Miscellaneous

🍽 Ikea launches its first high street restaurant in London, replacing a former Wasabi on King Street, with 75 seats available. The menu, similar to in-store restaurants, features signature meatballs at £5.50, battered haddock for £6.95, penne pasta at £2.95, and a full cooked breakfast priced at £3.75. Matthew Gould, market manager at Ikea London City, highlights the affordable dining options and the iconic Swedish meatballs as key draws for customers.

🎥 Virgin Voyages collaborates with SuperBloom and Purveyors of Pop to launch a new reality show, "Mystery Voyage," filmed on Brilliant Lady in the Mediterranean. Featuring former reality stars, the show involves solving fictional crimes like jewellery heists and kidnaps. The series is casting now and will premiere in September 2025, coinciding with Brilliant Lady's launch. Sir Richard Branson highlights his love for mysteries with the Lady ships providing a Hollywood atmosphere.

🧀 Burrata cheese is now on 8.6% of U.S. restaurant menus, a 30% increase over four years. This mozzarella variant, filled with cream and often more mozzarella, is popular in salads, pizzas, pastas, appetizers, and shared dishes. Demand is driven by a preference for premium dairy and Mediterranean flavors, with high awareness among vegetarian and Asian consumers.

📷 Solo adventure tour operator WeRoad launched an international campaign in major European cities: London, Amsterdam, Madrid, Berlin, Rome, and Milan. Targeting millennials struggling with high rents and organizing group travels, WeRoad offers trips that don’t require friends' commitment, making adventure easily accessible despite rising living costs and career pursuits. CMO Fabio Bin emphasizes the ease of meeting new people and exploring without stress.

📖 Leigh Anne Zinsmeister, current Group Content Manager since Feb 2020 at Informa Restaurant and Food Group, managed digital content from April 2018 and was a producer there since June 2016. With a journalism degree from Arizona State University, she also has roots in Phoenix, Dallas, Cleveland, and lives in New York City. Past roles include Mail Online Community Moderator (Mar 2014-Jun 2016) and Wire Editor at Gannett (Jan 2012-Mar 2014). Contact: [email protected]

🍣 Itsu introduces dragon rolls to Tesco's £5 meal deal from 21 October. Sushi options: teriyaki salmon, vegetable crunch, and katsu chicken. Tesco insights show sushi now surpasses smoked salmon sandwiches as the UK's preferred premium lunch. Itsu's years-long development overcame quality challenges, including rice hardening. The solution: short shelf life, controlled temperature and pH. Itsu's new frozen products: two dumpling varieties, three vegetable sides.

📖 Ron Ruggless is the senior editor for Informa Connect's Nation's Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality since 1992. Previously, he worked at Dallas Times Herald as restaurant critic, assistant business editor, food editor, and lifestyle editor from 1982-1991, editing Zagat Dining Guide for Dallas-Fort Worth, and has contributed to Food & Wine, Food Network, and Self magazines. He frequently participates as a moderator and panelist at foodservice industry events. Contact him via email at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter (@RonRuggless), LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/ronruggless), Instagram (@RonRuggless), and TikTok (@RonRuggless).

🏧 A traveler's journey to a friend's destination wedding in Mexico turned into a 30-hour ordeal due to a one-hour flight delay, missed connections, and overnight stay in Atlanta. The trip involved excessive spending, including $62.50 on airport bar food and $16.50 for a bourbon, with no hotel reimbursement from Delta despite initial assurances. The experience prompted reflections on the nature of modern travel and the loss of its romanticized adventure. Despite the frustrations, the traveler ultimately found joy upon reaching the destination, Isla Mujeres, indicating the allure of travel persists despite the challenges.

📖 Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, hosts "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn" podcast. He's written for The New York Sun (2005-2008), covered business in Thailand (1992-1997), and has been with Nation’s Restaurant News since 1999. A magna cum laude Tufts University graduate, Thorn also studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and in China. He won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal Award, joined Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014, and resides in Brooklyn, N.Y. Contact him at [email protected] and follow on social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

🎄 Desenio announces the launch of three Holiday Collections for the festive season aimed at creating treasured memories. Collections include the Family Festivities collection with traditional colors, the Happy Holidays collection with fun and playful prints, and the Winter Wonderland collection featuring serene winter scenes. These collections cater to different tastes, from family gatherings and festive joy to creating a cozy winter retreat.