Sniffing round the table legs at another industry party this week, my rat ears picked up an interesting snippet regarding the new Malmaison hotel in Oxford. Seems they're keeping the old iron cell doors (Grade-I listed, you see). Should be cosy. Intriguingly, I also overheard mention of "bodies". Sounds like the builders may have unearthed a few unexpected surprises. If anyone can shed any light, drop me an email or something.
July 2005 Archives
Time we got back to the frivolous gossip, I think. Sadly, I deleted my juicy titbit from Live8 by mistake. I'll have to try and recover it later. As for the Cateys, a few other morsels have filtered down to me. One of the middle-aged men left panting over Nicola Benedetti appears to have been Robin Hutson, former owner of Hotel du Vin, whose wife remarked: "I never knew you were so interested in classical music." Also spotted at the awards, Bill Toner, the bouffant-haired former Aramark boss. He was overheard complaining, "I've never been seated so far back before." Ah, never mind, Bill. And it seems superchef Rick Stein is a bit of a party animal. He moved on to the trendy Embassy Club in Mayfair and was still going strong at 2pm, according to my rodent spies.
I hear the BHA's lunch went ahead after all, although only 100 people made it. Apparently the atmosphere was "eerie". Some hotels have been getting it in the neck today for hiking up their room rates to take advantage of the chaos. Nice. The only company to be named and shamed, though, was Thistle. My sources are pointing the finger at its central reservations desk ("terrible") and mentioning the Cumberland at Marble Arch. Thistle is denying the reports, though.
Blimey. I was about to shoot into central London to gatecrash the BHA's annual lunch at the Royal Lancaster and root around for some gossip when I heard the news about the bombs and decided to crawl back into my hole for the afternoon instead. I have picked up a couple more bits from Tuesday's Cateys and a little gem from Live8, but today hardly seems to be the day to be posting idle chatter. I'll be back later in the week.
Well, I successfully infiltrated last night's Catey awards at the Grosvenor House hotel in London, and what a bash it was. The evening's presenter, Fiona Bruce, was as foxy as ever and violin wunderkind Nicola Benedetti wowed the audience - not just with her musical talents. Quite a few middle-aged men were left looking rather flushed under their wing collars. My mole tells me that Nicola does, in fact, have catering industry connections. Apparently her father, Gio, invented the automatic clingfilm dispenser. Top that.
But what about the gossip? Well, apart from Gordon Ramsay missing his plane, there were several other no-shows, including the two Adams (Byatt and Oates) from London's Thyme restaurant. Word is, their transfer from London to Covent Garden proved riskier than even they thought. My spies also tell me that restaurant idols Annie and Germain Schwab have finally sold their gaffe - Winteringham Fields.
Continue reading All the dirt from last night's Cateys .
After years scrabbling around the kitchens of Caterer Towers for crumbs, I've finally found an escape tunnel to the outside world, and I'm planning to make the most of it. I'll be sneaking inside some of the UK's finest restaurants, hotels and, er, "staff restaurants" to sniff out the juiciest bits of gossip and serve them up for your delectation.
Tonight I'm planning to sneak into that gliztiest of industry knees-ups, the Catey Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel, and bring you back all the scandal. Gordon Ramsay was supposed to be there, but I hear he's just cancelled. Missed his flight or something. Bugger.
Anyway, check back tomorrow (once I've recovered from my hangover) and see what morsels I've picked up.
After years scrabbling around the kitchens of Caterer Towers for crumbs, I've finally found an escape tunnel to the outside world, and I'm planning to make the most of it. I'll be sneaking inside some of the UK's finest restaurants, hotels and, er, "staff restaurants" to sniff out the juiciest bits of gossip and serve them up for your delectation.
Tonight I'm planning to sneak into that gliztiest of industry knees-ups, the Catey Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel, and bring you back all the scandal. Gordon Ramsay was supposed to be there, but I hear he's just cancelled. Missed his flight or something. Bugger.
Anyway, check back tomorrow (once I've recovered from my hangover) and see what morsels I've picked up.
