TV Chef Will Open Hotel Restaurant With Two Ex-Manchester United Footballers

Chef Tom Kerridge continues hotel dining journey in Manchester

TV chef Tom Kerridge will look to make a Fresh Start in Manchester with a new hotel restaurant in partnership with GG Hospitality — backed by ex-Manchester United footballers Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville. Fresh from overseeing his restaurant at Corinthia London, Kerridge’s new opening will be at the Stock Exchange Hotel, and promises to bring “a bit of Marlow up to Manchester.” Marlow, of course, is where his pubs The Hand and Flowers and The Coach hold three Michelin stars between them. Whether or not £29.50 lobster thermidor omelettes will fly in Manchester remains to be seen. [Richard Vines]

And in other news...

• Wagamama has committed to installing gender-neutral toilets in 50 of its restaurants, starting with the test kitchen in Soho. [Propel]
• Donald Trump is in London this week.
• Restaurant delivery juggernaut Deliveroo is finding even more ways to get restaurants on side: A new competition will reward three lucky operators with a £25,000 interiors revamp. That’s £17,500, if the platform were taking its reported 30 percent commission. [Big Hospitality]
• Food hall breakout Market Halls is on the cusp of a £20 million private equity investment to facilitate expansion — new sites in Oxford Circus and Canary Wharf are in the pipeline. [Propel]
• Google wants diners to point their cameras at menus to find out what they should order. [The Verge]
• Another day, another restaurant closure on Upper Street in Islington: The London Jukebox is done after seven months.
• KFC is hedging like mad on the fake meat future of its chicken. Ironically, there’s a growing acknowledgment that chicken is better placed to be replaced than ground beef if genuine environmental change is the goal. [CNN / Twitter]
• Good tweet: