Latest news with #Fallow
Metro
18-05-2025
- Business
- Metro
Restaurant tipping rules are quietly changing — and service charges could rise to 20%
Name something more British than the awkward moment when one person wants to contest the service charge at dinner and the other just wants to pay the bill and skedaddle The whole situation becomes ten times more uncomfortable when it happens on a first date… This point of contention isn't going to get any easier any time soon, in fact, it might end up causing even more tension. That's because the UK's unwritten restaurant rules around service charges and tipping seem to be changing across the nation. Service charges are being added to bills just about everywhere these days – from your local pub to the tiny cafe on the corner. And honestly, with the struggles the hospitality industry has been facing amid the cost of living crisis, it's not much of a surprise. But what might come as a shock to some is that it's becoming the norm to see service charges of 15% these days on bills, instead of the 10 or 12.5% we'd all become accustomed to. How are service charges changing in the UK? Experts have claimed that 15% is going to become the new industry standard when it comes to restaurant service charges, while some suggest we could see this moving more in-line with the 20 to 25% tipping rate that's standard across America in the future. A number of popular restaurants have already started adding a 15% charge to bills so it's not difficult to see how this could quickly increase. In London, European restaurant The Wolseley has a discretionary 15% service charge as well as a mandatory £2.50 cover charge. Similarly, Fallow in St James's Market, a popular brunch spot, adds a 15% service charge to bills and a £1 charge to be donated to support the UN Women UK. The story is also the same at Gordon Ramsay's Lucky Cat restaurants in Mayfair and Bishopsgate, plus Bob Bob Ricard and Bebe Bob in Soho. Some believe the fees have been driven up by new government legislation that made it mandatory for all tips to be passed on to workers without any deductions. Corin Camenisch, marketing and growth Lead at SumUp, tells Metro: 'The current economic climate presents challenges for consumers, hospitality workers and employers. Part of the reason for the rise in service charges is the Allocation of Tips Act, which dictated that all tips and service charges must be given to hospitality staff. The act aimed to to create a fairer playing field for those in the service industry, meaning employees get a fair slice of their well earned gratuity, while also giving consumers peace of mind that when they tip, their money is going to the right place. 'Cash tips are already protected by law, but the new legislation goes further to cover tips added to a card payment which are more and more becoming the norm. Many hospitality workers are on the national or living wage and rely on tips, so making sure they get their fair share of the pie is the right thing to do both for businesses and the wider economy.' What is a service charge? When it comes to the purpose of these charges, Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality, previously told Metro: 'Service charge policies are set and determined by individual businesses, so it is up to them to determine the level of charge. 'Service charges serve a variety of functions, but primarily reward staff and provide a boost to employees' earnings, ensuring that venues can continue to provide the highest standard of service possible.' And while these charges might be a positive for hospitality employees, not all diners are happy about the changes. Metro journalist Gergana Krasteva branded London's tipping culture 'out of control' after being charged a 12.5% service fee for just one glass of wine at a bar in High Street Kensington. She said: 'I'm happy to tip if I sit down and have dinner at a restaurant, but not if the wine is poured in front of me at the actual bar and then I carry it to my table. Plus, they didn't give me an option. It was only after that I realised, which is the more annoying part. In general, I think tipping is out of control in London.' And Tom Bourlet had strong feelings about the idea of 25% charges like in the US. He told us: 'I've not seen any charge higher than 10% but it would be a shock to suddenly see 25% put on. Without wanting to sound harsh, I wouldn't exactly be happy, that's a huge amount to add. 10% being added to each drink in bars is bad.' And it's clear from new research by SumUp, that people in the UK aren't keen to leave bigger tips. Despite the number of businesses that have been applying suggested tips to digital payments increasing by 78% between 2022 and 2024, Brits haven't got on board with digital prompts to pay more. Instead, we've been sticking firmly at the familiar 10% rate. The average tip given by customers over the last three years remained between 10.2% and 10.6% according to the data. Corin comments: 'Unlike the US, where tipping is ingrained as the norm, British customers have historically been more reserved about tipping. Even as digital tipping simplifies the process, it seems this cultural reticence persists. 'To British punters' credit, they will go out and support venues and they'll tip the same 10% regardless of how bad the economy and inflation may hit them.' Do you have to pay a service charge? Don't worry – if you're not happy with the idea of paying an extra 15% or 20% on top of your bill, we checked with an expert and, yes, you can ask for it to be removed without sounding like a dreadful person. Etiquette coach John-Paul Stuthridge told Metro: 'The hospitality industry is often too turbulent at the best of times. It rarely has healthy cash flow or reserves other industries can depend on, not least the high turnover of staff and cost of recruitment. Throw in an extensive lockdown and a world cost of living crisis, restaurants have added service charges to help recoup their losses. Increasing the charge further helps them combat the crisis that is hard for some to say no to. 'You can much more easily not go to a restaurant that's upped its prices by 15%, but how many people will just accept a 15% service charge and politely say nothing? Many.' He continues: 'Whether you should ask to remove it may depend on how charitable you feel, or if the service genuinely deserved it. It is your call.' If you truly don't feel like the service is worthy of the charge on the bill, don't get mean about it, just be, as John-Paul recommends, 'direct and honest'. 'No reason needs to be given, however, if you are asked, then give your polite feedback in an honest, but short to-the-point manner,' he adds. 'The higher the figure for service charge, the less likely customers will oblige, but having it removed altogether, so guests can tip the individual server the amount they want to give remains a legitimate and more proper compromise.' Do you have a story to share?
Metro
18-05-2025
- Business
- Metro
Restaurant tipping dubbed 'out of control' as UK service charges quietly change
Name something more British than the awkward moment when one person wants to contest the service charge at dinner and the other just wants to pay the bill and skedaddle The whole situation becomes ten times more uncomfortable when it happens on a first date… This point of contention isn't going to get any easier any time soon, in fact, it might end up causing even more tension. That's because the UK's unwritten restaurant rules around service charges and tipping seem to be changing across the nation. Service charges are being added to bills just about everywhere these days – from your local pub to the tiny cafe on the corner. And honestly, with the struggles the hospitality industry has been facing amid the cost of living crisis, it's not much of a surprise. But what might come as a shock to some is that it's becoming the norm to see service charges of 15% these days on bills, instead of the 10 or 12.5% we'd all become accustomed to. Experts have claimed that 15% is going to become the new industry standard when it comes to restaurant service charges, while some suggest we could see this moving more in-line with the 20 to 25% tipping rate that's standard across America in the future. A number of popular restaurants have already started adding a 15% charge to bills so it's not difficult to see how this could quickly increase. In London, European restaurant The Wolseley has a discretionary 15% service charge as well as a mandatory £2.50 cover charge. Similarly, Fallow in St James's Market, a popular brunch spot, adds a 15% service charge to bills and a £1 charge to be donated to support the UN Women UK. The story is also the same at Gordon Ramsay's Lucky Cat restaurants in Mayfair and Bishopsgate, plus Bob Bob Ricard and Bebe Bob in Soho. Some believe the fees have been driven up by new government legislation that made it mandatory for all tips to be passed on to workers without any deductions. Corin Camenisch, marketing and growth Lead at SumUp, tells Metro: 'The current economic climate presents challenges for consumers, hospitality workers and employers. Part of the reason for the rise in service charges is the Allocation of Tips Act, which dictated that all tips and service charges must be given to hospitality staff. The act aimed to to create a fairer playing field for those in the service industry, meaning employees get a fair slice of their well earned gratuity, while also giving consumers peace of mind that when they tip, their money is going to the right place. 'Cash tips are already protected by law, but the new legislation goes further to cover tips added to a card payment which are more and more becoming the norm. Many hospitality workers are on the national or living wage and rely on tips, so making sure they get their fair share of the pie is the right thing to do both for businesses and the wider economy.' When it comes to the purpose of these charges, Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality, previously told Metro: 'Service charge policies are set and determined by individual businesses, so it is up to them to determine the level of charge. 'Service charges serve a variety of functions, but primarily reward staff and provide a boost to employees' earnings, ensuring that venues can continue to provide the highest standard of service possible.' And while these charges might be a positive for hospitality employees, not all diners are happy about the changes. Metro journalist Gergana Krasteva branded London's tipping culture 'out of control' after being charged a 12.5% service fee for just one glass of wine at a bar in High Street Kensington. She said: 'I'm happy to tip if I sit down and have dinner at a restaurant, but not if the wine is poured in front of me at the actual bar and then I carry it to my table. Plus, they didn't give me an option. It was only after that I realised, which is the more annoying part. In general, I think tipping is out of control in London.' And Tom Bourlet had strong feelings about the idea of 25% charges like in the US. He told us: 'I've not seen any charge higher than 10% but it would be a shock to suddenly see 25% put on. Without wanting to sound harsh, I wouldn't exactly be happy, that's a huge amount to add. 10% being added to each drink in bars is bad.' And it's clear from new research by SumUp, that people in the UK aren't keen to leave bigger tips. Despite the number of businesses that have been applying suggested tips to digital payments increasing by 78% between 2022 and 2024, Brits haven't got on board with digital prompts to pay more. Instead, we've been sticking firmly at the familiar 10% rate. The average tip given by customers over the last three years remained between 10.2% and 10.6% according to the data. Corin comments: 'Unlike the US, where tipping is ingrained as the norm, British customers have historically been more reserved about tipping. Even as digital tipping simplifies the process, it seems this cultural reticence persists. 'To British punters' credit, they will go out and support venues and they'll tip the same 10% regardless of how bad the economy and inflation may hit them.' Don't worry – if you're not happy with the idea of paying an extra 15% or 20% on top of your bill, we checked with an expert and, yes, you can ask for it to be removed without sounding like a dreadful person. Etiquette coach John-Paul Stuthridge told Metro: 'The hospitality industry is often too turbulent at the best of times. It rarely has healthy cash flow or reserves other industries can depend on, not least the high turnover of staff and cost of recruitment. Throw in an extensive lockdown and a world cost of living crisis, restaurants have added service charges to help recoup their losses. Increasing the charge further helps them combat the crisis that is hard for some to say no to. 'You can much more easily not go to a restaurant that's upped its prices by 15%, but how many people will just accept a 15% service charge and politely say nothing? Many.' More Trending He continues: 'Whether you should ask to remove it may depend on how charitable you feel, or if the service genuinely deserved it. It is your call.' If you truly don't feel like the service is worthy of the charge on the bill, don't get mean about it, just be, as John-Paul recommends, 'direct and honest'. 'No reason needs to be given, however, if you are asked, then give your polite feedback in an honest, but short to-the-point manner,' he adds. View More » 'The higher the figure for service charge, the less likely customers will oblige, but having it removed altogether, so guests can tip the individual server the amount they want to give remains a legitimate and more proper compromise.' Do you have a story to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@ MORE: Everything I ate in a weekend of pintxos hopping in San Sebastián MORE: What's Cooking? I worked in cabin crew for 12 years — avoid these five foods on planes MORE: Five people stabbed at late-night party in London are all arrested
The Guardian
23-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Social climbers: is non-stop content creation now what it takes for restaurants to survive?
Will Murray isn't sure about the toad in the hole. In the soft gleam of a prep kitchen, deep below St James's in London, the chef-patron and co-founder of Fallow frowns at a pan of puffy bronzed batter and extruded sausages. 'Do you think we need to do it again?' asks one of his chefs, Emma Taiwo, approaching the pass. 'I think we need to do it again,' says Murray, striking an apologetic tone amid the waft of simmering gravy. On the face of it, this level of perfectionism is not surprising – Murray and his fellow chef and co-founder Jack Croft both emerged from the fastidious, Michelin-starred environment of Heston Blumenthal's Dinner. What is unexpected is that the people this dish is being made for will never actually taste it. Next to the worktop where Murray and Croft stand, a three-person production crew fiddles with iPhones, audio equipment and propped-up wearable cameras. That toad in the hole is one of 14 dishes being cooked and tasted during a day of filming for an 'Iconic British Dishes' YouTube challenge that will be beamed out to Fallow's 1 million subscribers and beyond. It's the latest in a long line of attention-grabbing videos that have seen Murray and Croft compare scrambled-egg techniques, turn beef fat into soap and replicate a cockentrice, a complicated Tudor dish. 'Yeah, that didn't really work,' says Croft. Welcome to the weird and increasingly lucrative world of restaurant social media and content creation; a digital-age gold rush that has seen hospitality businesses of all kinds seek to transform their fortunes through Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. From the moment Croft, Murray and restaurateur James Robson launched Fallow, initially as a pop-up in 2020, they have been embracing the potential of a savvy online presence. What began with social-media accounts for their three restaurants (including chicken shop Fowl and Canary Wharf blockbuster Roe) has mushroomed into four accounts with millions of views a month across different platforms. They feed into an operation that employs 345 people (six of whom are part of a dedicated content team) and, in Fallow, has a flagship restaurant doing 5,200 covers a week. Where once a restaurant's digital footprint consisted of some Instagram, a few dutiful promotional Facebook posts and a blog last updated during 'eat out to help out', now it is just as likely to be an ambitiously shot mix of kitchen documentary, reality show and meme-literate sketch comedy. Crisply technical, ASMR-style recipes walk us through the process of dishes (see Thomas Straker and Maison François's Matthew Wryle ). Day-in-the-life videos demystify the hospitality business and valorise tasks such as dough-proving and wiping down surfaces. TopJaw-style interviews thrust clip-mics into the faces of commis chefs and bartenders. The result is a lightning bolt of virality and real-life restaurant success stories (such as solo operation Patio Pizza in Kingston; Bristol-born Sandwich Sandwich; and Spud Bros in Preston, the jacket potato tram turned TikTok phenomenon with 3.7 million followers). Internet culture, having given us Instagrammable interiors and cartoonish, phone-eats-first dish aesthetics, is now transmogrifying much of the restaurant landscape. In a 2024 interview with Restaurant magazine, Croft suggested Fallow's business 'might become a social media group with restaurants rather than a restaurant company that's funding our digital'. The days when a chef's 'content' was limited to what they put on the pass are long gone – but what does it all mean for the future of hospitality, and old-fashioned notions such as whether the food is any good? One of Fallow's formative social-media breakthroughs was born of a problem perhaps as old as restaurants themselves. 'Saturday morning service was always our slowest of the week,' explains Murray. 'One of our general managers said, 'Why don't we do brunch?' And, of course, every other chef is like, 'Fucking hell, we're not doing brunch.' But we thought: actually, that's a great idea.' After developing a menu, they posted photos of their new 'royale pucks' – decadent, drippy riffs on egg McMuffins, wedged between proprietary pressed croissant buns – to their Instagram. 'We sold out the brunch service for the next three months,' says Murray. 'It went from our worst service of the week to being 450 covers.' Here was a measurable justification for the energy expended on an Instagram account. Boosted by the arrival of experienced creative director Joe Cowie, the Fallow team built on this proof of concept. Longer YouTube content followed, including a series of popular POV videos (the first has 6.4m views and counting) which featured GoPro cameras strapped to the chests of Murray and Croft in the midst of a busy service. The success of those absorbing clips, a kind of culinary Call of Duty, led to a couple of other lightbulb moments. The first was the discovery of their exact YouTube demographic (96% male and 25 to 45 years old); the second was a meeting with a YouTube department head who explained what worked on the platform. 'People interact with content for three different reasons,' says Murray. 'Education, access or entertainment. A pillar of our content is that it's educational.' This targeting forms the basis of the technical dish breakdowns and playful, YouTuber-coded challenges ('We cooked the best Michelin star dish from every decade') Murray and Croft devise alongside their content team. These are filmed every Monday, and put out on restaurant channels and the Herd Chefs account that is the umbrella entity for their virtual cooking school. I get a closer look after Murray orders that toad in the hole to be remade. Downstairs, he and Croft taste and rate a plate of fish and chips as part of the British Dishes challenge; Cowie films and directs with two iPhones while production manager Russell Clamp supplies sheets of research. It feels like the kind of thing that might once have been an anarchic TV series. 'The idea of promoting your restaurant and a brand as a story is age old,' says Frances Cottrell-Duffield, publicist and founder of Tonic Studio, a social media agency for the hospitality industry. 'It's not that dissimilar to Jamie getting on TV or Nigella writing books. It's just that there's a brand new delivery system, and the scale is almost limitless because of the number of people you can reach.' Social media's tendency to prioritise scrappy honesty over gloss has enabled creators to go where TV seldom would. 'We view our specific niche as teaching people how to cook, being radically transparent and taking away the veil of restaurants,' adds Murray. That notion of transparency is key. If restaurants have traditionally been predicated on theatre, and careful obfuscation of exactly what goes on beyond the swing doors of their kitchens, today's businesses are making a feature of how the operational sausage comes together. Fallow has turned explanatory videos about not wearing rubber gloves and the high mark-up on its £29 sriracha butter cod's head into content. Dalston's Dusty Knuckle bakery has used Instagram to provide detailed breakdowns of why prices are going up. Gina, the forthcoming Chingford restaurant from chef and Junior Bake Off judge Ravneet Gill and her husband, Mattie Taiano, has a companion Substack, which acts as both a crowdfunding mechanism and a diary of the process of opening a restaurant. This approach doesn't just reflect a TikTok-age prizing of authenticity and get-ready-with-me fascination about the minutiae of other people's lives. It also mirrors a cultural moment that has given us The Bear and Boiling Point, when there is a particular, alluring fascination with professional kitchen environments that can be harnessed into something transformative. No British restaurateurs know this better than the founders of Onda Pasta Bar in Manchester. In September 2023, the restaurant was four months into operating from a temporary space on the edge of Ancoats, struggling for consistent bookings and not getting much traction from its social media. Then, co-founder Patrick Brown noticed the refrigerated drawer where chef Sam Astley-Dean kept a scoopable slab of tiramisu. 'Because I'm not from a chef background, I was just like, 'What is that?'' says Brown. 'And Sam said, 'Oh, it's just something I did to save a bit of time in the kitchen when we get an order.' I had it in my head for about a month.' The subsequent social-media post altered Onda's fortunes. Following a like-magnet comment on TikTok ('Need this in my bedside table'), the viral video of Astley-Dean's tiramisu drawer was viewed 3m times in one morning, shared on Instagram by the actor Florence Pugh and almost melted the booking function on Onda's website. 'By the end of that week we were fully booked from October until February,' says Brown. 'It gave us confidence to start looking at permanent sites, rather than looking at the finances and thinking we could go under any week.' Creative dessert storage and the aspirational reality of kitchens are not the only routes to virality. In the past 18 months or so, Bristol-based Indian restaurant Urban Tandoor has had a business-reviving uptick in bookings via an unlikely source: captivatingly shonky music parodies shared on TikTok. Aqua's Barbie Girl has become Bhaji Girl, performed by waiters and chefs in cheap wigs; Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Saltburn-soundtracking hit is now a terrifically silly 55-second love story called Murder at the Tandoor. The restaurant's owner, Sujith D'Almeida, notes that tourists from as far afield as Australia have been prompted to make pilgrimages for selfies with befuddled front-of-house staff, and that 'about 40%' of business now comes from fans of their TikTok. 'The restaurant market is saturated on social and the appetite for content is changing,' notes Nat Brereton, head of TikTok at Nonsensical, the dedicated TikTok marketing agency behind Urban Tandoor's videos. 'You can only look at so many gorgeous plates of food, so people want something that feels authentic, a little more raw and has some personality.' Of course, if everyone is hurling things at the same algorithmic target, the impact is going to be dulled. Brereton acknowledges that it takes until 'the 70th post or something' to see cut-through. Brown thinks that we may have already passed saturation point. 'I can't say for certain, but it feels like the wins mean less,' he explains. 'If so many restaurants are going viral for day-in-the-life videos, that's going to stop putting bums on seats. It's only been a year and a half since our tiramisu drawer reel but I don't know if it would have been as successful or had the same impact now.' Cottrell-Duffield also points out that the unstoppable engine of social-media popularity can occasionally backfire. 'We had a restaurant where something went viral on their dessert menu and it totally brought in the wrong audience,' she says. 'The customers didn't enjoy it when they got there so it was this unhelpful flash in the pan.' Murray acknowledges that worries about screen time and what some in the US have started to call 'attention fracking' will undoubtedly grow in the next six months. 'A hundred per cent there will be a move away from it and we'll be first in the firing line,' he says. 'If it gets to the point where we're prioritising content over the success of the restaurant, we've gone too far.' Signs of a shift in approach may already be here. One of the notable restaurant trends of recent months has seen some places taking an ascetic approach to social media. The Dover in Mayfair has a placeholder Instagram presence, and Canteen in Notting Hill favours soft-focus kitchen candids and a single, repeated screenshot of the day's changing menu. At Lucia's, a small, Mexican-inspired counter in Hackney Wick, a rush to open accidentally turned into a hugely successful, digital-averse approach. 'People loved that their initial contact with us was a conversation rather than a picture on Instagram,' says founder Jo Kurdi. 'They had to come in, explore and find out for themselves.' To swim against the tide is a strategy in itself. But it's worth noting that all these chefs and owners are using wildly different methods to search for the same thing: the joyful interactions that arise when customers discover delicious food. 'I think it comes from the lack of money in hospitality,' says Cottrell-Duffield. Last November, accounting firm Price Bailey reported that 12% of restaurants in Britain were at imminent risk of closure. 'There is an air of desperation, in all honesty, and people are just trying to find a way to bring people in, at a time when no one has really caught up to how quickly the media landscape has changed.' Viral dishes that aren't actually good are as ephemeral as an Instagram story. This competitiveness is what is driving Fallow and others to double down on digital content; not to replace traditional hospitality, but to navigate an increasingly brutal trading environment. It's at the forefront of Murray's mind as he prepares to make a pork pie for Cowie's cameras and millions of viewers. 'The food is the most important thing, and the customers, too,' he says. 'But at the same time, what does the food matter if there's no one there to taste it?'
Sky News
27-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News
Chef reveals his pet hate from customers and cheaper olive oil substitute
Every Thursday we interview chefs from around the UK, hearing about their cheap food hacks and more. Today we chat to chef Alex Navarro from Maray in Liverpool. My chef hero is... not a famous chef but my own dad, who is a very good cook, and also my father-in-law, who is Sicilian and also very good. From a young age I've always been around good food and kitchens full of fun and family. One restaurant that's worth blowing out for is... Fallow in London - what they're doing is top tier. My pet hate in restaurants is... people who can't hold a knife and fork properly! I can't look! My one piece of advice for an aspiring chef is... just keep on wanting it, if you truly want it you'll also enjoy it. Keep learning, keep on asking questions and trying new things. The biggest mistake I see in kitchens is... people who've maybe climbed the ladder a bit too quickly and get a senior position when they're not ready. It's not just about cooking, a kitchen needs leadership and this can take a long time to learn to do in a kind and fair way. A tip that non-chefs might not know to make them a better cook is... keep on cooking, reading and talking to people involved in food. Also, there's loads of good content on social media now. My favourite cookbook is... I go through stages. I got the original River Cottage book for my 21st - it touched on foraging and nose to tail cooking, which I was really into when I was younger. More recently, Ottolenghi & Tamimi - I really love both of their books. One thing I wish more people realised about restaurants is... in my experience it's always been very flexible with my life. I think people think it's all late nights and long days but I've found it to be a really flexible and a lovely way to live. I've given free meals... to my wife and children. The worst type of customer is... a rude one. The most overrated single food item is... salt and pepper chicken. My secret ingredient I love and use all the time is... wonton soup seasoning - it gives everything a little lift. My tip for preventing waste is... write your menu at home. Try and plan some of your week this way and you won't buy too much food in your shopping, because you know you're getting a couple of takeaways in the week as well! Also frozen veg is very good and having a couple of different bags in your freezer is handy. I always have soy beans, peas, spinach and green beans in my freezer. My favourite cheap substitute is... virgin rapeseed oil. My go-to cheap eat at home is... very quick spaghetti pomodoro. Ingredients Two litres of good passata One tin of tomatoes Bulb of garlic finely sliced Big bunch of basil - torn up Salt - 1/2 tsp Sugar - good pinch 50g good tomato puree Extra virgin olive oil or rapeseed oil Spaghetti - cooked with a bit of water in reserve This hasn't even got onion in the sauce - just tomato, garlic and basil! Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until just cooked and strain. Reserve some water (about 200ml) and leave to cool. Spread out the spaghetti on a tray and dress in a bit of olive oil so it doesn't stick together (don't run it under cold water to cool down - this isn't needed and it washes the flavour away and makes the pasta wet and soggy). Heat up the remaining olive oil in a sauce pan on a medium heat and slowly caramelise the garlic until golden. Now add the pasta and half the basil. Mix the pasta water with the tomato puree and add this to the pan. Add the salt and sugar and gently cook out until it's started to thicken. When it's finished, add the remaining basil and check seasoning.
