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James Squire has announced the release of its most rare and special beer to date, ‘The Wreck – Preservation Ale’, crafted from 220 year-old yeast discovered on Australia’s oldest merchant shipwreck. @foodServiceAus
#Chef Michael Cole unveils his spectacular 2018 #BocusedOr Asia Pacific dishes which have catapaulted him & #commischef Laura Skvor to the #grandfinal in Lyon next year. @food_service
To celebrate the nuptials of #PrinceHarry and #MeghanMarkle, @ tommycollinsag chef Quinn Spencer shares his #RoyalWedding recipe for elderflower, lemon and white chocolate #cupcakes on the #foodservice website. @foodservicemagazine
Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant group faces kitchen nightmare after AU $6.8m loss
The restaurant group of British celebrity chef and restaurateur, Gordon Ramsay, is reeling after suffering a £3.8m loss.
The Guardian reports, Kavalake, the holding company for the group which includes 14 London venues, sustained the multimillion pound loss in the year to the end of August 2017.
To minimise the damage, Ramsay will see his flagship Mayfair establishment, Maze, close its doors in early 2019, after 14 years in operation. A new “concept restaurant” is slated to open in its stead.
This is the culmination
of a tough couple of years for Kavalake, which is reported to have only made a profit in one year since 2012.
The company was slapped with a £1.75m (AU $3.1m) legal bill for costs following a legal battle with Ramsay’s former business partner, Rowan Seibel, over Los Angeles restaurant, Fat Cow, which closed down in 2014.
Ramsay’s Heathrow’s terminal 5 restaurant, Plane Food, had to be closed for five months following a revenue fall
from £48.3m (AU $86.8m) to £45.9m (AU $82.5m).
Added pressure came from a dip in sales at three Michelin star Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Savoy Grill.
However, the Kavalake plans to continue its international expansion; licence agreements for its 18 restaurants around the globe has risen 52 per cent year on year to £5.4m (AU $9.7m).
This year has seen a new restaurant founded in Sanya, China (Bread Street Kitchen) as well as four restaurant brands in North America, including a Hell’s Kitchen in Las Vegas.
In a statement, the group said, “A number of new international contracts are being actively negotiated, however, contracts have yet to be signed.
“The global spread of our restaurants means the business is not reliant upon one location and is therefore well placed
to adapt ... to softer trading conditions.”
PHOTOGRAPHY: GORDON RAMSAY