This week we celebrate the great and the good in hospitality as awards season is here, marquees and street markets are set to stay and we splash the cash on days out…
The Galvin Green Man named best in UK
Cheers all round to the Galvin Green Man in Chelmsford which has been crowned the best pub in the UK, after the venue snapped up the top accolade at the Morning Advertiser’s National Pub & Bar Awards. Essex-born brothers Chris and Jeff Galvin refurbished and opened the pub in 2016 and have managed to achieve great things with it. It was commended for its first-class delivery of food, drink, service and all-round pub experience. It’s also one of the oldest pubs in Essex, having been built in 1341, and its location in the countryside with the River Chelmer running through its beer garden adds to its charm.
Andrew Wong wins Chef Award at Cateys 2021
It’s been a packed week for hospitality awards, with Andrew Wong, the man behind Pimlico’s two Michelin starred restaurant A Wong, being given the Chef Award at this year’s Cateys. The prestigious award has previously been won by the likes of Clare Smyth, Claude Bosi and Nico Ladenis, and is an indicator of the top chef in the country in any one year.
Elsewhere, Murano chef Angela Hartnett – herself a recipient of the Chef Award, in 2009 – was recognised with the Special Award, “honouring her accomplishments as chef, restaurateur, author, television personality and, in recent times, government lobbyist”. Hartnett was one of the leading voices behind the #SeatAtTheTable movement, which campaigned during the pandemic for greater representation of the hospitality sector within UK politics.
Pub marquees could become permanent fixtures
Pub and restaurant marquees and street markets set up during the Covid pandemic could become permanent fixtures under government proposals. Ministers are consulting on plans to allow some of the additional seating introduced by outdoor hospitality to continue. Street markets may also be allowed to open all year but a continuation of al fresco dining on roads is not planned. The move has been welcomed by hospitality industry trade bodies but said firms still faced “huge hurdles” as the weather turned colder.
Restaurant spending edges higher as consumers splash out on socialising and staycations
It looks like we are enjoying splashing the cash on socialising, staycations and shopping according to data from Barclaycard which shows consumer spending climbed by more than 15% compared with 2019. And with National Hospitality Day on Saturday 18 September, we have even more reason to keep on supporting our favourite eatery and watering holes.