New restaurant and bar at the Radisson Blu Edwardian to hold two-day staff ‘casting’

Confidential has received a press release about a new restaurant and bar at the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel on Peter Street. 

At least, we think it's a new restaurant and bar, took us a few reads to figure that out.

Amongst a particularly prolific barrage of PR babble, and what looks like a press shot for another East 17 comeback, we've managed to glean that...

1. Radisson's cocktail bar and dining room, Opus One, has now closed.

2. They're opening a new venue called Peter Street Kitchen in October.

3. It is going to have some staff in it, to cook and serve and stuff.

Leicester Street Kitchen Peter Street Kitchen
Edwardian Hotels also run May Fair Kitchen, Monmouth Kitchen and Leicester Square Kitchen (pictured)

A notice currently pinned to the door of the Peter Street hotel explains that Opus One has now ceased trading, and that their Steak and Lobster restaurant will take over the space for the next few months before the transformation begins.

As part of a multi-million-pound investment by owners Edwardian Hotels London, Manchester is set to welcome, it says here: 'a concept that has already blazed a trail through the capital’s dining scene.'

According to the release, the kitchen will embrace 'shared dining’, with diners choosing 'from an array of small plates from two different cuisines; contemporary Japanese and Mexican'.

Is that Japican or Mexinese?

2018 06 08 Amir Jati Radisson Blu
Amir Jati (left) of Edwardian Hotels London, and the rest of East 17

“The Kitchen concept has proved enormously successful in London, with Leicester Square Kitchen recently voted one of the top restaurants for both Peruvian and Mexican cuisine in the capital,” says Amir Jati, service excellence director of Edwardian Hotels London.

“We know that Manchester is going to embrace it too, but we need to make sure that the ambience, style and service is on a par with May Fair, Leicester Square and Monmouth Kitchens.”

This will involve ‘an immersion into Japanese food and drink, culture and etiquette.’

The release goes on to describe ‘an ambitious drive to recruit up to 60 new staff’ involving ‘a ground-breaking recruitment initiative’.

“Crucial to this will be the staff, and this initiative will ensure we find the very best”, says Jati, who has developed a plan to attract ‘the crème de la crème of the UK’s hospitality personnel’.

170411 Radisson Blu
Opus One has now closed at the Radisson Blu Edwardian

“I did not want to recruit through the normal channels,” explains Jati. “So instead, we decided to hold one of two aptly named 'casting' days, on 19th June and 16th July, at Radisson Blu Edwardian, Manchester. 

"From this, we will choose between 80 and 90 of the most impressive candidates and send them on a seven-week training programme that will be divided between London and Manchester.”

The Radisson has not yet gone into detail about what 'casting day' will involve, but Confidential reckons it can't hurt to turn up wearing a sombero and a kimono - double your chances.