Latest news with #WillBeckett
Edinburgh Live
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh restaurant boss 'styles out' diners being served £4k bottle by mistake
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info The head honcho of a well-loved steakhouse in has spilled the beans on an incident where staff mistakenly served two fortunate customers a bottle of wine worth £4,500 instead of their chosen £260 tipple. Hawksmoor, a restaurant with branches in Edinburgh, London and Liverpool, made waves globally six years ago when founder Will Beckett aired the blunder on social media. His post revealed that back in 2019, a pair of diners had ordered a £260 Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2001, but were instead treated to a full bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol 2001 - one of the priciest wines on the planet. The gaffe happened at the groups Manchester eatery - but it was left to a general manager down from Edinburgh for training to 'style out' the mistake. Unsurprisingly, the duo enjoyed the wine so much they ordered another bottle before the staff cottoned on to the mix-up. Will's post quipped that he hoped the customers had a great night and reassured that the waiter responsible was not in hot water. On The Go To Food Podcast, hosted by presenter Freddy Clode and chef Ben Benton this week, Will delved into the details of how the mishap unfolded and how the assistant general manager first realised their costly mistake, reports the Manchester Evening News. Will, who has jointly owned the restaurant with his friend Huw Gott for a decade, recounted the story to the duo: "In the bar, two guys, ordered a Pomerol, it's like a spendy bottle of Bordeaux, 200-something quid. She goes off to the wine room, has a quick look around, grabs a bottle, comes back, opens it, asks if this is the bottle, 'Yep, yep, yep'.'[She] pours the wine, carries on with her work. About an hour later, they're like, "can we have another bottle of that"? She's like, "yeah, yeah, yeah", goes back, it's odd, there isn't another bottle of that. That doesn't usually happen.'"I think at that moment, she realises, "oh my f***ing God, I've given them a bottle of Chateau Le Pen 2001". A £4,500 bottle of wine." Will explained that the new general manager, who had relocated from Edinburgh to learn the ropes at the Manchester venue, then had to convince the two customers that they had run out of the same wine to avoid another costly mishap. He said she 'played it cool at the table' and informed the customers, "I'm really sorry guys, we don't have any more of that". He continued: "'They're like, "oh, no problem, maybe we'll have something else", they got another bottle of wine. Paid and left. And obviously, end of shift, she says to the general manager at the time, "what's happened"? "In the bar, two guys, ordered a Pomerol, it's like a spendy bottle of Bordeaux, 200-something quid. She trots off to a wine room, has a quick look around, grabs a bottle, comes back, opens it, says is this the bottle. So, I get a text message, middle of the night, wake up and read at 6:45am in the morning, 'Will, this has happened'." Will shared how a social media blunder he'd forgotten about suddenly blew up, becoming a 'global news story' with thousands of retweets and shares. It even caught the attention of celebrities like Bette Midler and Piers Morgan, and inspired a comic strip in The Telegraph. Despite the mix-up, Will and his crew managed to laugh it off, and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise for them. Since its launch in the city, the restaurant has scooped up several prestigious awards, including being hailed as one of the nation's top spots for a Sunday Roast. "It just went mental," he recounted on the podcast. "Hawksmoor Manchester got a massive blip for a couple of weeks - we made way more money with that than we lost by giving away that thing." To hear more about Will Beckett's experience, tune into The Go To Food podcast episode featuring him on Spotify.
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Hawksmoor boss reveals diners mistakenly served £4,500 bottle of wine instead of £250 plonk thought it was SO tasty they asked for another
'Two guys' who were mistakenly served a £4,500 bottle of wine instead of the £250 drink they'd ordered thought it was so tasty they asked for seconds. The lucky diners had been enjoying a meal at the upmarket Hawksmoor steak restaurant in 2019 in Manchester when a 'mortified' staff member realised her error. The customers - who had actually order a bottle of Chateau Pichon Longueville Contesse de Lalande - asked for a second Chateau le Pin Pomerol but were told they couldn't have one - because, unsurprisingly, it was the only one in place. Chief executive of the upmarket Hawksmoor steak restaurant empire, Will Beckett, has now spoken out about the event in more detail. Talking to the Go To Food podcast, he attributed the mistake to a new assistant general manager working at the chain's Manchester branch at the time. He said she was on a shift when 'two guys' ordered a bottle of wine. Mr Beckett explained: 'And yeah, it's like a spendy bottle of Bordeaux, 200-something quid. 'She trots off to a wine room... has a quick look around, grabs bottle, comes back, opens it, says is this the bottle, [they say] "yep, yep, yep".' Pictured, right, the wine the customer was set on ordering when he was handed the £4,500 red (left) '[She] pours the wine, goes about her business. 'About an hour, they're like, "can we have another bottle of that"? 'She's like, "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah", goes back, it's weird, there isn't another bottle of that. 'That doesn't usually happen.' He added: 'I think at that moment, she's like, "oh my f***ing god, I've given them a bottle of Chateau Le Pen 2001". 'Four and a half thousand pound bottle of wine.' Will Beckett admitted the company had made 'way more money' than was lost because of the 2019 viral blunder. He said the staff member 'styled it out at the table' and told the customers 'I'm really sorry guys, we don't have any more of that'. Hawksmoor, which came second in Time Out's top 16 eateries in the city, boasts that the vintage is a 'tremendous effort' on its menu He continued: 'They're like, "oh no problem, maybe we'll have something, something, something", they got another bottle of wine. 'Paid and left. 'And obviously, end of shift, she says to the general manager at the time, "what's happened"? 'So I get a text message, middle of the night, wake up and read at quarter to seven in the morning, "Will, this has happened".' Mr Beckett said he was using Twitter a lot of the time and so posted about the mix-up. On the social media site, he wrote: 'To the customer who accidentally got given a bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol 2001, which is £4500 on our menu, last night - hope you enjoyed your evening! To the member of staff who accidentally gave it away, chin up! One-off mistakes happen and we love you anyway.' Mr Beckett said he closed the app and then realised later on the tweet had gone 'crazy viral'. He added: 'I think it got like, I don't know, like 65,000 likes, you know, 20,000 retweets, like millions of views. Mr Beckett wrote: 'To the customer who accidentally got given a bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol 2001, which is £4500 on our menu, last night - hope you enjoyed your evening! To the member of staff who accidentally gave it away, chin up! One-off mistakes happen and we love you anyway' 'And over the course of 24 hours, this story turned into a global news story. 'People who work here's parents were calling them from like Australia, Croatia, Chile, to kind of say, we've just seen your restaurant on the television.' He continued: 'And I mean, Hawksmoor got busier for like, it just had this little blip for a couple of weeks. 'We made way more money with that than we lost by giving away that thing.' The restaurant, which came second in Time Out's top 16 eateries in the city, boasts that the vintage is a 'tremendous effort' on its menu. 'Its deep ruby/plum/purple colour is accompanied by an extraordinary perfume of creme de cassis, cherry liqueur, plums, liquorice, caramel, and sweet toast,' it says. The pricey bottle of plonk is the most expensive wine on offer and the beverage is listed under a section headed 'rarities'. If the lucky diners had ordered the cheapest bottle of red on the menu - a 2014 Armigero, Sangiovese Riserva - for £26, the eatery would have been out of pocket by £4,474. If the lucky diners had ordered the cheapest bottle of red on the menu - a 2014 Armigero, Sangiovese Riserva - for £26, the eatery would have been out of pocket by £4,474 Someone joked: 'I think it makes sense at this point for Hawksmoor to confirm the name and shift pattern of this employee so we can all go and ensure that we help correct any further error of this nature' Another person added: 'Well played all, mistakes happen, it's how you deal with them (the mistakes) that make the difference!' The second priciest bottle is a 1996 Chateau Lafite Rothschild, which would set them back £1,750. Chateau Le Pin, which crafted the drink, is described as 'built on the bedrock of the twin factors of excellence and rarity' on the website Cult Wines. Located in Bordeaux, it is one of the smallest estates in the region and produces some of its most expensive wines. The rarity of the red is the reason behind its sky-high price, which is expected to rise over time as more of the finite stock is drunk.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Steak prices to soar as restaurants battle cattle shortage
Steak prices are soaring across Britain as a cattle shortage pushes the cost of beef to record highs. Restaurant owners and butchers have warned of significant price increases because of a supply crisis amid growing demand for red meat. Amir Batito, co-founder of Epicurus and The Black Cow restaurants in London, said he is preparing to raise steak prices by as much as 40pc and is charging an extra £2 for a beef burger, up from £13. He said: 'The price of the steaks increased, the price of labour increased – everything has increased.' It comes after the average deadweight price of a cow – the price paid once it has been slaughtered – has risen by 15pc since the start of the year to hit record highs, according to the Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). This has been fuelled by cattle shortages across Europe and the UK, as farmers struggle with higher costs. Will Beckett, co-founder of the Hawksmoor Steakhouse group, said: 'We're making less beef in this country than ever but demand is higher than ever. Guess what those two things do to pricing? You don't need a PhD in economics to know the answer.' He said Hawksmoor, which runs 10 restaurants in the UK, had 'gently' increased its prices by around 4pc. Prices are rising in the supermarkets too. Almost half of fresh beef products sold in the UK's biggest supermarkets have increased in price since the start of 2025, according to trade magazine The Grocer. Jeremy Godfrey, the managing director of 120-year-old butcher Godfrey's, said he is now paying up to 30pc for some cuts of beef. He said: 'We can't absorb that. We have to pass that on.' Max Ward, head butcher at meat specialists Hill & Szrok, in London, added: 'We're constantly fighting a battle. We're trying to see how long we can hold our ground before we are forced to change the prices again.' The supply crunch has been blamed on economic uncertainty and changes to farming subsidies, with UK beef production expected to fall by 5pc in 2025, according to the AHDB, compared to a 1pc increase in demand. Concerns have also been raised over the Government's inheritance tax raid. David Barton, a Cotswolds-based beef farmer and chairman of the National Farmers' Union (NFU) livestock board, said farmers were considering cutting back on investment as a result of the policy change. He said: 'It's having a massive effect on absolutely everything we do. Beef is a long-term investment, and looking ahead now, it absolutely kills confidence. 'I'm just about to purchase a new bull from my herd. I won't see anything from that bull to sell for three years. In the current economic climate, as everyone's dealing with at the moment, three years is an awfully long time.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
10-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Steak prices to soar as restaurants battle cattle shortage
Steak prices are soaring across Britain as a cattle shortage pushes the cost of beef to record highs. Restaurant owners and butchers have warned of significant price increases because of a supply crisis amid growing demand for red meat. Amir Batito, co-founder of Epicurus and The Black Cow restaurants in London, said he is preparing to raise steak prices by as much as 40pc and is charging an extra £2 for a beef burger, up from £13. He said: 'The price of the steaks increased, the price of labour increased – everything has increased.' It comes after the average deadweight price of a cow – the price paid once it has been slaughtered – has risen by 15pc since the start of the year to hit record highs, according to the Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). This has been fuelled by cattle shortages across Europe and the UK, as farmers struggle with higher costs. Will Beckett, co-founder of the Hawksmoor Steakhouse group, said: 'We're making less beef in this country than ever but demand is higher than ever. Guess what those two things do to pricing? You don't need a PhD in economics to know the answer.' He said Hawksmoor, which runs 10 restaurants in the UK, had 'gently' increased its prices by around 4pc. Prices are rising in the supermarkets too. Almost half of fresh beef products sold in the UK's biggest supermarkets have increased in price since the start of 2025, according to trade magazine The Grocer. Jeremy Godfrey, the managing director of 120-year-old butcher Godfrey's, said he is now paying up to 30pc for some cuts of beef. He said: 'We can't absorb that. We have to pass that on.' Max Ward, head butcher at meat specialists Hill & Szrok, in London, added: 'We're constantly fighting a battle. We're trying to see how long we can hold our ground before we are forced to change the prices again.' The supply crunch has been blamed on economic uncertainty and changes to farming subsidies, with UK beef production expected to fall by 5pc in 2025, according to the AHDB, compared to a 1pc increase in demand. Concerns have also been raised over the Government's inheritance tax raid. David Barton, a Cotswolds-based beef farmer and chairman of the National Farmers' Union (NFU) livestock board, said farmers were considering cutting back on investment as a result of the policy change. He said: 'It's having a massive effect on absolutely everything we do. Beef is a long-term investment, and looking ahead now, it absolutely kills confidence. 'I'm just about to purchase a new bull from my herd. I won't see anything from that bull to sell for three years. In the current economic climate, as everyone's dealing with at the moment, three years is an awfully long time.'
