New Michelin star ratings leaked online - For more hospitality stories, see what the weekend papers

New Michelin star ratings leaked online
Michelin was forced to make emergency phone calls to leading UK chefs today after a document claiming to list its new star ratings was leaked to the internet five days ahead of the official launch. The leaked release lists four new two-star entries: for Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester (with a ‘rising three’ tip), L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon and Hibiscus in London, and Whatley Manor in Malmesbury. The 26 one-star winners included three with ‘rising two’ tips - Tom Aikens and the Ledbury in London and Nathan Outlaw in Cornwall. Other restaurants to receive one Michelin star were Fergus Henderson’s St John restaurant, which is famed for its offal menu, Angela Hartnett’s Murano, and Hartnett’s replacement at the Connaught hotel, Hélène Darroze. –17 January, Read the full article in the Guardian >>
View the new Michelin winners on Caterersearch: 
No new three Michelin stars in 2009 Michelin Guide >>
New Michelin stars for 2009 >>
Scotland wins four new Michelin stars >>

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Fearnley-Whittingstall celebrates Sainsbury's ban on battery eggs
Chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall vowed to continue his fight to get Tesco’s to stop selling eggs from battery hens (after his resolution was rejected by City institutions last year) even as he was celebrating Sainsbury’s announcement that it would stop selling them from 5 February, a year ahead of schedule. Sainsbury’s move makes it the first of the big four supermarkets to act on Fearnley-Whittingstall Chicken Out campaign to improve poultry welfare, which will receive an update on Channel 4 on 26 January. In it, the chef will reveal that sales of ‘higher welfare’ meat chickens have trebled from 5% to 15% since he began his campaign in January 2008. Sainsbury’s won praise in Compassion in World Farming's first "good egg" awards on Monday, along with McDonald's, Starbucks, Pret A Manger, JD Wetherspoon, Cornwall’s Eden Project in Cornwall and the catering teams at Microsoft UK and Google. – 17 January, Read the full article in the Independent and the Daily Telegraph >>

Gourmet Restaurants on the brink of administration
Indian takeaway specialist Gourmet Restaurants is on the brink of administration just seven months after adding the Bombay Bicycle Club and Vama to its own Tiffinbites business. Jamal Hirani, who launched Tiffinbites in 2003, has quit the company ahead of the appointment of Chantrey Vellacott DFK as administrator. Potential buyers include the former owners of the Vama Group. Tiffinbites , which draws its inspiration from the 200,000 tiffin boxes delivered each lunchtime to Mumbai workers, has four restaurants, seven takeaways, and a deal with Compass to serve its food to 250,000 City workers. Last July, Hirani unveiled plans for a global franchise push on Tiffinbites and an expansion of Bombay Bicycle Club from three restaurants and 15 delivery kitchens to 200 UK sites. – 18 January, Read the full article in the Sunday Times >>


Credit crunch gains extra year for USA Holiday Inn revamp
The worsening economy has prompted InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) to give its 2,500 US Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express owners an extra year to complete its $1bn rebranding programme. They now have until the end of 2010 to revamp their hotels. IHG’s Owners’ Association has also scaled down the new standards to reflect the credit crunch by dropping plans to put flat-screen TVs in every bedroom worldwide. "Current market conditions are putting pressure on the industry and it is important that IHG listens harder now than ever to concerns raised by owners on any aspect of the businessm,” said an IHG spokesman. – 18 January, Read the full article in the Independent on Sunday >>

Fishworks faces prepack administration
Upmarket restaurant chain Fishworks is expected to go through a prepack administration this week, wiping out its shareholders. Concerns over its financing led to the suspension of its shares on the AIM market earlier this month. Channel 4 chairman Luke Johnson is said to be considering a second rescue bid for the chain that he bailed out in 2007 with Gary Ashworth, while a buy-out is also being mulled by its management team led by chief executive Paul Goodale. The group, which was founded in 1994 and now comprises 10 restaurants in London and South-west England and a delivery service in Devon, reported losses of £5.5m last year. – 18 January, Read the full article in the Sunday Times >>
 

Waiter dies after mass fight in restaurant
A 28-year-old waiter died in hospital yesterday after receiving fatal head injuries in a mass fight at the Maida restaurant in Bethnal Green, East London. It is believed that Syed Qamar Islam, an IT student who was working as a waiter part-time, tried to break up a melee of more than 20 people that broke out in the restaurant on Thursday night. Two men aged 18 and 19 remain in police custody while five others have been released on bail. The Metropolitan Police is seeking for witnesses.  – 18 January, Read the full article in the Sunday Telegraph >>

By Angela Frewin

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