Police Arrest Five Over Patisserie Valerie’s Financial Black Hole

Once glamorous patisserie chain’s woes continue

Patisserie Valerie’s sudden slide into administration and its subsequent restaurant closures have now led to five further arrests, as former chairman Luke Johnson and new owners Irish Capital Causeway deal with the fallout that closed 70 restaurants and accounted for 900 lost jobs. While there has been scepticism over how exactly Johnson, senior management, and auditors Grant Thornton missed an elaborately concealed £94 million shortfall, the aftermath of the discovery — wherein investigators found serious mismanagement, broken ovens, and puff pastry made without butter — has exposed a pattern of errors. Expect this one to run and run. [Guardian]

And in other news...

• “Flobby” tomato and basil pasta is just one flop during an “exhausting” dinner at Knightsbridge’s latest money pit.
• Iconic Italian deli and pasta restaurant Lina Stores is joining the Granary Square/Coal Drops Yard party in King’s Cross this autumn.
• Hélène Darroze’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant at The Connaught Hotel in Mayfair will close for a refurb, new menu, and ... Armagnac room.
• Pod will close nine of its 22 restaurants under the ownership of Azzurri Group, which operates Coco Di Mama, Ask, Radio Alice, and Zizzi. [Propel]
• McDonald’s is testing robot fryers and robot servers in the U.S.; over here, it’s reintroducing Smarties McFlurries and making Kansas City mad. [Wall Street Journal]
• Fellow American exports Taco Bell and Shake Shack are swerving fake meat — for now. Byron recently caved into the Beyond Burger. [Eater, CNBC]
• Good tweet: