Albion
All-day British brand Albion will open an ambitious multi-element site in the Turnmills building in Clerkenwell on Monday (6 June). It will be Albion’s fourth and biggest site yet, joining two others in Shoreditch and Bankside. The new site will open from 8am until 11pm or midnight at weekends, and have a takeaway counter, grocery section, bakery, craft beer and wine shop, oyster bar, cheese and charcuterie counter, pie room and cocktail bar. Founder Peter Prescott said: “Clerkenwell is simply the perfect fit for our newest, and biggest, Albion yet. There’s so much going on in the area from a design perspective, and a rich and long history of craftsmanship and creation. We hope our food, drink and overall ethos will be well received.”
Nottingham-based pizza brand Inferno and Taiwanese bubble tea chain Chatime are the latest names to have been confirmed for openings at the intu Eldon Square development in Newcastle. They join many other brands previously confirmed for the centre’s new dining quarter, including TGI Friday’s, Smashburger ad Chiquito.
Carluccio’s has launched the first of what it claims will be a ‘new generation’ of restaurants at its Spitalfields site in the City. The new approach sees Carluccio’s bring its deli, on-the-go and retail elements to the front, and create a new open-plan kitchen with a communal kitchen table. The menu is divided into dishes ‘From the deli’ and ‘From the kitchen’ and includes new items—including pizza for the first time in the brand’s history. The dining element will see a much more defined split between daytime and evening eating with the help of adjusted lighting. Founder Antonio Carluccio and the provenance of the brand’s ingredients both feature heavily in the new image. The makeover is being heralded by a new logo that reads ‘Carluccio’s Deli and Dining’. Carluccio’s chief executive Neil Wickers said: “The new generation Spitalfields restaurant celebrates and amplifies all the small things that have made Carluccio’s one of the most loved F&B brands in the UK. The premise is to emphasise and enhance those brand signatures that make Carluccio’s stand out from the crowd—its artisan suppliers, fresh dishes made on-site and unique combination of restaurant, food shop and deli.”
Pret a Manger yesterday (1 June) opened a ‘Little Veggie’ pop-up shop at its site on Broadwick Street in Soho. It will be open throughout June offering 45 new vegetarian and vegan dishes, with customers invited to vote for their favourites and the winners going on to the full Pret menu later in the year. The move follows a sharp increase in sales of Pret’s vegetarian options last year. Chief executive Clive Schlee said: “We believe that if vegetarian food was more delicious, attractive and available, more people would choose to eat it. This is the challenge we’ve set ourselves with our Little Veggie Pop Up, and we look forward to hearing what our customers have to say.”
Café Rouge has opened at the Westwood Cross shopping centre in Broadstairs in Kent. It is a 200-cover restaurant.
EasyCoffee, the spin-off coffee brand from the EasyJet group, is to open a new store on Leicester Square. The brand already operates from Oxford Street and Earls Court.
CAU has opened in Harrogate. The 100-cover restaurant, a revamp of an old department store in the town is its 18th in the UK.
West Berkshire Brewery has acquired its first London pub: Shillibeer’s in Islington. It is a 4,450 square feet pub that will showcase the brewery’s beers, including its new craft range from the Renegade Brewery sub-brand. The brewery has also just signed off on a new £3m brewery close to its current headquarters that will increase its capacity ten-fold. The company hopes to add a bar, beer garden and shop to the new site too.
Turtle Bay opened in Solihull on Tuesday (31 May). It is the fast growing brand’s 27th restaurant in all.
Revolucion de Cuba opens its latest bar and restaurant in Solihull on Tuesday (7 June). It is on the city’s Albert Dock and is marking the opening with a food giveaway.
Loungers has completed its latest opening—of the Centro Lounge at the Baxter Gate development in Loughborough.
Living Ventures’ cocktail bar and restaurant brand The Alchemist has secured a site in the Heywoods Building on Brunswick Street in Liverpool. It has taken 6,700 square feet of space over the ground floor and basement, and should open there in July.
Brunning & Price has opened its latest new pub and restaurant—the Oakley Arms in Brewood near Wolverhampton. It seats 160 people inside and another 100 on a terrace. The unit was formerly a country club, but had been empty for several years.
Gourmet Burger Kitchen opened at the CrownGate shopping centre in Worcester on Monday (30 May). It is next to a branch of Carluccio’s there.
Domino’s plans to open an eat-in restaurant as well as takeaway at the Odeon Douglasfield in Dundee, local media report. If approved it should open in late August. It would be one of the biggest Domino’s locations in the country.
Nando’s is close to opening in Inverness, according to the town’s newspaper. It has secured a site on the Inverness Shopping Park.
YO! Sushi has received planning permission to open in Bournemouth.
The ETM group’s Gun pub in Docklands has launched a Brazilian beach-style pop-up bar called Rio de Gun-Eiro. It will open until the end of September and has been set up in partnership with beer brand Sol, selling Brazilian barbecue snacks and cocktails as well as beer. It is being made available for private hire.
Juice bar concept Fuel has opened at the Kingfisher shopping centre in Redditch.
The Intertain group has reopened its Walkabout bar in Bournemouth after a £450,000 refurb.
A new fast casual Peruvian concept called Butifarra will open on Rupert Street in the summer. It is named after the popular Peruvian street food snacks of rolls with slow-cooked meat and salsa, and will also sell ‘cevushi’, a hybrid of ceviche and sushi. The concept has been developed by entrepreneur Ali Malik and consultant chef Niall Davidson, and is working closely with the Andes Export supply firm. It will open from 8am to 7pm every day, with drinks including own-brand coffee and unusual juices.
Hunky Dory Pubs, a new joint venture between Enterprise Inns and Oakman Inns & Restaurants, will open its first managed pub in August: the Beech House in Solihull. It is the latest move by Enterprise to push into managed pubs with experienced partners.
The Original Bowling Company has reopened its Bowlplex at Towerpark Leisure Park in Poole as a Hollywood Bowl, following a £500,000 refurb. The company plans to make more investments in its Bowlplex estate over the next few years.
Little Chef has reopened its restaurant in Warminster with a new-look design and menu. The brand is now owned by the Kout Food Group.
