Miscellaneous

🍳 Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, tracks food and beverage trends and hosts a podcast. He started at Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999, contributed to The New York Sun from 2005 to 2008, and joined Restaurant Hospitality in 2016. Thorn is a magna cum laude graduate from Tufts University, studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and reported for ABC News during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. His work includes a Neal Award-winning column and contributions to Oxford food encyclopedias; he was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

🎫 Study "Retailing Ready" by Innovationbubble and Opinium, commissioned by Outpayce from Amadeus and Worldline, reveals 54% of airport travelers must relocate to pay, 57% use less secure payment methods. Over half (56%) waived fees due to payment issues, and 45% would spend more with preferred payment options available. Airports rank third in payment frustration locations, with travelers spending an average of €263 on services per trip. Preferred payment methods: contactless cards (46%), Chip & Pin (44%), digital wallets (35%), cash (28%), local methods (21%), secure links (19%).

🍩 Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality since 1999, reports on food and beverage trends. Host of podcast "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn," he contributed to The New York Sun (2005-2008) and worked in Thailand (1992-1997). A magna cum laude Tufts University graduate and Le Cordon Bleu-trained, Thorn won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal Award and was inducted into Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014. He resides in Brooklyn, N.Y. Email: [email protected] Social Media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

🍴 Lita, a modern European bistro in London's Marylebone, awarded a Michelin Star in under a year since opening. Founded by Daniel Koukarskikh and led by Head Chef Luke Ahearne, the restaurant is celebrated for its modern European cuisine. The Michelin Star signifies outstanding quality and creativity. Lita opened last March and offers dishes like "Pan con tomate with Cantabrian anchovies" and "Native Scottish lobster baked rice." Located at 7-9 Paddington Street, Lita has become a top dining destination in London.

📈 The article is an invitation to join or sign in to LinkedIn to view more content. It provides a sign-in form with fields for email or phone and password. The form includes a button to show the password and a link to reset a forgotten password. Additionally, there's an option to sign in with Google and a mention of LinkedIn's User Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Policy. New users are invited to join LinkedIn through a provided link. The sign-in modal has a "Welcome back" header, suggesting returning users.

🏬 A barn transformed into one of the country's most stunning wedding venues and a near-collapse gristmill in rural Maine restored to become a world-renowned farm-to-table restaurant with 60,000 annual reservation attempts for 1,500 seats. These examples showcase the potential of repurposing historic or overlooked sites into extraordinary, sought-after destinations. The message: Act now, seek out hidden gems, and create beauty through craft and creativity.

🍺 Milk of the Poppy, a new apothecary-themed cocktail bar and restaurant, will open in Santa Fe, N.M., this spring at 418 Montezuma Ave., near Jean Cocteau Cinema and Beastly Books. Designed to accommodate 100 guests and provide an experience akin to a modern traveler's tavern, it features a 1,200-square-foot lounge with seating for 55 and an outdoor garden with 30 additional seats overlooking the Sky Railway train. The menu draws inspiration from historical beverages and offers a selection of seasonal dishes, with the venue located within a 1910 adobe building.

✈ Travelport, a GDS and travel technology specialist, has renewed its content distribution agreement with Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL). With this renewal, agencies using Travelport+ maintain access to AZAL’s full range of content, including ancillary services, offering a seamless comparison of fares and services in a single view. Travelport’s AI-powered Content Curation Layer (CCL) enhances search capabilities, allowing agents to easily compare and identify the most relevant AZAL offers. The renewal reflects a shared commitment to empowering travel retailers and supporting AZAL’s growth strategy.

🍴 Bret Thorn, Food & Beverage Editor at Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality since 1999, reported on food and beverage trends. He wrote for The New York Sun (2005-2008), and in Thailand for Manager magazine and Asia Times (1992-1997). A magna cum laude Tufts University graduate and Phi Beta Kappa member, he studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Thorn won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal Award and was IFEC president in 2005. He authored entries for the Oxford Encyclopedia (2012) and the Oxford Companion (2015), and was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

🍴 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, has shaped food and beverage trends reporting since 1999. He won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award and was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014. Thorn, a Colorado native living in Brooklyn, NY, holds a BA in history from Tufts University, and studied at Le Cordon Bleu. He worked with ABC News during the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989.