News

Best British Roast Dinner 2017 finalists revealed

06-Oct-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Four pubs and one restaurant will have to fight it out to be crowned the champion of the Best British Roast Dinner 2017 competition.

Top 50 Gastropub unveils seafood tasting menu

06-Oct-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

When a gastropub wants to make it to the top, it needs to be good... very good. And John Calton of the Staith House decided having a seafood tasting menu would be key to success at his venue.

Ingredients inflation ‘highest in history of Foodservice Price Index’

03-Oct-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Wholesale foodservice price inflation grew to 9.3% in August this year, reversing two months of falls, according to new figures.

Tom Kerridge’s Coach wins Michelin star

03-Oct-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Tom Kerridge’s the Coach in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, was a new addition to this year’s Michelin Guide after it was awarded one star for its food and service.

Top 50 Gastropub licensee buys pub from Wadworth for six-figure sum

03-Oct-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Top 50 Gastropub the Longs Arms now officially belongs to licensee Rob Allcock after he and partner Liz bought the site from pubco Wadworth for a six-figure fee.

Bib Gourmand accolade ‘shows the strength of cooking in pubs’

02-Oct-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

The Michelin Guide awarded Top 50 Gastropub the Staith House a Bib Gourmand this year and chef-patron John Calton said the accolade highlights the strong standard of food in pubs.

Fit for the bin: mouldy food will force a kitchen to close

02-Oct-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Food poisoning, rats and dirty kitchens are a sure way to get your pub in the papers for the wrong reasons, and maybe even land the operator in front of a judge.

Popular pub receives zero food-hygiene rating and needs major improvement

02-Oct-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

A Lincolnshire pub has fallen from a five star rating to zero for food hygiene, following a recent inspection.

West Country pub launches massive 96oz steak challenge

02-Oct-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

A Bristol pub has challenged its customers with one hour to scoff a 96oz T-bone steak alongside five side dishes.

4 pubs receive Michelin Guide Bib Gourmands

02-Oct-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

A number of pubs from across the country, including one Top 50 Gastropub, have received Bib Gourmands in this year's Michelin Guide.

Tom Kerridge to open third Greene King pub

28-Sep-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Celebrity Michelin-starred pub chef Tom Kerridge is set to open his third gastropub, Greene King Marlow pub the Butcher’s Tap, in a bid to “bring the high street alive again”.

JDW and Loungers winners at Vegan Food Awards

28-Sep-2017 By MCA

Loungers and JD Wetherspoon (JDW) were among the sector winners at the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Vegan Food Awards 2017.

Residents create petition to stop pub serving food

28-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Local residents in a Staffordshire village have started a petition to prevent a pub from serving food, citing keeping the trade of regular drinkers and visitors as their reason.

Top 50 Gastropub wins AA's Restaurant of the Year England

27-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Top 50 Gastropub the Freemasons at Wiswell in Clitheroe, Lancashire, has won Restaurant of the Year England at the AA Hospitality Awards.

Mark Sargeant hits out at two-star food hygiene rating

26-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Chef-operator Mark Sargeant has used social media to hit back at his Kent bar’s drop in its food hygiene rating from a five to a two-star rating.

More than half of UK diners prepared to pay more for home-grown food

26-Sep-2017 By James Beeson

Stocking British produce could enable pubs to charge up to 25% more for their food, according to new research.

Free-from food is top food trend in 2017

26-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Free-from food has been the top food trend for 2017 with 38% of consumers demanding it from pubs, according to data experts.

10% of London food venues require food hygiene improvements

26-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Some 6,712 (10.1%) London food establishments, including pubs, have a food hygiene rating of two or fewer, according to experts.

7 pub chef cook books you need to read

25-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Pub chefs have kitchen skills that diners can only dream of so what better way to showcase their talents than to release a cook book.

Kitchen confidential: fibbing customers

25-Sep-2017 By Kitchen confidential

There is nothing worse than a group of people coming into the pub claiming to be intolerant to this and allergic to that.

Fly infestation and build-up of sludge found at Toby Carvery pub

25-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

A Toby Carvery pub has been awarded a one-star food-hygiene rating after food hygiene inspectors discovered an ‘infestation of flies’ and a build-up of sludge in its kitchen.

Call for entries

Top 50 Gastropubs is back!

25-Sep-2017 By MA Editorial

Plans for this year’s Top 50 Gastropubs are well under way, but now is your chance to be aligned with the greatest food pubs in the UK by entering these awards.

JDW tax drop provides significant sales boost

22-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Pub giant JD Wetherspoon (JDW) saw like-for-like volume sales rise by 17% on Tax Equality Day, a day when the pubco dropped its prices by 7.5% to highlight the benefit of a VAT reduction in the trade.

Wild Beer Co wins Best Drinks Producer at BBC Food Awards

21-Sep-2017 By James Beeson

A somerset-based craft beer brewery has won the title of Best Drinks Producer at the 2017 BBC Food Awards.

TripAdvisor reveals new features for pubs to enhance their listing

20-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Pubs and restaurants can now take advantage of new attributes on the TripAdvisor website that allow users to alter details about their businesses.

Tips for best practice in hygiene equipment storage

19-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Hygiene equipment management can impact a pub’s reputation and bottom line, but there are practices operators can put in place to keep it safe, according to compliance company Klipspringer.

Michelin-starred chef joins Best British Roast Dinner judging panel

19-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Mark Sargeant has been announced as one of the judges for this year’s Best British Roast Dinner competition.

More than half of consumers uncomfortable with breastfeeding in a pub

19-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Women breastfeeding in a pub makes more than half (51%) of consumers uncomfortable, according to new study.

Village pub defends drop in hygiene rating from 5 stars to 1

19-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

A Lincolnshire pub has defended its drop in its food hygiene rating from a five to a one and the licensee is confident it will be back to a five by the end of the September.

Managed pub, bar and restaurant sales slow down

18-Sep-2017 By James Beeson

Like-for-like sales in Britain’s pub, bar and restaurant groups were ahead just 0.2% nationally compared to last August, according to the latest figures from the Coffer Peach Business Tracker.

Roast report: how roast dinners became award-winning

18-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

The roast dinner is an institution on these shores and British Roast Dinner Week ensures no one fails to get a good helping of this all-time favourite.

Who will pay for food safety regulations?

15-Sep-2017 By Andrew Don

The free trade is under threat from a proposed food safety regime that some believe has the potential to inflict huge financial damage unless publicans unite with other small food businesses and fight to get their voice heard.

JD Wetherspoon boss: VAT ‘militates against pubs’

13-Sep-2017 By James Beeson

Pubs are being penalised unfairly by VAT on food and drink, according to JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin.

Customer claims to have had ‘better service being mugged’ than at city pub

13-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

A customer has claimed he received “better service being mugged in the street” than the service he received at a Manchester pub on review site TripAdvisor.

7 pieces of kitchen equipment pub chefs can’t live without

13-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Good-quality kitchen equipment can make pub chefs' jobs a lot easier or harder, and The Morning Advertiser takes a look at what they can’t be without.

Councils demand food-hygiene display is mandatory

11-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Food pubs will be forced to display their hygiene ratings if councils’ demands for a change in the law are met by the Government.

JDW to slash prices for Tax Equality Day

11-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Pub giant JD Wetherspoon (JDW) is cutting the prices of food and drink at its 900 sites by 7.5% on Wednesday 20 September to highlight the benefit that a VAT reduction would bring to the trade.

Slug & Lettuce launches bargain £5 lunch menu

07-Sep-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Stonegate Pub Company’s Slug & Lettuce chain has launched a rock-bottom £5 lunch offer for consumers looking to curb their lunchtime spending.

One fifth of consumers blame operators for food fraud

07-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

The food industry has been urged to improve food confidence after a new report showed that 20% of consumers are most likely to blame the operator for cases of food fraud.

Upselling in pubs is fuelling obesity crisis

07-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Upselling techniques used in pubs are helping to fuel the obesity epidemic by leading customers to consume thousands of additional and unnecessary calories, a new report is claiming.

Top 50 Gastropubs chef launches cook book

06-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Jesse Dunford Wood – chef-patron of Top 50 Gastropubs stalwart the Parlour in Kensal Green, north-west London – has released his debut cook book, showcasing the best the pub has to offer.

Good Pub Guide 2018: the Kings Head Inn is pub of the year

06-Sep-2017 By Michelle Perrett

The Kings Head Inn, Bledington, Oxfordshire, has been unveiled as the Pub of the Year in the Good Pub Guide 2018.

Anger over Hungry Horse pub scrapping children's menus

05-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Customers have complained after a major refurbishment of their Hungry Horse pub left them without a children's menu.

JDW backs Welsh farmers in new menu launch

05-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Pub giant JD Wetherspoon (JDW) is supporting Welsh farmers and suppliers with its new menu, which it is launching across its 50 pubs in Wales tomorrow (6 September).

How to keep your garnishes clean and safe

05-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Keeping garnishes clean and ensuring bar staff keep their hands just as clean are two ways to prevent bacterial growth on the fruit that goes in drinks, according to experts.

Pub landed with one-star rating for food management shortfall

04-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

A Greene King Pub Partners tenanted site in Lincolnshire has received a one-star food-hygiene rating, days after one of the pubco’s managed sites was given a zero rating.

Raymond Blanc's latest pub plans refused

04-Sep-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Raymond Blanc’s White Brasserie Company has had development plans for the historic King's Head pub in Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire, refused by the local council.

Large pub chains at risk of serious financial damage

01-Sep-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Pubs face twin risks from consumer weakness and rising input costs, leading global banking giant HSBC to downgrade its ratings for JD Wetherspoon and Greene King last week.

Greene King pub gets zero rating for food hygiene

01-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

A Greene King pub has been awarded a zero food-hygiene rating and has been required to make major improvement in its food safety management and food handling methods, just days after a new manager took on the site.

9 problems only pub chefs will understand

31-Aug-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Pub kitchens are stressful places with lots of yelling, sweltering heat and a whole load of other pressures. But there are a few things that can really get a chef's back up.