Miscellaneous

📖 Joanna Fantozzi, with over seven years in journalism, specializes in the restaurant and hospitality industry. She has a BA in English literature and creative writing from The College of New Jersey and an MA in arts and culture journalism from CUNY's Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. Fantozzi has worked for Insider, The Daily Meal, and joined Informa's Restaurants and Food Group in 2018, currently serving as Senior Editor since August 2021. She has moderated industry events like MUFSO and Restaurants Rise.

🏠 The Komu Canggu Bali offers 126 designer rooms with amenities like a gym and co-working spaces. Struggling with low online visibility and OTA dependency, they adopted STAAH's booking engine and later integrated the Get Google feature. This integration led to a 25% increase in direct bookings, enhancing The Komu's direct revenue and online reach.

📖 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality since 1999, hosts a podcast "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn." He reported on New York's restaurant scene in "The New York Sun" from 2005 to 2008. Thorn wrote for "Manager" magazine and "Asia Times" while in Thailand (1992-1997) and was an ABC News runner during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. A Tufts University graduate (1990), he also attended Le Cordon Bleu in Paris (1986) and studied in China (1988-1989). Thorn won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal Award and authored entries for the Oxford Encyclopedia (2012) and Oxford Companion (2015). He was inducted into the Disciples d'Escoffier in 2014 and served as IFEC president in 2005. He is based in Brooklyn, NY.

🍻 WonderBrew, a Malaysian brand, tailors kombucha to local tastes with flavours like passionfruit, lemongrass, and pomelo, using ingredients from local organic farms. 60% of sales come from grocery retail across over 1,700 locations. The brand plans to enter mass-market grocery chains and is exploring new categories like Jun Tea, positioning it as an affordable alternative to premium honey drinks, and considering coconut-based and yoghurt-based probiotic drinks, catering to the increasing demand for gut-friendly beverages in Malaysia.

🍴 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation's Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, reports on F&B trends and guides coverage. He hosted "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn" podcast and wrote "Kitchen Dish" for The New York Sun from 2005-2008. In 1999, he joined Nation's Restaurant News after writing in Thailand for Manager magazine and Asia Times. A magna cum laude Tufts University history graduate and Phi Beta Kappa member, Thorn studied at Le Cordon Bleu and in China. His work won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal Award, and he served as IFEC president in 2005. Thorn, inducted into the Disciples d'Escoffier in 2014, lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., and specializes in F&B trends, French cuisine, and Asian cuisine. His career includes being a columnist for New York Sun (2005-2008), sub-editor at Asia Times (1995-1997), and ABC News runner in 1989. He was educated at Tufts University (BA in History, 1990), Peking University, Nanjing University, and Le Cordon Bleu (Certificat Elémentaire, 1986). Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

🍴 Thompson Restaurants, under Thompson Hospitality, is launching the Thompson Table Rewards Program, beginning with a soft launch this month in Reston, VA. The program unifies 15 brands and over 65 locations in Florida, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, and D.C. Customers earn one point per $1 spent with milestones like 125 points for a free dessert (up to $14 value), and 1,000 points for a $50 reward. Additional benefits include a free birthday dessert and a $5 registration reward.

🎉 Ling Ling at Atlantis The Royal in Dubai launches over 30 new Asian dishes and a 'Late Night Bites' menu with options like Oscietra Caviar, bao buns, and mochi. The restaurant, situated on the 22nd and 23rd floors, offers views of the skyline and Arabian Gulf. Open daily from 6pm to 1am and offering late-night service on Fridays and Saturdays from 12:15am to 2:00am for guests over 21 years post-9pm. Reservations available at www.linglingdubai.com or +971 50 653 2098.

🍴 MORE (The Movement to Organize for Restaurant Equity), an advocacy supergroup, launched in February after a summit in Austin, encompassing 17 member organizations such as the James Beard Foundation, Women in Hospitality United, and Regarding Her. Co-founded by Mary Sue Milliken and Liz Murray, MORE aims to unify efforts supporting women, people of color, and underrepresented groups in the restaurant industry. Operating in New York, Los Angeles, the Gulf Coast, and Chicago, the coalition plans national expansion and has initiatives like a worker advisory board and monthly workforce development meetings. Key statistics include that 70% of the restaurant workforce are frontline workers, of whom 70% seek advancement within their companies, yet only 4% achieve it.

🍴 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality since 1999, reports on food and beverage trends. Host of the podcast "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn," he served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC) in 2005 and was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014. Thorn's column won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal Award and has authored entries in the Oxford Encyclopedia (2012) and the Oxford Companion (2015). A magna cum laude Tufts University graduate with a history degree and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, he studied at Le Cordon Bleu and in China. Thorn wrote for The New York Sun (2005-2008), Asia Times, and Manager magazine in Thailand (1992-1997), and worked for ABC News during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

🎭 Six by Nico introduces an immersive dining experience centered around the "Six Wonders of the World" menu, available from April 21st to June 2nd, 2025, across UK & Ireland locations, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, London, Belfast, Dublin, Oxford, Cardiff, and Bristol. This culinary adventure features a £10,000 prize draw for successful puzzle-solving diners. The tasting menu is priced at £46 per person, with optional wine and cocktail pairings for £30 and £40 respectively.