Iconic UK department store to shut TWO celebrity chef restaurants after fish & chips slammed over ‘ridiculous' cost
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
AN ICONIC UK department store is set to axe three celebrity chef restaurants at the end of the month.
Harrods will shutter Masayoshi Takayama's Sushi by Masa, Tom Kerridge's Fish and Chips and Calum Franklin's The Georgian by the beginning of September.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
2
Gordon Ramsay's Gordon Ramsay Burger will close on January 11 next year
Credit: Getty
2
Kerridge Fish Chips, which sets punters back £37, will close at the end of the month
Credit: Jam Press Vid
The change means that Kerridge will no longer sell his fish and chips with the controversial £37 price tag, which some critics labelled as "pretentious".
The swanky central London store also announced the end of its partnership with Gordon Ramsay Burger.
However, the latter will continue waving in punters until January 11, 2026.
Harrods said the switch up was triggered by a change in industry trends, including a spike in punters eating earlier in the evening.
Data from OpenTable shows that 6pm reservations are up 11 per cent in London and 6 per cent across Britain.
However, the glitzy Knightsbridge spot will remain home to a handful of delicious eateries, including Pasta Evangelists and Kinoya Ramen Bar, which was created in Dubai by chef Neha Mishra.
Michael Ward, the managing director of Harrods, said: 'As part of Harrods' considered customer approach, we took the decision a number of months ago to review feedback and data to ensure our in-store experience is delivering against customers' evolving preferences.
'Harrods has a rich history of serving the finest food and drink and we are constantly progressing our dining offerings.
'We'd like to thank all the fantastic chefs that we have been very privileged to work with over the last few years for their partnership.
'Together we have served many thousands of diners from shoppers to families and friends celebrating special moments in our restaurants.'
Pub chain collapses into administration as SIX sites shut their doors for good and 159 job losses
The closures come after a Michelin chef and Sky TV star announced the shock closure of his Harrods pop-up just eight months after it opened.
The project was one of five new food joints launched by the chef in the past year.
Hot Dogs by Three Darlings, owned by high profile chef Jason Atherton, was a gourmet hot dog concept in Harrods Dining Hall but it has unfortunately shut up shop.
The restaurant concept for "haute" dogs was introduced to the posh department store in summer but closed before it made its first birthday.
Hot Dogs by Three Darlings took over the space from Sushi by Masa and will now delegate the site to Caviar Bar.
The new pop-up promises to provide a "new level of indulgence" and offers an eye-watering £75 lobster cocktail.
South Yorkshire-born Jason also runs a selection of well-received restaurants including Pollen Street Social, which has won numerous awards including a Michelin star and Row on 45, which has snapped up two Michelin stars.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
42 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Meet the chef teaming up with Michel Roux Jr at Crossbasket Castle's new Trocadero's restaurant
Kevin Barron discovered his passion for cooking as a teenager during a work experience placement at his aunt's hotel in Clydebank. Crossbasket Castle's head chef is teaming up with Michelin-starred restaurateur Michel Roux Jr to deliver a dining experience unlike any other in Scotland. Originally from Luton in North London, Kevin Barron discovered his passion for cooking as a teenager during a work experience placement at his aunt's hotel in Clydebank. he was so captivated by the kitchen environment that he extended his stay by three weeks. From this point on, he never looked back, ultimately leaving school at 16 years old to start mastering his craft as a professional chef. After receiving his formal training at Barnfield College in North London, he went on to work with several boutique hotels, picking up a 3 AA Rosette Award as a head chef at just 24 years old. In 2008, following the passing of his father, Kevin relocated with his wife, Annie, to Kenya, where he played a central role in the launch of the newly built Ole-Sereni Hotel. As the lead food and beverage executive, he designed the hotel's kitchens and developed concepts for its three restaurants: a grill room, buffet restaurant and café terrace. The success of this venture led to his leadership in opening a sister hotel for the group. Kevin said: 'Nothing prepares you for landing in Nairobi. It was surreal and unlike anywhere I'd ever been. But I loved it and ended up staying in Kenya for 12 years. My wife and I were married there, and both our daughters were born there.' Though he never imagined leaving Kenya, an opportunity he couldn't refuse arose when he was headhunted to join Glenapp Castle. He continued: 'I've always been drawn to Scotland — it has one of the finest natural larders in the world. I couldn't pass up the chance to work there again after all those years.' Kevin's next chapter brought him to the renowned Crumplebury Estate. There, he was immersed in a truly farm-to-fork experience. The estate raised its own livestock and cultivated a wide range of vegetables, fruits, and herbs for its fine-dining and pub venues. It was here he was able to perfect his craft of working with fresh ingredients and appreciate the mastery of flavour creation. Following the sale of Crumplebury Estate in 2024, Kevin found himself once again back to Scotland, where he was given the chance to cook for the acclaimed Michel Roux Jr and the executive team at Crossbasket Castle. While a slightly daunting experience to cook for such a high-profile and successful chef, the opportunity paid off and he was appointed executive chef of Crossbasket Castle in 2024. He said: 'As soon as I heard of the plans for Crossbasket Castle, I knew it was a place where I could thrive. It's an extraordinary and incredibly diverse venue. 'Since joining, I've had the pleasure of doing so many different things, from summer barbecues, to weddings and cooking demonstrations alongside Michel Roux. Now, with Trocadero's, we're creating something truly original — a dining experience where food and cocktails are served in rhythm with the show.' With Trocadero's, the team is reimagining fine dining and shifting the spotlight back onto the ingredients themselves. 'With the introduction of Trocadero's, we've stripped back the theatrics of the fine dining experience to concentrate on the story of the ingredients,' Kevin explains. 'Sometimes in fine dining, the presentation can overshadow the produce, and that's not what we are trying to do here. We want great food and be served in a great setting.' All beef and seafood at Trocadero's are sourced from Scotland, a deliberate and sometimes challenging decision. Kevin continued: 'It's a brave move to go local. Cheaper options exist, but we're committed to showcasing authentic Scottish flavours through our dishes and ensuring that we do them justice in how they are prepared. 'Even something as seemingly simple as a rib-eye steak involves so much consideration. From the oil and seasoning to the provenance of the beef, we take considerable care to get it right. Indeed, we even spent three months just sourcing the right charcoal for the Josper grill. 'You don't get into this trade for the hours or glory,' he adds. 'You do it to witness the joy on a guest's face. Food brings people together, and to be part of that experience is a privilege.' What really sets Trocadero's apart is the incorporation of entertainment, which aims to transport guests back to a magical bygone era that promises the best top music entertainment acts, immersive dining experiences and crafted cocktail and drinks offerings. The hand-selected team exist to bring a level of entertainment and service which is set to be incomparable to anything else already on offer in Scotland. Taking its name from the beloved 1950s dance hall in the local town of Hamilton, Trocadero's boasts one of the most sophisticated live performance set-ups in Britain. Kevin continues: 'When the doors swing open in the kitchen, you hear the beat and then a flurry of dancer go by – it just hits different from other restaurants.'
Scotsman
7 hours ago
- Scotsman
Intercity greening: How Scottish firm Ember is creating zero emissions travel
Ember | Chris Watt Photography A Scottish business has created the only all-electric intercity coach service in the UK Sign up to our Scotsman Money newsletter, covering all you need to know to help manage your money. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The journey begins quietly, with no engine hum. The driver chats amiably to a passenger adjusting his reclining seat as the vehicle pulls away from a stop on Edinburgh's George Street. Welcome to the 9.21am coach service from the Scottish capital to Dundee, powered entirely by electric batteries. It's operated by Ember, a young business based in Scotland that has created the only all-electric intercity coach service in the UK. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Edinburgh-Dundee route was the first offered when Ember launched in 2020 offering zero emissions travel, round trip, on a single battery charge. Keith Bradbury | Chris Watt Photography Routes added since include Dundee to Glasgow, Aberdeen to Edinburgh, and Glasgow to Fort William, pitting Ember against established operators Scottish CityLink, Stagecoach, National Express and a recent entrant from Germany, FlixBus. For co-founders Keith Bradbury and Pierce Glennie – who swapped careers in fintech in London to start Ember – the idea was simple: decarbonise one of the most polluting sectors of transport while improving the often-miserable intercity coach travel experience. 'We'd been following electrification for some years and had seen what Tesla had done for cars,' explains Manchester-born Bradbury in the Georgian townhouse in Charlotte Square that serves as Ember's operational headquarters. The 43-year-old is dressed in Silicon Valley casual: T-shirt, slacks and baseball cap. Behind him, a table tennis table takes up half the room. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The idea for Ember came after Glennie endured a 24-hour journey from Namibia to South Africa in a diesel-powered bus in 2018. 'He did a quick calculation to figure out how much you'd have saved if the bus had been electric,' explains Bradbury. 'The vision then was: can you build a business model around emission-free bus travel?' The pair secured a £490,000 loan from Triodos Bank under a UK government Covid loan support scheme, which helped acquire the first two coaches. A year later, Ember borrowed again from Triodos to part-fund expansion of the fleet to 24 coaches, and to set up a technology platform called EmberOS that provides real time data on the fleet while responding to passenger demand. In 2022, Ember bagged external investors including Pale Blue Dot, a Swedish venture capital firm, Gareth Williams, co-founder of travel search firm Skyscanner, Monzo founder Tom Blomfield, and Steven Meersman, co-founder of Zenobē, an electric vehicle battery storage business. Last year others followed, including Inven, a Czech venture capital fund. Ember's mission fits with the Scottish government's aim to decarbonise transport as set out in its National Transport Strategy, launched the same year as Ember. Since then, Holyrood has funded the acquisition of 800 zero emission buses, mostly through over £100m in subsidies to operators under the so-called Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB), one of the most ambitious such schemes in Europe. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ember's trajectory so far owes much to ScotZEB, whose subsidies have partially funded 136 of the 138 coaches the company will have in its fleet by next year, up from 78 currently. The source of those vehicles, Chinese manufacturer Yutong, has raised questions about how the design of Scotland's green transport subsidies can be reconciled with a perceived need to sustain domestic bus manufacturing. That was thrown into sharp relief in June when Canadian-owned Scottish bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis (ADL) said it might close its factory in Falkirk with the loss of 400 jobs. Pierce Gennie (L) and Keith Bradbury (R) | Chris Watt Photography In a second funding round last year, known as ScotZEB2, a consortium led by Zenobē was awarded funds for the purchase of about 250 vehicles and the installation of supporting infrastructure. By far the majority of buses ordered under the scheme (171) went to Yutong, with ADL a distant second (44). Critics of the scheme, including Laurie Macfarlane of think-tank Future Economy Scotland, argue that its evaluation criteria were weighted in favour of financial criteria, benefiting overseas manufacturers and resulting in jobs 'offshored abroad'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad ADL has itself criticised Scottish government policy, warning a year ago of 'an uneven playing field' for domestic manufacturers. It said this was partly due to subsidy criteria that require adherence to advanced 'Fair Work First' standards of employee remuneration, welfare and safety, while overseas bus manufacturers face no such requirement. Transport Scotland counters that ADL has secured more orders for zero emission buses than any other manufacturer through ScotZEB and predecessor schemes. 'It is for bus operators to select their preferred manufacturer,' a spokesman says. This month, a further £40m was made available under ScotZEB2, possibly offering some hope for the survival of ADL's Falkirk factory. What is undisputed is how well Yutong is working for Ember – and not just on price. Bradbury explains that the Chinese company, which traces its origins to a bus repair factory founded in Zhengzhou in 1963, is happy to tweak design features on request. 'We are spending time with their engineers in China giving real time feedback and they're able to make changes quickly,' he says. One result is that Yutong recently swapped side mirrors for aerodynamically efficient camera mirrors. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad MeanwhiIe, improvements in battery technology by CATL, the Chinese company that supplies Yutong's batteries, mean that a battery can be charged in an hour compared with two and a half hours previously.
New Statesman
2 days ago
- New Statesman
Can the Great British caff survive?
Photo by Justin Tallis/AFP Inside the Regency Cafe, a Westminster greasy spoon that's gone global, little has changed since it reopened under new ownership in July. The art deco style remains, as do framed pictures of Muhammad Ali and various old Spurs players on the walls, and the red gingham curtains. There's still a queue to order, filled by the same steady stream of punters – a mix of builders, politicians, civil servants and tourists. The menu still features set breakfasts, steak pies and bread-and-butter pudding. It remains almost impossible to spend more than a tenner. You still wait for your toast before taking a seat, but now instead of being barked at and potentially embarrassed by the maître d' (a thrilling yet mildly terrifying experience), a number is gently called. My regular order, liver and bacon, survives. Five slices of iron-y meat, perhaps a little overcooked, three rashers of thick-cut bacon, just perfect. Some brown sauce, a glass of orange squash. Out in 20 minutes. The Regency, first opened in 1946, is a beloved institution. And when its legendary Anglo-Italian owners announced they were selling last year, many feared it would disappear. Thousands of greasy spoons have shut this century, as tastes change and costs spiral. But, mercifully, two Turkish-born restaurateurs who own several establishments in London have saved it. Fevzi Gungor said they were committed to 'preserving the cafe's enduring legacy', before admitting to 'exploring opportunities for future growth' and hinting at franchising to Dubai. 'My aim isn't to change what people already love about Regency Cafe,' he said, 'but to enhance it, extending opening hours, refreshing equipment, strengthening our social media presence and introducing merchandise that captures the spirit of this iconic spot.' The reaction was mixed. Many who have visited have found, like me, the breakfasts as good as ever. But a celebrated British greasy spoon in Istanbul, one of the other rumoured locations? Surely not. I wonder why we are so protective of the great British caff? Like the difference between pubs and bars, caffs are not cafés. Like pubs, caffs often house a community, with a series of regulars, imprinting on the local culture. While Regency Cafe had long sailed into the realm of tourist destination, it kept its charm. A café can easily become a chain: Starbucks are built to be memetic; Nero is crying out for franchise. A caff? Its charm is precisely in its un-replicability. It is hard to run a hospitality business these days, and Regency's new owners have calculated that they must branch out to succeed. Huge queues every day are insufficient. Merchandise? Fair game for restaurants these days (a Top Cuvée tote bag anyone? What about a candle from Bao?). It's an extra income stream, and free branding. A podcast? Fellow Anglo-Italian caff institution E Pellici in Bethnal Green has one; last time I walked past on a Saturday, at least 100 people were queueing. But a franchised caff just feels wrong. Sure, there have been fry-up chains. Little Chef (RIP) and the Breakfast Club, which has 15 branches, come to mind. Although the latter is a brunch restaurant in its soul. Perhaps it is necessary: more than 4,000 restaurants shut last year, and according to one study co-authored by the trade body UK Hospitality, a third of businesses are operating at a loss and at risk of closure. Those closures have brought opportunity for entrepreneurs to buy ready-made sites – see the Gugnors and Regency – and industry analyst James Hacon reckons franchising, though not without its own difficulties, 'can be a relatively low-risk way to grow'. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe One risk is detracting from the brand, cheapening something special. I adore Da' Vinattieri, a tiny Florentine shop specialising in tripe sandwiches, but I wouldn't want it in London. Da Michele, a Neapolitan pizzeria famous for only making margheritas and marinaras, now has branches in London and Manchester with vastly bigger menus and proportionately worse pizza. Caffs are often idealised, says Richard Crampton-Platt, who founded Cafe Britaly, a short-lived homage to Anglo-Italian greasy spoons in Peckham. He argues they have to adapt and modernise. Accepting card payments, opening beyond 2pm and offering halal options are welcome ways to move with the times. But does franchising not detract from the founding essence? Does a caff cease to be a caff when it lets go of these affectations? Crampton-Platt is concerned by franchising. 'It's slightly alarming. A caff by its nature is about community.' When it becomes about margins and scaling up, community can fall by the wayside. In an insightful blog on the new Regency, journalist Angus Colwell stated that while authenticity can be a meaningless term, a restaurant should be 'real'. 'I prefer the organic restaurant over the curated, rational one: restaurants born out of love in the kitchen, not calculations in the boardroom.' Regency Cafe is real; it's hard to see its roll-out across the world being so. An expansion would chip away at what makes London special. What next? E Pellici Las Vegas? Mario's Cafe Monaco? Regency's new owners have done a stellar job merely by keeping it as it was. Let's hope they realise what a special thing that is. [See more: British food is reactionary now] Related
