Miscellaneous

🏨 Badlands Hotel Capital will manage assets for nine hotels and outdoor properties across six East Coast resorts for Blue Water Development. Properties include the 145-room Commander Hotel & Suites, 60-room Sealoft Oceanfront Hotel, and 120-room Aloft Ocean City in Ocean City. Other notable hotels: 67-room Bay Resort in Delaware, and 112-room Comfort Inn in Florida. With this, Badlands manages 25 properties across North America. Todd Burbage and Al Young emphasize enhanced operations and value growth.

✈️ FlyDubai, a Dubai-based carrier with a network covering over 135 destinations in 57 countries, is adopting Accelya's NDC solution to enhance its distribution and retailing capabilities. Announced at the T2RL Engage event, this partnership marks a significant milestone in FlyDubai's digital transformation. The collaboration aims to offer rich content, dynamic offers, and improved personalization across channels. Accelya leads in NDC implementation, managing over 50% of global NDC volumes with its FLX ONE platform.

🍕 Casano's Pizza Parlor in Rutherford, NJ, celebrated its first anniversary, focusing on slow fermentation for better pizza crusts using wild fermented yeast and lievito madre starters. Dough ferments for 24-48 hours, mixed with Italian and King Arthur flour. Andolini’s in Tulsa, OK, offers crusts fermenting for 1-5 days, while Hundredfold in Elmont, NY, uses three-day fermentation. Bertucci's has been fermenting dough since 1981. Slow fermentation enhances flavor, texture, and digestibility, allowing customers to enjoy more slices comfortably.

🍴 Opa Authentic Greek Cuisine filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the Northern District of California. Assets and liabilities are both listed between $100,000 and $500,000. Five locations—Campbell, Morgan Hill, Santa Clara, San Jose, and Walnut Creek—closed. Co-debtors include CEO Molly Adams and Marcus Adams. Opa started in San Jose in 2008 and expanded to six locations. U.S. bankruptcy filings increased by 11.5% over last year, reaching the highest level since 2010.

🍴 Next month, chef Flynn McGarry will open Cove, a fine dining restaurant in New York’s Hudson Square. McGarry designed Cove's interior, inspired by West Coast modernism, featuring custom cherry and ash wood furniture, and pendant lighting. Cove offers a California-inspired dining experience, blending luxury with a relaxed atmosphere. Custom tableware, created with North American ceramicists, will be sold at McGarry's Gem Home store in Nolita.

🍴 Bret Thorn is a Senior Food & Beverage Editor at Nation's Restaurant News since 1999. He hosts the podcast "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn" and was president of IFEC in 2005. He wrote for The New York Sun from 2005-2008 and contributed to the Oxford Encyclopedia in 2012 and 2015. Thorn holds a history BA from Tufts University (1990), studied in China (1988-1989), and graduated from Le Cordon Bleu (1986). He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

📍 Ruby Hotels, founded in 2013 in Germany by Michael Struck, sold to IHG for over $300 million. Now IHG’s 20th brand, Ruby is set to franchise in the U.S. by late 2023, focusing on major urban markets and planning 10 new properties by 2027. Ruby currently operates 20 hotels across Europe, with a presence in cities like Cologne, London, and Vienna. IHG aims for global expansion, targeting over 120 hotels in the next decade and more than 250 in 20 years.

🍷 Murrayshall's restaurant, Eòlas, in Perthshire, received the Notable Wine List Award at the AA Hospitality Awards 2025 after being nominated for the AA Wine Award for Scotland. This accolade honors the skill and passion of the sommelier and culinary teams. Hotel Manager Fiona Pugh praised the team for their dedication to excellence, merging Scottish heritage with modern culinary innovation. This award highlights Eòlas as a top dining destination, offering an exceptional wine experience in Scotland.

🏨 James Thomson, a Scottish hotelier, received the AA Lifetime Achievement Award at the AA Hospitality Awards in London on September 22. Thomson, known for revitalizing historic properties, opened The Witchery in Edinburgh in 1979. He later acquired Prestonfield House in 2003. His charitable efforts, including “Lunch with an Old Bag,” have raised £9 million. The Witchery was named Scotland's AA Best Restaurant with Rooms and the world's “most romantic hotel” by Big 7 Travel.