What you might have missed on The Caterer this week

Room for everyone

Hastings Hotels seems to have cornered the market in Northern Ireland with a style of hotel for every guest. In Belfast there’s the contemporary Grand Central, Northern Ireland’s tallest hotel and described by Hastings Hotels’ managing director James McGinn as “luxury in the heart of the city”. It’s just steps away from the reinvigorated Europa, once known as one of the most-bombed hotels in Europe, which now has occupancy of 90% and is acknowledged as a “grande dame”. Hastings Hotels’ collection has recently rebranded into three categories: luxury, destination and neighbourhood, with other hotels including the fairytale-like Ballygally Castle on the Causeway coastal route (pictured).

Cream of the crop

There’s no skimping on quality ingredients at Cornus, the new restaurant in Eccleston Yards in London with chef Gary Foulkes at the helm. Butter, cream, truffles and lobster abound, with dishes including a roast chicken “Arnaud Tauzin” from Landes in France, served with Scottish langoustines and truffle sweetcorn. The birds face their final days on a diet of cream and barley, and the fat, according to Foulkes, is remarkable: “you baste it in its own fat as you’re cooking it”.

It is joined on the menu by hand-rolled spaghetti with Cornish lobster and N25 Oscietra caviar, where the three-hour lobster stock used to make the sauce is enriched with Amalfi lemon, herbs, tomatoes and, yes, more butter, before the handmade spaghetti is enrobed in it. If you have space, the restaurant has pledged to always have some form of tart on the menu, as Foulkes says: “I just think they’re a really nice way to finish your meal”.

What’s the story with dynamic pricing?

It seems that where hotels lead, others are yet to follow, at least when it comes to dynamic pricing. The Ticketmaster pricing strategy for the upcoming Oasis concert has been thrown into the spotlight, but hotels, it seems, are one step ahead, with water-tight technology for setting and communicating prices to guests. Ben Walker looked at what’s on offer: artificial intelligence is powering some, analysing guests’ mouse movements on websites and identifying reluctant bookers looking for a bargain, while others can reorganise diners into the most efficient seating patterns and timings to ensure nobody is left without their dinner.

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