The great and good of London's restaurant scene gathered last night at the launch of this year's Taste of London festival in Regents Park.

Chefs, restaurateurs, food journalists and PRs (lots of PRs) all flocked into the British Airways VIP tent to sip complimentary Champagne and catch up on the latest gossip.

The highlight of the night was an appearance by French super chef Joël Robuchon, who was honoured with the inaugural Taste of London Icon award for his contribution to gastronomy. Le Gavroche chef-proprietor Michel Roux Junior presented the award and even acted as a translator after Robuchon told the audience in rather broken English that he was going to make his speech in French.

Roux Junior did a sterling job translating Robuchon's wise words but he did fail to translate one little sentence, I thought was worth a mention.

Robuchon said (in French): "My English is about as bad as the French football team."

Could it be Monsieur Robuchon has a case of les bleus...

The new luxury hotel Yang Sing Oriental is planning to bring a rather more Asiatic mode of transport to the streets of Manchester.

Forget limousines and helicopters, hell forget you ever knew the humble car, from now on the only way to travel is by...rickshaw!

Yes, now you can close your eyes, try to relax, and imagine yourself on the streets of Shanghai...(word to the wise: sleep with one eye slightly open to avoid being mugged by a shell-suit clad heathen).

Hotel owner Gerry Yeung has brought three authentic rickshaws from China to be used as the Chinatown venue's courtesy cars.

Now all Mr Yeung needs is a willing set of "energetic and friendly drivers" (no previous experience required).

However, pre-requisites include: "great leg muscles", an "in-depth knowledge of Manchester's city centre roads" and "a passion for ensuring guests have a smooth and enjoyable journey".

Any takers? Contact general manager Dean Culpan on 0161 880 0188.

Restaurateurs to launch £8m hotel in Manchester>>

He's one of only three British chefs to win three Michelin stars; he's credited with inventing the molecular gastronomy revolution; he made glasses trendy again. After all this, what can Heston Blumenthal do next?

Well, if reports are to be believed, our Heston has been working with Walkers Crisps on a "big and new" healthy eating initiative.

Walkers declined to disclose whether Blumenthal will feature directly in any advertising or marketing, or whether he will develop new recipes for a new line of crisps, but the chef is understood to have been working with the firm for six months.

It seems Cater Link has impressed the good people at Camden Council in London as it's set for an an extention to its initial three-year school meals contract.

The caterer, which is part of the same stable that owns business and industry caterer BaxterStorey, was appointed in 2006 after parent protests forced out Compass Group's Scolarest from the £2.5m a year contract.

With the new nutritional  standards coming into force at primary schools this summer and plenty of challenges remaining at secondary level, hospitality magazine Caterer is running a School Meals Survey to tie in with its Education Month in July. So if you're a caterer with views on school meals share them.

Camden drops Scolarest for school meals>>

Food inflation hits school caterers>>

Sodexo chef named School Chef of the Year 2008>

100% School meals uptake shocker (Caterer Blog)>>

Apparently before Grant got the boot at Stamford Bridge, due to his failure to win the Champions League and achieving only a runners-up spot in the Premiership, he wrote to Tony Newby of the Best Western Monkbar hotel.

Why? You no doubt ask.

Was he aware of his fate and looking for somewhere to stay the night far away from Mayfair's Russian community in the capital? Was Newby in the frame to fill that tricky right-back position that has vexed recent Chelsea managers?

Not exactly.

It seems Raffles the gentleman thief may be on the prowl again if a break-in at top-end caterer Vacherin is anything to go by.

The directors, back from their trip to Champagne and after the long bank holiday weekend, returned to their Bedford Row offices in London to find them ransacked.

Although entry (a kicked down door) wasn't very elegant that's probably simply the fact that Vacherin's office doesn't have a tempting skylight to lower one's self through.

The Caterer Adopted Business's computers were untouched and although some cash was taken ("for expenses and sundries") it seemed at first that an old laptop and a projector were the only other casualties.

However, on closer inspection the true nature of the crime became apparent.