Picard has unveiled The Revolution, an oven which embodies precision and efficiency while breaking away from the austerity of its predecessors. The influence of high-end home appliances is apparent in its refined ergonomics and straight, sleek lines. The unit has one of the smallest footprints in its class and boasts state-of-the-art technologies such as energy-saving…

It’s harder to get from here to there by a straight line, and a buffet is a great example of how people move around and how operators need service flexibility. Hatco Corp.’s Portable Modular Heated Black Glass Shelf keeps food hot through direct surface contact, offering greater buffet-line flexibility. The shelves have a thermostatically controlled…

Pizza Express, the iconic British restaurant chain with only a small presence outside of its own shores, has been bought for £900m ($1.5 billion) by a Chinese firm that plans to roll out the fast-casual concept in the world’s most populous country. Hony Capital won the chain in an auction process ahead of CITIC (formerly…

About a week after 100 Montaditos opened its newest restaurant in West Palm Beach, Fla., the Spanish fast-casual chain appointed Francisco Javier Cernuda as CEO of its American restaurants. Montaditos has 16 locations in the U.S., all but four of them in South Florida. Cernuda will direct marketing development plans in the U.S. and Latin…

The oldest tableware maker in the U.K. is surging forward with plans and funding to expand its business. Dudson has secured a £3 million investment from the Business Growth Fund, an independent firm established to boost British businesses, for new machinery, product development and sales and marketing functions to drive growth and improve customer service.…

Total Quality Food Consultants, expanding its global role in regulatory, scientific and marketing services to the foodservice and non-food industries. TQF was founded in Verona, Italy, in 1992 by Giuseppe Patat, who will remain as a consultant for R&D and strategic marketing. The firm specializes in regulatory expertise, offering compliance certification in 147 countries for…

Zensho Holdings Co., Japan’s largest operator of restaurant chains, took a major step toward international expansion this month when it opened its first Sukiya restaurant in Taiwan. The 70-unit quick-service chain, which specializes in curry and donburi (beef bowls), officially debuted July 10 in Taipei; the store is open for business 24 hours a day.…

Harsh winter weather drove down restaurant visits and sales in many areas of the U.S. and Canada during the first quarter, according to data from Technomic Inc., The NPD Group and the restaurant associations from both countries. But perhaps because of the tough winter, restaurant operators in both countries are quite optimistic about prospects for…

BurgerFuel has opened its first store in Egypt, a new front in the fast-growing Kiwi chain’s expansion plans for the region. The Cairo unit, located in the affluent suburb of Maadi, is store No. 20 in the region for BurgerFuel; it also operates outlets in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Two more BurgerFuel stores…