To mark the event, the Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent-led group listed 10 of the things that it is most proud of across the last decade. These included: offering the first gluten-free brownie, co-founding the Sustainable Restaurant Association, starting the Leon Foundation and writing the Independent School Food Plan. However, Diary’s personal favourite is – making vegetables taste good!
The end is Thai
The freak, tropical-like storm which hit the south east earlier this week caused a fair amount of disruption across all walks of life, including the Giggling Squid in Hove, West Sussex. The restaurant has been forced to close after being hit by hailstones “the size of golf balls”, which tore through its roof. Damage was caused to all for four floors of the venue and bookings cancelled for the next six weeks. Owner Andy Laurillard told Brighton and Hove News that the repair bill is expected to be up to £150k. The company, which is currently in talks to open in Lymington and Guildford, has offered regulars to the Hove site a discount at its nearby restaurant in Brighton, while Laurillard promised: “We will be back. We are going to make it look amazing.”
Ed’s little bro
Ed’s Easy Diner has launched a brand extension called Ed’s Dinerette to replace Shakes ‘N Dogs in the food courts at Meadowhall and Bluewater. The Dinerette will have a limited menu focusing on burgers, hot-dog, fries and shakes for quick dining. Andrew Guy said: “We’re confident that Ed’s Dinerette will become known for great value and fast and efficient service – served with a smile. The new brand extension will hopefully open up options for further growth across the UK.”
No smoking in the smoking garden, thank you
Liverpool restaurant Barbacoa is believed to be the UK’s first to ban smoking from its garden as well as inside its premises, the Liverpool Echo reports. The move was driven by customer feedback which showed people were put off using the garden in during the warm weather due to smoke. A separate area away from the garden has been created away from the garden for smokers. The move has won the restaurant a Clean Air Award from the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.
Fuller’s begins nationwide chef hunt
Fuller’s, the London-based brewer and pub operator, is beginning a nationwide search for the crème de la crème of chefs and kitchen staff to work in the 380 kitchens in its main pub estate. It is hosting recruitment days in Manchester, Birmingham, Belfast, Cardiff, Dublin, York and Glasgow in August to find chefs of all levels. Paul Dickinson, head of food at Fuller’s, said: “We want to be the best by making sure we have the very best people working for us. If you have a passion and pride for food and customers then we are a perfect match.”
Tattooed in the name of tacos
Lucho Libre, the Mexican street food restaurant, hosted an eating contest this week with the loser being branded with a street food tray (SFT) tattoo. Twitter followers witnessed Glyn Diesel take on John ‘The Man’ Douglas at the Liverpool restaurant tuck into trays of tostados and tacos. John won by demolishing the food in nine minutes which left Glyn to get SFT tattooed on his rump. Diary admires the dedication to dinner shown by these two…
Chilli down with Tsuru
Tonkotsu, part of the Tsuru group of Japanese restaurants, has made a debut into the consumer retail market by making its signature sauce available to shoppers at Selfridges Food Hall. ‘Eat the Bits’ chilli oil is made from soy and miso to balance the heat from the chilli. Food critic Jay Rayner has described the sauce as “an unctuous condiment full of sweet, soft-roasted garlic, dark toasted chilli notes and sesame seeds, and just the right amount of fire. It demanded to be spooned direct from pot to mouth.”
Charity ride raises £50k
A charity bike ride sponsored by Hertford-based brewer McMullen has raised over £50,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust and the Skeletal Cancer Action Trust, in memory of Ellis Clark who was the daughter of McMullen pub tenant Peter Clark. The Ellis 50 Miler bike ride was organised by Ellis’ sister Billie Shorten to raise money and awareness of Osteosarcoma, a common form of bone cancer. 700 people cycled the route around Goldings estate in Hertford who were each rewarded with a half pint courtesy of McMullen at the end of the ride.
Thieves have beef with their clothes
Three naked men broke into a Florida restaurant and stole 60 beef burgers. The thieves were caught on CCTV going into the restaurant’s fridges to take the burgers in their buff - much to the shock of restaurant staff watching the tapes back the next day. The manager said the restaurant has been targeted by thieves in the past looking for money but never for its beef goods.
