studio

Friday 10 March 2023: Oval, working with Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) and Create Central, has officially launched the reimagined space, The Bond in Digbeth. 

The ‘Creative Content Hub’ was officially launched last night with a party attended by over 400 people from the worlds of television, film, content production, business, property and the creative sector. 

Since inception Be Inclusive Hospitality has supported over 2,000 employees and 50 founders with mentorship, scholarships, and grand funding. The social enterprise works has a growing corporate membership community, and has delivered educational workshops for over 900 hospitality leaders on topics including culture, race equity and fostering inclusion.

The launch will be marked with an event on the 24th April at The Grand Hotel, and will include a panel discussion, scholarship launch, and networking opportunities. This event hopes to create space for Black, Asian and ethnic minority hospitality people in Birmingham to build new networks, whilst providing the opportunity for attendees to join the community and apply for scholarships available for Birmingham based employees and founders.

The panel discussion will include multi award-winning Michelin starred chef Aktar Islam; Chef, Culinary Director of the Grand Hotel Adam Bateman, Managing Director of 2 Much Passion CIC Vanessa Kelly and Award-winning Wine Director of the Wilderness Restaurant Sonal Clare. 

The panel will be followed by a reading from award winning poet Casey Bailey.

Be Inclusive Hospitality was founded by Lorraine Copes due to her own lived experience of lack of representation of Black, Asian and ethnic minorities within positions of influence or the supply chain, and felt compelled to take action to drive change.

The community today is formed of 450 members, 50 partners, 90 ambassadors and 95 mentors, with virtual initiatives only to-date being accessible outside of London. 

Retro gaming bar concept NQ64 is set to launch its second London site, and the brand’s biggest yet with a capacity of up to 450,as it heads to Shoreditch’s Old Street in 2023. The 9000 square foot Shoreditch based bar will also feature a brand new food offering with a partner to be announced shortly.

Founded in 2019 in Manchester by Andy Haygarth and Matt Robson, NQ64 is a neon graffiti-covered drinking den where guests can enjoy retro arcade games and classic consoles alongside a curated list of game-themed cocktails and craft beers, accompanied by a classic hip hop playlist.

The brand has expanded across the UK with sites in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Cardiff, London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and its most recent opening in Newcastle.

 As ‘purveyors of retro gaming’, NQ64’s sites are filled with nostalgic and classic arcades and consoles sourced from across the globe, including fan-favourites such as Pac-Man, Mario Kart, Guitar Hero, Time Crisis and Point Blank, with SNES, MegaDrive, Gamecube, Xbox and PlayStation on the console lineup.

NQ64 Shoreditch will house some new and rare games which all operate on tokens that can be purchased from the bar. All consoles within the venue are free to play.

NQ64 Shoreditch is set to be the brand’s biggest yet with a capacity of up to 450. The site will have plenty of bookable spaces, DJs 7-nights a week, and for the first time in an NQ64 site there’ll be a food offering to keep guests fuelled up for some late night gaming. The site will also offer a drinks list of specially selected craft beers, themed cocktails, wines, spirits, and sodas.

On Tuesday 14 March, Birmingham-based plant based restaurant Land and local Texan street food vendor Andy Low ’N’ Slow will collaborate to create a special 6-course menu, taking place at Land’s premises. 

The menu will offer six courses for £60, which will be a partnering of both cuisines but staying true to Land’s plant-based ethos. 

Located in Birmingham’s Great Western Arcade, Land describes itself as a modern, plant-focused, casual dining restaurant. Combining vegan recipes with fresh, seasonal ingredients with a fine dining polish, the restaurant received a glowing review in 2020 from Jay Rayner. Land’s menu uses only the freshest seasonal ingredients, with dishes inspired by flavours from around the globe.

Born in 2013 out of a passion for live-fire cooking and showcasing local suppliers, Low ’N’ Slow has been prominent figure at both Digbeth Dining Club, Hockey Social Club plus events and festivals across the UK. Andy’s dishes specialise in traditional Texas BBQ and modern Mexican cuisine.

The competitive gaming concept continues to follow its signature ‘Booze & Ball Games’ mantra, where guests can experience activities including American pool, basketball, ping pong, shuffleboard and more.

The venue’s most notable activities include two karaoke rooms, suitable for both small and larger groups, Roxy’s exclusive crazy pool course, two duck pin bowling lanes and beer pong throughout. 

Alongside this, Roxy Ball Room Victoria Square has a food and drink offer to cater to all occasions. The food menu features hand-rolled Italian pizzas, Roxy Dogs made with bratwurst sausages and brioche buns, and a vast array of side dishes that can be enjoyed whilst gaming. 

The venue’s cocktail menu also serves ‘Roxy Signature’ drinks such as Rock ’N’ Roll Star, ‘Roxy Classics’ like Pingstar Martini, ‘Roxy Serves’ such as Blood Orange G&T, and ‘Roxy Low & Nos’ like Virgin Lychee & Raspberry Smash. The drinks offering also includes a wide selection of spirits, wines, draft beers and more. 

Originating in Ancoats in 2015, the new 90-cover restaurant is the second Rudy’s pizzeria in Birmingham. Born out of passion for pizza, Rudy’s follows the authentic Neapolitan tradition of pizza making, serving classic recipes such as Marinara, Margherita and Calabrese – all originating from Naples, the birthplace of pizza.

Rudy’s serve classic Neapolitan pizza with fresh dough made daily using Caputo ‘00’ flour, which ferments for at least 24 hours, alongside the best quality ingredients imported from Naples, including San Marzano tomatoes grown on fields next to Mount Vesuvius, and Fior di Latte mozzarella.

Following the authentic Neapolitan technique, the dough is cooked in a Stefano Ferrara oven for just 60 seconds – resulting in a soft and light pizza with an airy and raised cornicione (the edge or rim of the pizza).

Alongside the pizza menu, a selection of Italian wines, beers and aperitivo are also available, including Aperol Spritz, Negroni and Espresso Martini.

Now in its sixth year, the list – previously known as 100 Most Influential Women in Hospitality – returns to champion the best female talent across the UK and champion the women who are changing the face of the sector. Ranging from sommeliers to suppliers, chefs to front of house, CODE’s list selects a line-up of women at the heart of the hospitality industry who are pushing the boundaries for change.

Last year’s winners, selected from a pool of more than 800 nominations, included Kate Nicholls OBE, Chief Executive of UKHospitality, Adriana Cavita, Chef-owner of Cavita, Florence Knight, Executive Chef of Session Arts Club, Missy Flynn, Co-founder of Rita’s and Nina Panayiodou, Operations Director of Dishoom.

This year’s list, sponsored by Bibendum Wine, will be judged by a panel of industry experts including Kate Nichols OBE, Romy Gill MBE, Ikoyi co-founder Iré Hassan-Odukale, The Good Food Guide editor Elizabeth Carter, and award-winning food writer Ajesh Patalay.

Nominations are open for colleagues and friends from all corners of hospitality who those working in the sector feel are most influential and deserve to be celebrated.

Within the list of 100 women there will be an overall winner of Woman of the Year and a winner for each of the following categories:

Connectors / Disruptors / Campaigners / Leaders

Run by co-owners and Head Chefs Adrian Luck and Tony Cridland, Land is a modern, plant-focused, fine dining restaurant based in Birmingham’s Great Western Arcade. ‘Inspired by the land’, the restaurant takes inspiration from around the world, showcasing the very best seasonal produce in their dishes. Land’s menus are developed seasonally in order to highlight the best quality ingredients on offer at the time, with tasting menu options of either five or six courses.

Land’s listing on the Michelin Guide’s website describes it as ‘an intimate restaurant set in the Great Western Arcade in the heart of the city’. They recommend visitors ‘ask for a seat at the raised rear table overlooking the open kitchen to watch the chefs at work’ and note that ‘the seasonally evolving set menu offers modern vegetarian dishes with Asian influences and a creative edge, with wine flights also available’.