– Baton Berisha has left his role as chief executive ofThe Wolseley Hospitality Group (TWHG) after two years with the business. News of Berisha’s departure follows reports back in June that Minor had drafted in restructuring experts from AlixPartners to advise on cost management issues at TWHG. Berisha joined TWHG, formerly Corbin & King, in August 2022, just a few months after Minor acquired full control of the business following a prolonged and very public battle for ownership with the group’s co-founder Jeremy King. The group subsequently returned to the expansion trail last year with the opening of Manzi’s in Soho and The Wolseley City.
– Big Mamma will open its first UK restaurant outside of the capital later this year. The Italian restaurant group has taken on the former Vinoteca site in Birmingham to open La Bellezza, a 150-cover trattoria. The restaurant will join the group’s five London venues Gloria, Jacuzzi, Circolo Popolare, Ave Mario, and Carlotta.
– Italian restaurant, delicatessen and bar brand Lina Stores has announced it will open its first UK regional site in Manchester next year. Opening on Quay Street in the city the restaurant marks a continued expansion for the group, which has opened a number of sites in the capital over the past few years. It will open its eighth venue in Shoreditch later this month having recently opened a site on South Kensington’s Exhibition Road.
– Australian chef David Thompson will finally bring his Thai casual dining concept Long Chim to London next month with the launch a residency in Soho. Located on Rupert Street, Long Chim will take-over the ground floor of Hovarda and serve a menu of ‘authentic and accessible’ dishes inspired by the food stalls and markets of modern Bangkok. Thompson is best known in the UK for his Nahm restaurant at The Halkin, London hotel, which traded for over a decade and was the first Thai restaurant in Europe to win a Michelin star. Back in 2022 Thompson announced hi intention to open a permanent iteration of Long Chim in London having secured a site in Chinatown, but those plans subsequently fell through.
– Restaurant Sat Bains will host a series of collaborative dinners in honour of its 25th birthday. The two Michelin-starred restaurant with bedrooms in Nottingham will host a guest chef series titled ‘Sat in the Kitchen with…’ that will welcome back a number of the restaurant’s alumni including Ynyshir’s Gareth Ward, Tom Spenceley and Harry Cordon from The Ledbury. As part of the series top chefs including Michel Roux Jr, Nathan Outlaw, Paul Ainsworth, Clare Smyth, James Martin, Daniel Clifford and Claude Bosi, will join Bains in the kitchen for special dinners.
