December 2008 Archives

However, it's not quite as black and white for caterers, as although clients' collective belt-tightening is putting a squeeze on them, outsourcing to manage costs has never been so popular.

Contract caterer Bartlett Mitchell seems to be one such beneficiary as it's picked up £2m of new business and seven new clients in the last four months alone (and is on the cusp of signing it's 100th contract).

And Wendy Bartlett, managing director of Bartlett Mitchell, is certainly glass half-full about the year ahead.

"The year ahead is going to be challenging for every company but proactivity in budget control, and food innovation that keeps customers coming in pays off with contract gains and business retention," Bartlett told Kitchen Rat.

So here's to a tough but potentially rewarding 2009.

Bartlett Mitchell recruits new operations director>>

Orchid closes 14 pubs and cuts 150 jobs ahead of Christmas>>

Half of Folio's head office staff made redundant>>

It seems Compass Group has had a bit of seasonal cheer of its own, with rumours abound that the catering giant has sewn-up a seven-year deal at Goodwood in East Sussex.

Compass, which in 2007 signed a one-year extention at the estate, is believed to have landed the £7m-a-year turnover hospitality contract at the site, which features a racecourse and Goodwood House, under a deal that will see it invest £1m in the facilities there.

Compass has been invovled with Goodwood, which is home of motor-racing events the Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival, since 1987 and has been running its exisiting contract under its Payne & Gunter brand.

Both Compass and Goodwood declined to comment.

Mike Stapleton to leave Compass after nearly a decade>>

Compass signed up at Cardiff City FC?>>

Belt tightening puts squeeze on contractors>>

The Cardiff Hilton has come over all festive and created a gingerbread nativity scene for its reception area.

In a move that would please Hansel and Gretel, if not Christian purists, the chefs at the Cardiff hotel have used gingerbread "bricks" with chocolate icing "cement" and roofs made out of rolls of chocolate and icing icicles (of course), to create their edible homage to the baby Jesus.

All rather wonderful, but although Kitchen Rat will not claim to be an authority on the good book, we can't quite recall a "dark chocolate Ferris wheel" or an "iced ice rink" featuring alongside the three wize men as in this interpretation. A new take on the three kings guided by a star, perhaps?

Still, it's for a good cause, namely Pocketful of Presents, which provides Christmas presents for under privileged children in the local community, so we'll overlook the chefs' unbridled creativity and say well done and Merry Christmas! 

Hilton opens first London Doubletree hotel>>

UK hoteliers must look for creative ways to cut costs>>

Kitchen Rat received further information this morning regarding the Niche Hotel group, following the news it had called in administrators at two of its properties.

We previously reported that both the Wyckhillhouse Hotel&Spa, Stow-on-the-Wold and The Royal Hotel, Cardiff  had the administrators called in after entering financial difficulties.

This has now been confirmed by the group's managing director, and majority shareholder Alan Corlett.

But Corlett insisted that the rest of the properties were still operating fine and that the hotel group itself had not entered administration.

He said: "The reason that the Cardiff hotel has called in the administrators is that the building work that was being carried out caused far too much disruption to the guests.

"And secondly the current economic crisis has not helped country hotels with their corporate and incentive market. But the rest of the hotels are fine and we are working with MCR administrators to go forward."

Folio Hotels calls in the administrators>>
 

It seems that Heston Blumenthal, everyone's favourite three Michelin-starred chef/scientist, isn't off our television screens at the moment.

After an appearance on BBC2's irreverant music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks earlier this month which left Heston shuffling nervously in his seat, our Heston turned up on Sky Sports' Saturday morning show Soccer AM over the weekend.

Heston - a huge fan of nouveau riche Islington side Arsenal - turned up on Saturday and proved he's perhaps better off in the kitchen when he missed the target in Soccer AM's 'Road to Rome' segment (but then, to be fair, so did everyone else).

Kitchen Rat got to thinking about what other TV shows Heston could make guest appearances on.

A stint on Location, Location, Location perhaps? "I'm looking for another large house in Bray, with a massive kitchen and fireproof walls"...

How about Cash in the Attic? I have found this old bunsen burner - how much could I flog it for on eBay?"...

Perhaps we could come up with a new format- Challenge Heston - where contestants have to come up with even more palate-challenging food concepts than bacon and egg ice-cream. Or How to Cook Good Naked, with regular guests Gok Wan and Jamie Oliver. 

Kitchen Rat considered a concept that would see Heston being filmed as he attempted to save Little Chef but decided it was too far fetched...

It goes without saying that building a tourist hotspot and finance centre out in the middle of the desert is going to tax the green credentials of even the most environmentally sensitive of local administrators.

But Dubai's latest thing - a beach with sand that's artificially cooled and a refrigerated swimming pool at the Palazzo Versace hotel - really takes the biscuit.

Set for completion in 2010, the energy for the sand project is being supplied by Hyder Consulting, who refuse to say how many kilojoules will go towards the project.

The view of Robin Oakley, head of climate and energy at Greenpeace is that "it's grotesque that while the world's poorest people face the loss of their homes and livelihoods because of climate change, the world's richest people think it's acceptable to waste precious energy so pointlessly".

However, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai's ruler, has said that his plan is to "sustain Dubai's environment, ensuring that it is safe and clean".

Do we believe him, and even if we do, does this mean actually being green in any way, shape or form?

And another one bites the dust (possibly).

Caterer has learnt that two hotels that form part of the luxury Niche Hotel Group have gone into administration.

- See our Niche Hotel group update for the latest -

Wyckhillhouse Hotel&Spa, Stow-on-the-Wold and The Royal Hotel, Cardiff have both had the administrators called in after entering financial difficulties.
 
The administrators are MCR Corporate Restructuring, who confirmed the hotels had gone into administration, in a process that could last anything up to 12 months.
 
The news follows the recent announcements that both Folio and aAim had entered administration.

Let's just hope it's not setting the precedent for too many more companies in the new year...

Take a peek at this new design for a conference centre in Utrecht. Wall-to-wall carpets, fake brass fittings and mock oak panelling it is not.

The look is from architecture and design consultancy 123DV, and is part of the Jaarbeurs complex in Holland, with eight meeting rooms, plus a main congress hall that holds 800 people. The roof there is transparent, so it feels like you're meeting under the wide open sky. Oh, the romance of it all as you scribble notes on management change strategy.

Principal Hotels rebrands after Hayley Conference Centres buy >>

Compass Group retains contract with the Wellcome Trust >>

A London businessman claims he is the first person to have dined at all of the world's three-Michelin-starred restaurants.

Andy Hayler, from Chiswick, has travelled the globe over the past four years and visited all of the 68 three-starred restaurants in Europe, the USA and Asia.

He told the Evening Standard he completed his culinary marathon last month with a meal at Thomas Keller's Per Se in New York. The 20-course tasting menu at the restaurant in the Time Warner Centre in Manhattan was the most expensive meal of them all priced at a hefty £500.

Hayler said he started his gastronomic travels after a series of disappointing experiences at some of London's top-rated restaurants. But after reading a rave review of Joël Robuchon's Jamin in Paris, he decided to give fine dining one last chance. He estimates he has spent about £15,000 on food and drink and equally as much on travel costs and accommodation.

The news that the Melton Mowbray pork pie is to receive EU protection against imitators from outside the region is welcome, but we've got a long way to go to match other countries in Europe when it comes to regional produce.

There are 170 regionally recognised products in Italy, compared to 37 in Britain, and cumberland sausages or Cornish pasties have yet to make an impact on the EU regulators, let alone Bath chap and Morecambe Bay shrimps.

As from early next year the new legal status will put the Melton Mowbray pork pie alongside Italy's Parma ham, and gorgonzola cheese.

"It is one of the few products where the balance of power lies with producers rather than supermarkets," said Matthew O'Callaghan, chairman of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association.

But Britain has lots of catching up to do, and some would even question the complexity of flavour of a pork pie versus the time and effort that goes into making Parma ham, or stilton versus gorgonzola. Are we really up to the same standard?

Northern Food to fight on in Melton Mowbray pie name battle >>

Pork pie makers to get decision by Christmas >>

The Governor of New York State is considering slapping a 15% "obesity tax" on high calorie soft drinks such as Coca Cola in a bid to pay of the state's $15 billion budget deficit.

Some states in the US already have taxes on soft drinks and snacks but the Governor's plans would be the first to distinguish between the diet and 'full fat' versions of products.

Coca Cola and Pepsico, which both have their corporate HQs in New York state, may have something to say about the proposals though.

A spokesman for the American Beverage Association pointed out that although soft drink sales has remained flat, obesity levels were still rising.

Timing being everything in comedy, at Kitchen Rat we couldn't help but smile when the Food Standards Agency (FSA) sent through a new press release singing the praises of its Simplification Plan.

Published by all government departments and bodies as part of the much publicized better regulation push, the FSA is understandably proud of the cost savings it has achieved by cutting nasty old red-tape.

For example, the lithe (one imagines) Safer Food, Better Business initiative has meant caterers have had to spend out a mere £28m to remain compliant with the relentless march of food legislation. The FSA says that if left to their own devices the bill would have been £66m and yes you're supposed to rejoice at that bit, caterers.

It's good to see that hotel companies in Dubai are finally putting their destructive, selfish and garish ways behind them, and are really starting to take the threat of impending global meltdown seriously.

But hark! What's this? Apparently the new Versace hotel in Dubai is taking the concept of chilling out at the beach a little too seriously, and is planning to "refrigerate" its beach to ensure that Donatella et al don't sweat too much whilst baking themselves to a used leather bag consistency in the Middle East's current bun.

It was announced this weekend that the beach next to the brand new Palazzo Versace hotel will have special pipes beneath the sand to absorb heat, a chilled swimming pool and fans to blow cool air over its guests.

Founder and president of the Palazzo Versace helpfully explained: "This is the kind of luxury that top [read morally void] people want."

The Palazzo Versace in Dubai will be the second Versace hotel to open, following the opening of one on the Gold Coast of Australia, with 15 more planned for the future, after the opening of the Dubai resort late next year.

Say goodbye to that last scrap of ice polar bears. Sob.

Fair play to Guy Ritchie. After realising that he couldn't live off two half-decent films forever, he got himself a pop star missus, stayed married for a few years and is now picking up a cool £50m-£60m in the divorce settlement.

And kind old Madonna is also letting Ritchie keep the Punch Bowl, the underwhelming Mayfair boozer he bought earlier this year.

The purchase of the pub became a rather bizarre story. Davis Coffer Lyons, the property agent, announced that Madonna had bought the pub, but this was swiftly denied by both Madonna herself, whose publicist described the story as "pure fiction", and the leaseholders, Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises

But it eventually emerged that Ritchie - and, by association, Madonna - did in fact own the pub and had paid around £2.5m for it.

Ritchie made the most of owning the pub with stories claiming he would throw out the regulars to have lock-ins with celebrity pals. He also celebrated his 40th birthday there in September.

And he'll still be able to drown his sorrows (and count his winnings) there.

Contestants at the World Pie Eating competition in Wigan are in uproar because a novice chef has made the pastry cases too large.

Instead of being 12 cm wide,  Emma Garner has shaped shells into 12 in, more than double the intended size.

Covering for her mistake, Garner has made the comment: "If they are champion pie-eaters you would think they would have to eat big pies".

But event organiser Tony Callaghan insists that it was "utterly irresponsible to ask a novice to make pies for the contest.

The contest has been dogged by controversy. In recent attempts to find the greatest pie eater ever the emphasis has switched from volume to speed of consumption. Then, last year a fridge door was left open, and a dog ate many of the pies sitting inside.

Pies matter >>

Good week/bad week >>

It's not uncommon these days for chefs to dabble in the scientific arts of culinary creationism.

Following in the footsteps of Heston Blumenthal, Ferran Adria and John Campbell's inventions such as the infamous snail porridge or pimms caviar, there's very little left that hasn't already been tried.

But we hear rumours that one experimental chef has been trying out Marie Rose ice cream - yes, we kid you not, the prawn cocktail sauce transformed into a frozen scoop of gloop..

Perhaps there are some things that are best left untried.

Heston considers follow up book for home cooks>>

John Campbell video masterclass>>

Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal to revamp Little Chef>>

We all love a white Christmas and one hotelier in Scotland is so convinced that it'll snow next week, he's promised to give guests a £50 refund if it doesn't.

Andrew Cox, owner of the Loch Kinord Hotel in Dinnet, Aberdeenshire, is offering guests a three-night festive deal that includes bed and breakfast, Christmas lunch and a white winter wonderland on 25 December.

He is offering the package for the third year, reports the Daily Record, having been left nearly £3000 out of pocket due to no-snow refunds over the past two years.

But Andrew and wife Jenny hope their luck will change this year. "We started it because we hadn't had snow for a couple of years and thought we must be due a white Christmas," Andrew said.

"We just thought the odds were going to be in our favour. But it hasn't worked like that, so it would be good if it comes this year. It's always quite nice to have a bit of snow for Christmas."

With the credit crunch and falling hotel rates making things tough for Scottish hoteliers, let's hope Andrew's wish comes true this Christmas.

In November, Kitchen Rat revealed that The Hotel du Vin in Brighton was launching a free drinks Happy Hour promotion for three consecutive Wednesdays, starting 3 December.

House beer, wines and spirits will all be free between 5.30 - 6.30pm for three Wednesdays, but with two caveats:

Punters will have to dress up at Father Christmas (or an Elf) and bring a children's gift with them, worth about a tenner.

The hotel will donate all the gifts to a local children's hospital in time for Christmas Eve.

Phil Lewis, general manager of the Brighton Hotel du Vin, has now got in touch with a progress report.

"The first two Wednesdays have gone quite well. The first week the whole housekeeping team dressed in full Santa costume for the whole day and raised £350 for the local Argus newspaper appeal, before joining six other Santas in the bar at 5pm.

"The second week we had about 15 Santas show up from as far afield as London and Cheltenham all bringing with them gifts for disadvantaged children.

"We have one more week to go (17th), so fingers crossed we will be able to improve on the two weeks gone by."

Good work chaps. 

Pop diva Madonna has reportedly splashed out £650,000 at the Four Seasons hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. While on her Sticky and Sweet Tour, her 200-strong crew complained about their digs on tour, so she put them up in the hotel.

The singer also stayed at the property, but not in a hotel room. She had her own £6,000 a night mansion within the hotel's grounds.

Park Hyatt has opened the worlds highest hotel in China at the top of the 492 metre, 101 storey Shanghai World Financial Centre.

The hotel, which is the second Park Hyatt in China, occupies floors 79-93 has 174 rooms and 23 suites in the Pudong district.

It also features a restaurant with show kitchens and 25-metre floor-to-ceiling windows, while the 92nd floor is split into two bars - on the west side, a Western bar featuring live music, and on the east side, a cosy Chinese-style bar.

Stock-cube friendly chef Marco Pierre White has picked up yet another award, but this time it's one he may not want.

After Michelin stars and accolades-a-plenty the fiery chef's appearance as 'the face of Knorr' in their latest ad campaign has just been named one of the top ten worst celeb ads.

Coming in at a frighteningly compeitive No.4, MPW was beaten only by Tiger Woods etc al for Gillette, John Lydon for Country Life and Kelly Holmes for Kellogg's cereal.

The list was compiled by industry advertising magazine Campaign. The Nike ad. featuring Ronaldo and others topped the list of best ads.

Marco set to launch Frankie's in the USA>>

Marco Pierre White on why he's back behind the stove>>

News reaches Kitchen Rat that former Everson Hewett boss Stuart Everson has returned to the world of contract catering after a break by accepting the role of chairman at Jill Bartlett.

His arrival is timely as Jill Bartlett is mobilising one of its most prestigious contracts yet, the feeding of staff at the Guardian News and Media's new headquarters at King's Place in London's King's Cross.

Everson Hewett, created by former Compass employees Stuart Everson and Jon Hewett, was, rather neatly, bought by Compass Group in Febraury 2004 as part of its fine dining operation.

Everson went on to run Compass's Baxter & Platts business before leaving Compass last year.

Everson Hewett as a brand, like Baxter & Platts, have subsequently been phased out by Compass, which unified its fine dinning activities under its Restaurant Associates brand. 

Stuart's input will no doubt be useful in a year that has seen Jill Bartlett step up a gear with deals to cater at magazine publisher Emap on top of an extention at law firm Shearman & Sterling.

Boris Johnson: hardworking mayor of London>>

Contract caterers feeling the pinch>>

A new kind of memorabilia has been created to surround the furore of Saturday night's X Factor grand finale on ITV - pizzas branded with the judges' faces.

Neopolitan pizza chain Rossopomodoro has created four pizzas costing £9 each that are embellished with the grinning faces of Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Danni Minogue and Cheryl Cole.

Rossopomodoro's managing director Simone Falco says: "I absolutely love the X Factor, so my tribute to the programme was to task the team at Rossopomodoro to make the pizzas - I think the resemblance to the judges is uncanny!"

Since the finalists were announced on Saturday, Simone has been selling pizzas named after the three X Factor finalists:

Eoghan Quigg - Corbarella
Mozzarella, mushrooms, ham, cream and fresh basil
A green, white and gold pizza of stunning simplicity

Alexandra Burke - Massese
Tomato, mozzarella, spicy salami and fresh basil
The spiciest pizza on the menu, full of guts and fire

JLS - Teanese
Four traditional Neapolitan cheeses; provola, caciocavallo, mozzarella and Bagnoli Pecorino

No doubt fans are chomping right into the cheesy treats in eager anticipation of Saturday's showdown. Personally, I'm amazed the team at Rossopomodoro managed to find a pizza base large enough to contain Simon Cowell's head...

aAim goes into adminstration>>

X Factor>>

The secret inspiration behind Swiss Toni?>>

Property group Unitech is to invest half a billion dollars in hotel openings across India with 35 new properties planned in the next seven years.

Yes, you heard right - 35 new venues, as the world markets and finance for new property deals crumbles.

They already have land for many of them, while cities targeted are Calcutta, Chennai, Goa, Mysore, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Siliguri and Assam.

Go on, go for it you Unitech guys. Managing director Sanjay Chandra and his team are behind the roll-out.

Take a peek at hotel brand Andaz new site. The determinedly wacky group has launched a new online look, and it's...well, colourful.

Surely your kids will like it, but what about the high-flying businessmen they're trying to attract?

Then, as for the special site for the new hotel due to launch in January in West Hollywood, its' well...pink

Time for a cold shower, boys and girls.

With the January transfer window fast approaching the football rumour-mill is in full flow, but this year it seems a member of the catering premier league is included as well.

Word reaches Kitchen Rat that the UK's largest contract caterer Compass Group has won a £4m annual turnover catering deal at Championship team Cardiff City FC.

Cardiff, managed by Dave Jones and beaten FA Cup finalists earlier this year, move into a new state-of-the-art stadium next August, which is when the Compass contract will likely start.

Compass already provides catering services at Chelsea and Southampton football clubs under its FMC brand, so should be well versed in meeting football fans' expectations.

Compass Group retains contract with Wellcome Trust>>

Sodexo nets £38m catering deal with Newcastle United>>

Kitchen Rat hears that Rosie Millard's interview with Antonio Carluccio didn't leave the chef, or the management team at the restaurant chain that takes his name, best pleased.

Millard managed to elicit from Antonio, who made a reported £10m from Carluccio's listing on the Alternative Investment Market in December 2005, the fact that he believes standards at the fast growing chain are slipping and corners are being cut. Hardly the sort of public statement that the ambitious restaurant group is looking for.

Under the headline It's My Name But It's Not My Food, Millard also asked the chef about the knife incident earlier this year that saw him hospitalised and which he maintains was nothing more than an accident.

All in all it paints a picture of a rather sad and lonely old man, all the more unsettling at a time when the majority of the UK is gearing up for festive celebrations.

Although Antonio is no longer a consultant to Carluccio's he remains a fixture on the company's website. Kitchen Rat hears that after a period of inactivity, the bods at Carluccio's have bought foward several projects planned, although not finalised with Antonio, no doubt mindful of their positive PR potential.

Fair to say then that this isn't the final word from Antonio Carluccio.

Carluccio's holds nerve ahead of critical Christmas trading period>>

Antonio Carluccio not depressed, says pal>>

We're often guilty of talking of the hotel of the future here at Caterer with gay abandon. But how about this little baby, the brainchild of a Russian architect, with enough attributes to turn the head of many a property speculator?

It's by the Alexander Asadov Architectural Studio, and is different that's for sure.

Architects have busied themselves in the past 50 years with designing mobile homes, but this is one of the first hotels with portability as its label. All you need is a puddle of water to suspend it over.

The only problem is the name: Aerotel. Sounds like there might be a few holes in the concept.

Premier Inn opens green hotel >>

Hotels that blaze a green trail >>

Mo mo mo/How do you like it?/How do you like it?

Not much. In fact, you look like a gay Scandinavian biker. But if it's for charity then I guess it's okay.

Yes, the results for MOvember, the moustache growing charity event, held during November each year in aid of the Prostate Cancer Charity, are in. And they are terrifyingly good.

Well done to Geronimo Inns and London's Cavendish Hotel for growing their respective nasal caterpillars and raising £4000 and £3000 respectively.

The occupancy tax on hotels in the state of California isn't the sexiest of subjects.

It's hard to explain you've got a great deal for guests that wipes that the additional payment, even when there's a deal that makes sense as it shows you're on the side of the customer. Who wants to pay more in order that the government benefits?

So JDV Hotels has come up with an offer that wipes out the additional amount until April 15 at all of their 30 properties.

Plus they've come up with a natty new video to promote it, bringing in names such as Al Capone, Richard Pryor and Buster Keaton for extra heft, and amusement value.

Take a peek to see what they're going on about.

Langham opens first hotel in California >>

Guests poured into the Taste of Christmas event last night at London's Excel for a slice of festive fun and glimpse of Gordon Ramsay.

In true showman style, Gordon Ramsay who was due to be cooking on stage was no where to be seen for the first few minutes.

Instead Mark Sergeant, head chef at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, and wine sommelier Olly Smith paced the stage encouraging the 300-strong audience to call out his name.

"Gordon, Gordon, Goooooorrddooonnn." Then, out of nowhere a figure paced down the stairs from within the audience in a luminous worker jacket, whipped off a hard hat and dark wig and ruffled his mop of blond highlights. Who would have thought it!

But the panto didn't finish there, the three hosts then took it in turns to kick inflatable puddings out into the audience and in a musical chairs style game, whoever had the puddings when the music stopped were invited up on to the stage to sit at tables, flanking the central kitchen to eat Ramsay's feast.

In good spirits, Ramsay welcomed all guests, asking their names and occupations. Touching on recent events he said to one guest, a pretty blonde PR girl: "I could do with your help the week I've had."

He then set to work preparing a chestnut, apple and parsnip soup starter; duck with sautéed Brussels sprouts main and a pear tart for dessert with Bailey's ice cream.

 You sometimes hear managers talking about their staff as if they're criminals - 'all that pilfering that goes on, nothing I can do about it'. Hands in the till, they're all at it, apparently.

Well, now guests can be served by real-life criminals - convicted juveniles at the Neudeck jail in Munich.

The £11.5m conversion of the prison building into a four-star hotel will involve the recruitment of "teenagers and young people who have only otherwise known violence, crime, drugs and a lack of orientation", according to Hildegard Denninger of one of the project's sponsors, Biss magazine.

In echoes of a certain person's restaurant training project, 15 youngsters will be trained by full-time staff. Some of those involved in running the programme will include social workers.

Our advice? Probably best not order a Bloody Mary.

European hotels suffer a dismal August of plunging profitability >>

Jamie Oliver backed Fifteen Leeds takes step closer to reality >>

Dim sum chain Ping Pong has some big plans in the pipeline for 2009, Kitchen Rat has learnt.

The group, which currently has 11 outlets in London and will open its 12th site in Spitalfields next February, is planning the roll out of a retail-based takeaway concept. It's understood to be called "Ping Pong Now" and will be focused on locations in the West End and the City.

And on top of that Ping Pong is gearing up to its debut in Dubai, with its first outlet set to open in the Dubai Mall next year.

Let's hope their "steaming parcels of deliciousness" will continue to delight.

Look what Kitchen Rat found while digging about the internet, the Evening Standard's food section of their The 1000: London's Most Influential People.

All the usual candidates are there: your Ramsays, your Olivers, your Alan Yaus.

Then there are some other, less obvious, choices. Like photographer Jason Lowe, who some might argue only snaps food (however well is a side issue) and doesn't have the commercial power and celebrity of, say, Richard Corrigan, or the Michelin-starred restaurants (Chez Bruce, The Square) of Nigel Platts-Martin, neither of  who feature.

Other noticeably bizarre entries, this time in the up and coming section: journalist Joe Warwick and Ching-he Huang, the apparent TV chef (Chinese food made easy), cookbook writer and entrepreneur, who unlike, say, Matt Hermer, owner of Ignite Group, doesn't have a host of celebrity popular bars and, in Bumpkin, a soon-to-be-ubiquitous mid-sector restaurant concept.

If you've looked at the website already you'll notice the Evening Standard's Fay Maschler makes it into the top tier. Unsurprising really if you've heard the same rumours the Rat has; that she wrote it herself.

And what does teh endearingly modest Ms Maschler have to say of herself? "Never one to pull punches on the below par, a good review from her still guarantees a full house." We'd all like to write our own reviews.

Formula 1 is a glamorous circus with a British world champion in Lewis Hamilton and no shortage of razzmatazz and oversized Champagne bottles.

Certainly it's a fast paced, occasionally tedious, sort of do, so you'd expect catering for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone to be an exciting, no-time-to-catch-your breath, sort of affair.

And you'd be right. And then some, if caterer Aspire Hospitality's experiences are anything to go by.

Having won the deal to cater at the circuit in 2007, and another at Towcester race course last month, the relationship so far has been a rewarding one that has, naturally enough, involved a steep learning curve for the newly formed group, which consists of independent caterers.

While you might think that running the British Grand Prix at Silverstone each summer would naturally involve a week or so of preparation ahead of the race weekend itself, the truth is somewhat different.

In fact five-and-a-half weeks ahead of the grand prix in June this year the race engineers turned up to test tyres, smoke and listen to heavy metal (one presumes), in one of those heart-stopping moments that all caterers face at some point in their career.

You'd expect tougher economic times to be hitting all aspects of the economy, but not the classic Eastern European weekend away, apparently.

British people on stag and hen weekends are still choosing Budapest (pictured), Bratislava, Riga, Warsaw and Krakow as their favoured destination - and in numbers.

Stag Republic, a UK-based stag organiser of stays away in these parts is reporting bookings higher this year than at the same time in 2007.

According to its managing director Josey Walker "People may be making cutbacks because of the credit crunch, but they are saving up for their weekends away."

The average group size of stag or hen parties heading abroad has dropped, and more basic hotels are being booked as well. But people are looking for more activity-based trips away, such as quad biking and pistol shooting. That beats whiling away the hours hassling the local talent, at least.

Sophisticated guests opt for independent hotels >>

Budget hotels show resilience to credit crunch >>

Qualification awarding body City & Guilds has some new research out on careers, ahead of today's Queen's Speech.

The headline to the accompanying press release reads: Hospitality industry among most recommended careers in the UK.

Brilliant, it would appear the message that the hospitality industry is a great place to work pushed by the likes of Springboard is finally getting through to people.

But then we read the standfirst on the press release, which said: But study reveals widespread dissatisfaction with overall standard of careers advice.

Bugger.

BaxterStorey's Linda Halliday wins Springboard outstanding contribution award>>

Chefs amongst the happiest workers in the UK>>

City & Guilds>>

Hospitality skills news round-up>>

Every sold yourself? Probably not. This chap has though, or at least he's giving it a good go. To raise money for charity, David Duverger, the head chef of Papillon in South Kensington, has put himself up on eBay offering to cook Christmas lunch for the highest bidder.

Stranded in the UK for Crimbo, unable to live it up Noël-styli in his homeland of France, he's decided to tout himself to cook for up to eight people, with all profits going to Children with Leukaemia.

Check him out here online here

With a reserve of £800 he's already racked up four bids to get to £1100. Which is surprising as he's not the easiest to find on the internet market place, with the following search terms coming up with either nothing or shed loads of random stuff:

David Duverger
Christmas chef
Christmas chef David
Christmas David charity
Christmas leukaemia charity
Christmas Papillon chef

The Radisson Edwardian's London May Fair property had the whistle blown on its discount activity with the major stars - stay with us for a few hundred pounds so long as we're mentioned in dispatches from time to time.

That's the deal, but such agreements are the industry's worst kept secret, taking place at many a luxury venue. The nearby Mandarin Oriental, for example, has a "bartering agreement", according to a spokesperson, when it comes to "celebrities who regularly stay at the hotels".

Rap star 50 Cent, Paris Hilton, singer Ronan Keating, X Factor's Louis Walsh and Girls Aloud have all stayed at the May Fair, some at the penthouse suite which costs £2,000 to £3,000 normally. They have paid as little as £100 a night.

Yet many a celebrity booker or agent will start calling hotels for their clients, and find offers of knockdown rates start flooding in.

It's what the fashion industry has being doing for decades, after all. Paris Hilton recently endorsed the May Fair hotel on YouTube. In terms of marketing that's pretty hard to beat - it will motivate most people to want a room there, for sure.

Many are warning against doing it, but Hyatt hotels have become the first group to take the plunge on this scale. The company is cutting rates for nearly two weeks in the run-up to Christmas for guests in any property worldwide.

Nearly 350 properties, including Park Hyatt, Andaz, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Place and Hyatt Summerfield Suites will have the 21% price cut, if booked before 12 December.

Stays must be made before 1 February, and they've cleverly inserted a clause into the offer that full payment is made at the time of booking - and it's non-refundable.

Hotels involved include the Grand Hyatt in New York, at $201 for a room previously $255, Park Hyatt in Tokyo at $302, rather than $384.

It's a response that many others will be following in similar kind.

Economic slowdown could force drop in room rates >>

Hyatt to launch in Beijing >>

Who hasn't made the occasional Freudian slip?

The mind wanders, you're pre-occupied and before you know it you've said something rather embarrassing.

Still, Kitchen Rat is slightly worried about the founders of one hospitality company who admitted that the occasional slip of the tongue isn't quite as occasional as they'd like.

For example, at an induction for new staff one of the firm's founders meant to say we don't like short cuts, but instead said something that suggested they don't like vertically challenged people who bear a resemblance to female private parts.

Not the sort of introduction to a company you're likely to forget, but one has to feel for the staff member at the same operator who was told in a letter that their salary would be reviewed anally.

Might we suggest hiring a proof reader ahead of any discussions on the affects of the company's fiscal policy?