The week in pictures

Chef Gordon Ramsay touched down in London this week, posing alongside a space capsule which is now sitting proudly in his City restaurant Bread Street Kitchen.

Taking private dining to whole new galaxy, the pod is now available to book with space for up to eight people.

Head chef Giuseppe D’Errico

This week it was announced that Super Tuscan wine brand Ornellaia’s Zurich restaurant – Ristorante Ornellaia – had been awarded a Michelin star just 10 months after opening.

Head chef Giuseppe D’Errico was understandably delighted by the news, but said the accolade hadn’t come easily.

“These ten months have been intense ones for us. The Ornellaia estate has supported us 100%, and I have poured into our creation all the professional expertise I gained at Alma and in France.

“Great credit goes my team here, who have exhibited immense passion and commitment to the work we all love,” he said.

Norfolk-based brewery Woodforde’s Brewery has revealed it will be giving away up to 20,000 free bottles of its Wherry beer to Norwich City FC season ticket holders this week as part of its sponsorship of the club.

The offer celebrates the club’s 3-0 home victory over rivals Ipswich Town, which saw the Canaries move to the top of the EFL Championship.

James Armitage, Woodforde’s Brewery commercial and marketing director, said: “We’ve been headline sponsors of Norwich FC since last summer, and their current record-breaking run has been a real boost for Wherry sales.

“We’re delighted to be able to partner with our local football team and reward its dedicated fans with initiatives like this.”

Season ticket holders can claim their free bottle of Wherry at the club’s next home fixture on 23 February.

The 2018 winner of the BBC cooking competition MasterChef and former bank manager, Kenny Tutt, announced he was opening his first restaurant in Worthing this week.

Called Pitch, its menu is created with ingredients sourced locally and will focus on classic British dishes with a twist and feature Kenny Tutt’s own take on egg and chips alongside doughnuts with whipped goats cheese and cereal panna cotta with peanut butter. Cream teas and seafood will also be available.

Scottish gin brand Hendrick’s rolled out a Valentine’s Day-inspired campaign in key airports in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Under the tagline: ‘Sublimely simple yet curiously complicated – a gift much like love’ Hendrick’s will showcase its rose and cucumber-infused gin at sampling stations in airports including London Gatwick, London City, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, Nice, Copenhagen, Amsterdam Schiphol, Dubai, Kolkata and Changi.

Ahead of the publication of a feature on vodka in the March issue of the drinks business magazine, Ogilvy Spirits’ Caroline Bruce-Jarron told db that she felt vodka producers are benefitting from ‘gin fatigue’.

“We’re definitely seeing more people looking for something different to gin. They’re overwhelmed by the number of gin brands on offer and are saying to us ‘Oh good, you’re not doing a gin’”, she said.

“When you think that at one show, you can have as many as 14 to 20 different gin brands battling it out, you can see why some consumers are getting a bit bored of it.”

This week Glencairn Crystal played host to Jackson Carlaw, Conservative MSP for Eastwood and interim leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, and Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland.

Glencairn’s Scott Davidson, new product development director, and Jason Kennedy, sales director,  invited Carlaw and Simpson on a tour of the workshop, whilst talking about tackling Glencairn Glass counterfeiting and the need for government assistance with export opportunities.

Scott Davidson said: “We are a truly global business, based in Scotland and are deeply proud of our roots, people and capabilities. To continue to be successful we welcome help where the Scottish government can lend assistance at a high level, specifically in areas such as counterfeiting and providing support for our international sales effort.”

Chef Paul Ainsworth and his wife Emma said this week that they are extending their Cornish empire with the lease to Sharp’s Brewery-backed pub The Mariners, following the departure of Nathan Outlaw last month.

The move is the couple’s first venture outside of foodie hotspot Padstow, where they operate two restaurants and a boutique hotel, with a cookery school opening in May this year.

The couple are taking over the venture from fellow chef and friend Nathan Outlaw, who described his departure last month as a “huge decision”.

Commenting on their new partnership, Paul Ainsworth said: “Emma and I are thrilled to be taking over The Mariners in partnership with Sharp’s Brewery. When the opportunity arose, we knew straight away that we had to take it. 2019 will very much be the ‘discovery phase’ – learning what works and what doesn’t – with a refurbishment planned for 2020.”

Image: AWMB/ José Farinha

The pictures have been released from this year’s Austrian Wine tasting, held in London on 4 February. Having tested out the ‘flight format’ in Vienna at the VieVinum Wine Fair, the show offered guests the option of ordering flights grouped by grape variety while seated a table.

A spokesperson said that the main goal was to give wine professionals the chance to “compare vintages, grape varieties and wine growing regions and have the chance to experience the wines they would like to taste. Compared to a regular masterclass and the walk-around tasting the experts had the chance to experience and compare wines in a more professional way.”

Presenting only Austrian indigenous grape varieties, the wines were grouped by variety and then into vintages and wine growing regions.

Austrian Wine said that the tasting had been well received by visitors and that it is thinking about doing a similar event in 2020. The London event, however, will return to the walk-around tasting format next year.

Image: AWMB/ José Farinha

This week, db published our piece on WSET to mark its 50th anniversary. We brought together a panel of WSET Diploma graduates who have gone on to forge stellar careers, to reflect on how studying for this qualification gave them a firm foundation in the wine trade.

Among the panel were Ian Harris, who has led WSET for almost 17 years; Allan Cheesman, chairman, WSET Awards Supervisory Board; Laura Jewell MW, regional director for the UK and Europe, Wine Australia; Ben Knollys, sales director, Hatch Mansfield; Jon Pepper MW, CEO, Enotria & Co; Jancis Robinson OBE, MW, author, critic, journalist and founder of JancisRobinson.com; Ronan Sayburn MS, head of wine, 67 Pall Mall; Ben Smith, head of corporate communications, Concha y Toro UK and panel chair Patrick Schmitt MW, editor-in-chief, the drinks business.

We usually avoid bottle shots in our week in picture round-ups, but this week we’ll make an exception. Amid falling sales of flagship beers, Californian beer brand Anchor Brewing announced that it was supporting a new initiative called Flagship February by hosting promotional events and taking puppy pictures.

Celebrating its flagship beer, Anchor Steam, the San Francisco-based brewer is supporting the global marketing initiative, founded this year by beer writers Stephen Beaumont and Jay Brooks.