Lost in translation

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...