Tag : Independent restaurants
Camden's best kept secret
Being a relative stranger to my own kitchen I set out to an appointment with the express purpose of finding a suitable brunch location between home and my destination, Hampstead. The nearest spot, that's worth visiting, to both is familiar old Camden so the hunt began there. It's one of those places you walk through, shop in, drink in and browse at without ever stopping for food - Camden is hardly known for cuisine and with good reason.
Is brunch too exclusive in London?
Whilst living in Greenwich Village last year, I would get my weekly brunch either from the local diner, where their $3 French toast was to die for, or high-end Sex And The City style restaurants, where the poached eggs and smoked salmon were exceptional. These experiences highlighted the difference between American and British eating habits - their devotion to brunch and our lack thereof.
Fit for a King
In the not too distant past, Kings Cross or St Pancras stations were hardly the places you'd want tourists to our capital city to see first. Thousands of visitors per day would arrive from all over the country to be greeted by a gritty industrial wasteland, which is putting it nicely. So once the Eurostar terminal's move to the area from Waterloo had been mooted, bringing with it European visitors, it was inevitable that regeneration of much of the locality would follow.
Best Independent Restaurant Website Award 2009
We're thrilled to say the site we designed and built for YumYum Thai Restaurant has been crowned best Independent Website of the year in the annual Catersearch awards.
Noodle Fun In Pop-Up London
There is something innately cool about the concept of pop-up bars, restaurants and clubs. One minute they're there, the next minute they're gone. They feel like they've been thrown together with the type of effortless style that so many crave.
Don't 'Takeaway' An Opportunity
Takeaway menu re-prints are a pretty regular occurrence for some restaurants.
Veer towards British Veal!
It's a bit of a funny one for me to write this one, (not having eaten red meat or chicken for 22 years!) but basically I am encouraging the use of veal in restaurants and hotels. There is a slight catch though, I am only encouraging the use of British veal.
Spending a penny
Your exterior is welcoming, your light features amazing and your furniture stylish yet comfortable. You have ticked all the boxes and thought of every last detail, or have you? Too many restaurants spend a fortune on their interiors and then forget a place that you are pretty much guaranteed all of your customers will visit and interact with... your toilets.
Cracking Christmas
Few operators this year will be dreaming of a white Christmas, but plenty will be dreaming of making a profit. So how can you make sure that your Christmas and New Year is a cracker? (These puns are beyond my control!)
Review : Morgan M, Islington, London
When my better half suggested we go out for a meal on my birthday my immediate suggestion was "Morgan M". Having been utterly amazed by my last gastronomic experience there, this was an encounter I was itching to have again.
Go on, be a good egg!
Banish the battery egg in your kitchen and you could get an award thrown in!
Top Ten Table Tips!
For smart ways to market your restaurant, bar or gastro pub look no further than your tables
Restaurant & Bar Design Horrors - Style Over Substance
In the summer of 95 I opened my first pub, a wood heavy concept known as a 'Firkin'. In true big-company style, the re-furb went way over schedule but the opening date remained the same, meaning that me and my team stayed up through the night setting up the pub for it's grand launch that day.
What use does Sustainable Development have within the hospitality industry?
The growing pressure in the media, from the government and consumers for more action on the environment is forcing increasing numbers of businesses to implement environmentally friendly policies. The hospitality industry has been fairly late to the game, with ill-advised problems being sited...
Why are smaller restaurants, bars & hotels not engaging a Sustainable Development (SD) Strategy?
First off, there is no valid reason why smaller companies within hospitality are not engaging a SD strategy. Save money, improve customer trust in your brand, gain positive PR... the list goes on.
Fresh-fished-fish, oysters-on-tap, rock bottom rates... sound like Essex?
Known for its old ladies and 'ave-a-go youths, Essex isn't a place I identify as a place for culinary delights. But the bits and pieces I'd read on the food, particularly the fish, at Mersea Island (just off the coast of Essex) had got my taste buds tingling. So a short train journey from London and I was trundling across the only road connecting mainland Britain and the Island.
Thai-riffic, Thai-tanic, Thai me up, Thai me bloody kangaroo down sport - Battle of the Brands down under (guess which cuisine?).
It's a while since I've been in Sydney but after a recent return, thankfully not a lot has changed. The blue sky is still larger than life, the people, still as chilled as ever and the beaches still make me feel like there's no place like home.
Brightbox - the Ignite blog
Independent restaurants
We're thrilled to say the site we designed and built for Yum...
