Miscellaneous

🌿 Silo, a zero-waste restaurant in London, surpassed its crowdfunding goal, raising £11,127 from 88 backers with five days remaining. Chef founder Douglas McMaster plans to create a Fermentation Factory to supply fresh koji for culinary use, fostering a waste-reducing culture among restaurants and individuals. Crowdfunding options include a £25 DIY Miso pledge and a £100 factory tour. The initiative builds on Silo's journey since its 2014 Brighton inception and 2019 London relocation.

🍕 London-based Zia Lucia pizzeria, with nine restaurants and a new site in Reading, partners with GNF Worldwide for global franchise expansion. Founders Gianluca D’Angelo and Claudio Vescovo, since 2016, plan a tenth London location in Chelsea and aim for 5-10 UK sites within three years. They offer unique pizzas with four dough options, including gluten-free and charcoal. Their growth strategy targets 100 stores in five years. Related venture Berto focuses on hand-made pasta in Islington.

🍕 Benugo, a café and restaurant group, reached a record £10.7m operating profit for the year ending December 27, 2023, a significant rise from £3.7m the previous year. Boasting over 40 locations nationwide, including prestigious venues like the Victoria & Albert Museum and London Zoo, Benugo has focused on exiting underperforming sites and boosting client relationships in 2023. Their success is attributed to staff training investments and strategic business wins, positioning them for continued growth in 2024.

💰 Benugo, a café and restaurant group, reported a 2023 operating profit of £10.7m, a significant increase from £3.7m in 2022. With over 40 locations nationwide, including prestigious venues like the Victoria & Albert Museum and London Zoo, the company's strategic exits from poor performing locations and focus on training and productivity have led to a stronger financial performance. Benugo is poised to tackle 2024's opportunities and risks with a solid balance sheet and cash position.

🍕 Dez Amore, Italian street food brand, launches its first London restaurant, occupying 1,178sq ft on the Sloane Stanley Estate. Founders Leonardo Masi and Simone Parentini offer traditional Italian dishes with a contemporary twist, including pasta, pizza, antipasti, and gourmet burgers. Announced last year, this flagship store marks the brand's expansion beyond food halls, following successes in Camden, Mercato Mayfair, and Boxpark. Miles Commercial and Levy Real Estate represented the estate, while Chiara Ciroldi acted for Dez Amore.

🏠 Austrian architect Jakob Sprenger designed Aesop's skincare store featuring 1920s plaster medallions in Paris' 17th arrondissement. The medallions, dating back to 1923, were from the demolished Hotel de la Guilonniere. The store's layout is based on four 19th-century gypsum ceiling medallions discovered during renovations, arranged around a sculptural sink within a triangular floor plan. The retail space is divided into two sections with the primary area upfront and a burgundy red lacquered billing and checkout nook at the back, harmonized with rounded geometries. Reclaimed French tomette tiles were also incorporated into the flooring. Sprenger, having previously worked on Aesop stores in Rome and Salzburg, emphasizes creating lasting values that resonate with the location's historical and cultural context.