The sun is shining, and the weather is sweet...and even restaurateurs in the UK have kept their sunny disposition. They remain confident that they will outperform the economy over the next two years - despite a lack of funding for growth or expansion. The restaurant scene is holding its own, with Harden's London Restaurant Guide revealing that the number of London Restaurant closures is at its lowest level for more than 10 years.
But one restaurant which hasn't managed to survive the current economic climate is Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmare's Momma Cherri's in Brighton. The 'soul food' restaurant which featured on the Channel 4 show was forced to close its doors and call in the administrators.
Speaking of Gordon, he continued to prove he was still at the top of his game with his three-Michelin flagship restaurant scoring nine out of 10 in The Good Food Guide 2010. Fellow three-star chef Heston Blumenthal just pipped him with full marks for his Fat Duck restaurant in Bray, Berkshire.
Heston will be appearing at this year's Chef Conference together with other top chefs from around the UK and also special guest Elena Arzak from Spain, one of an elite band of three-Michelin-starred female chefs. If you have a question that you'd like to ask any of the chefs attending the conference leave them at Table Talk and we'll field your questions to them on the day.
Meanwhile, two-Michelin starred chef Phil Howard unveiled the name of his new London restaurant - Kitchen W8.
Brighter news for pubs too this week, with Britain's leading restaurant and pub operators starting to see signs of recovery thanks to continued marketing and promotional deals.
One such deal is that offered by the Grand Union Group which is offering its customers a voucher scheme to boost trade.
On the move in the hotels sector is Bernard Bloodworth, who has been named executive general manager at Von Essen's Seaham Hall in County Durham, which is also host to the regional finals of this year's Young Chef Young Waiter competiton. YCYW is 25 this year, and to celebrate Caterer has teamed up with Von Essen to offer a luxury hotel stay. To be in with a chance in winning, tell us what you think about front-of-house skills in the UK. Log onto www.caterersearch.com/ycywsurvey.
And good news for the UK tourism industry, with figures suggesting that more than half of Brits plan a UK holiday next year. However, hotel bosses say they need more support, urging the Government for more joined-up promotion of tourism in the UK.
Caterersearch.com launches its second Web Awards this week. If you think you have a great hospitality website and want to shout about it, enter here.
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Chef Conference 2009 - we have an amazing line-up for this year's conference with two three-Michelin-starred chefs topping the bill, Heston Blumenthal and Elena Arzak.
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Quote of the Week
"The industry was getting far too arrogant, they weren’t respecting customers enough an they forgot the customers were king."
Gordon Ramsay, on why heading out of the global economic downturn has been tough but, for him, has also been a breath of fresh air
By Katherine Alano