The biggest restaurant in the UK opened its doors this week with a capacity of feeding a small army of 2,100 diners a night.
Bristol’s harborside restaurant Za Za Bazaar spans 30,000 square feet (2,790 square meters) and two floors, and serves up an all-you-can-eat buffet that includes Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Italian and traditional British fare.
Like a giant food court, diners take in a lay of the land, sidle up to different sections, choose their ingredients and watch as one of 36 chefs cook their meal.
Germany now ranks second behind France as the European country with the most three-starred eateries, after Michelin inspectors handed out a third star to a contemporary restaurant that centers its cuisine on the aromatics of food.
In the 2012 edition of the Michelin Guide Germany, La Vie, in Osnabrück has become the ninth restaurant to earn the highest ranking possible from the red book.
Inspectors also promoted 10 new restaurants this round, to give the country a total of 32 two-starred establishments.
Cathay Pacific is to introduce meals from some of Hong Kong’s top restaurants on board its flights.
Although airlines regularly draft in celebrity chefs to create in-flight menus, recreating cuisine served at ground level is a trickier business not least because of the logistics of preparing food in an aircraft galley and the different way it tastes at 35,000 feet.
But bravely, Cathay Pacific has decided to give it a shot, promising to put a selection of dishes from the restaurant menus of luxury chain Swire Hotels on some of its planes departing Hong Kong between November 1 and January 31 2012.
Japan has overtaken France for the number of restaurants with three Michelin stars, according to the latest guide to the nation’s western cities to be released on Friday.
Japan is now home to 29 establishments that hold the highly coveted three-star rating, against 25 in France.
The latest version of the Michelin guide to Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe this year adds the former capital Nara and will be available both in Japanese and English.
For the second year running, London restaurant The Ledbury has been named the top restaurant in the UK in the National Restaurant Awards 2011.
Helmed by Aussie chef Brett Graham, the two Michelin-starred eatery has been on a continuous winning streak in the past few months.
Monday night’s win follows in the heels of the 2012 London Restaurants Survey where 5,500 Zagat readers voted Graham’s food the best in London.
British luxury retailer Alfred Dunhill will open its third overseas restaurant in Dubai’s Jumeirah Emirates Towers in early 2012.
The launch of Alfie’s Restaurant and Lounge is scheduled for January 2012, to coincide with the opening of the new Dunhill fashion store in the same location.
The Dubai restaurant will be Dunhill’s first in the Middle East and its third worldwide, following in the footsteps of existing venues in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
