Rare burgers back at Davy’s as Westminster Council case collapses: The wine bar and restaurant chain Davy’s is offering burgers “as you like it” again after Westminster City Council failed to offer any evidence in court this week as the final part of a hygiene improvement notice it had served on the chain in 2011. The final success for Davy’s, which has 28 outlets in London, came after a judgment in June that found it was entitled under EU and English law to legally serve rare and medium-rare burgers. Davy’s chairman, Jonathan Davy, said: “We have always worked hard to ensure that the food we serve is not only of the highest quality and taste, but is safe. We are delighted to have succeeded in demonstrating that to the court.” Davy said it was a great relief that after almost two years of defending charges by Westminster Council, which additionally chose to pursue a criminal prosecution against the chain's managing director, Bruce Edwards, all charges have been dropped with an award of costs in Davy’s favour. “Our ability to stay the course was much aided by having proper insurance cover in place,” Davy said. “Davy’s would recommend that other food businesses check their cover if they wish to legitimately resist enforcement action.”
PizzaExpress overseas expansion continues: PizzaExpress has opened another two restaurants in Mumbai, India, to add to the one it already had, with a fourth outlet in the city due to open in January. The openings take the number of overseas PizzaExpress restaurants to more than 60, with the brand making its debut in Bali and Saudi Arabia in recent months and expanding its presence in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Its declared medium-term aim is to open a further 200 sites internationally and another 200 in the UK. Four of the top 20 PizzaExpress restaurants ranked globally by sales volume are now in Asia. Richard Hodgson, PizzaExpress’s chief executive, said: “Over the last two months alone we have opened eight new restaurants overseas, a sign of the continued momentum behind our successful expansion strategy, which has seen the PizzaExpress estate grow to over 485 sites globally.”
