Consumers are advised not to eat certain jars of the former Masterchef presenter's korma sauce after two people in Scotland were poisoned.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it was a manufacturer's decision and stressed that no other batches of Loyd Grossman products were thought to be affected.

Neil McCollum lost his £60,000 a year job as head of tourism for Greenwich after a Twitter post about street crime that mocked part of the borough he was paid to promote, according to the Evening Standard. 

In August, he wrote: "Guest appearance in Woolwich today. Wonder if it has changed. Mental note, make sure wallet is not visible."

McCollum, who was also in charge of Greenwich's Olympic welcome strategy, lost his job after a three month probe into the tweet, which one local described as "honesty and common sense" on an online message board.

"This shows how we allow political correctness to take priority," they wrote.

But another said: "He's an idiot for posting every thought that pops into his head on Twitter but what he said is correct."

The council released a statement: "Greenwich Council can confirm that one of its employees who worked as a tourism officer has been dismissed.

"The reason for this dismissal is that the individual brought the council into disrepute and breached the council's rules of conduct.

"The individual has the right to appeal against this decision."

Judge: Tom Kerridge, Hand & Flowers, Marlow

Central
Daniel Clifford - Midsummer House, Cambridge
Paul Foster - Tuddenham Mill, Suffolk
Aktar Islam - Lasan, Birmingham

Judge: Glynn Purnell, Purnell's, Birmingham

London & South East
Tom Aikens - Restaurant Tom Aikens, London
Phil Howard - The Square, London
Marcus McGuinness - Hibiscus, London

Judge: Jason Atherton, Pollen Street Social, London

North West
Aiden Byrne - The Church Green, Lymm
Johnny Mountain - the English Pig, London
Simon Rogan - L'Enclume, Cartmel

Scotland
Alan Murchison - L'Ortolan, Reading
Mark Greenaway, Hawke & Hunter, Edinburgh
Colin Buchan - York & Albany, London

Wales
Stephen Terry - Hardwick, Abergavenny
James Sommerin - the Crown at Whitebrook, Monmouth

North East
Stephanie Moon - consultant chef

Firefighters are tackling a blaze at the Hilton Hotel Park Lane, London, forcing the evacuation of guests and staff, including Black Eyed Peas singer Will.I.Am.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) was called to the five-star Mayfair hotel just after 1845 BST, according to the BBC.

Sports journalist Sam Cunningham (@samcunningham), who was among those forced to flee the building, has been live tweeting as events unfolded.

He said at around 2030 BST: "I'm hearing it was caused by a generator on this lower roof. Contained. Could be hours before people let back in."

Around 1,500 people were evacuated from the building while at least four pumps and 20 firefighters tackled the blaze.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this stage and there have been no reported casualties.

A number of Twitter users have posted photos, including Cunningham (above left) and Lucy O'Dwyer (@LucyODwyer - photo below, taken from a Windows 7 phone):

UPDATE: 2230 BST: Fred Sirieix (@fredsirieix1), general manager of Galvin at Windows - the Michelin-starred restaurant and bar on the 28th floor of the London hotel, said on Twitter: "All ok here on Park Lane. Thank you."

A few minutes later, the London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire), announced on Twitter: "We believe the fire at the Park Lane Hilton is now out but are still checking the hotel's ducting just to make sure." 

Ronald McDonald has been "kidnapped" by a fringe group demanding transparency over the fast food chain's manufacturing processes.

An organisation calling itself the Food Liberation Army claims to be holding the McDonald's figurehead hostage and has threatened to "execute" the clown character if its demands are not met, according to Orange News.

A video featuring scenes uncomfortably similar to those depicted in Al-Quaeda videos was sent and a spokesman for the Finland-based group called on the McDonald's organisation to answer ethical questions or Ronald will be executed.

"Two days ago we kidnapped Ronald McDonald from a McDonald's Restaurant," he said.

"We love burgers, fries and McDonald's, but we can no longer watch silent when the food we love is being destroyed and brought to shame because of greed and indifference. Because of your short-sightedness your burgers have become nearly inedible."

He then gave the fast food chain until 6.30pm on Friday 11 February to comply and listed eight questions including: "Why are you not open about the manufacturing processes, raw materials and additives used in your products? What are you afraid of?" and "Why is cheap production cost your main value?"

A McDonalds spokeswoman rebuked the stunt as being in "very poor taste".

"McDonald's is always available to engage in constructive conversations with our customers, stakeholders and the media. This stunt is in very poor taste and not a responsible approach to meaningful dialogue," she said.

The Great British Menu 2011 hits our TV screens again in a few months and as ever we are keen to find out which chefs are taking part.

** Confirmed: new series of Great British Menu starts Monday 4 April, 6:30pm, BBC2 http://bit.ly/hgau2q **

This is the sixth series of the show, and rumours flying around over the past few weeks on Twitter and forums as to the format this year and with the help of Caterer's forum, Table Talk we can start to reveal the line-up and the format for the show.

The format this year is to focus on communities and sharing - think street party - but chefs will still have to cook four courses. 

This series of The Great British Menu is working with The Big Lunch, a community street party initiative which encourages communities to get together one day in the summer. Street parties will be held all over the country on Sunday 5 June 2011. If you want more information go to The Big Lunch website.

The final dinner will take place down the cobbled streets of Leadenhall Market in London. 

Chefs taking part this year are: 

North West

Lisa Allen - Northcote, Lancashire

Jason Birkbeck - The Samling Hotel, Windermere

Johnnie Mountain - The English Pig, London

Judge: Marcus Wareing, Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, London

WINNER: LISA ALLEN

South East

Tom Kerridge - Hand & Flowers, Marlow

Tom Aikens - Restaurant Tom Aikens, London

Phil Thompson - Auberge du Lac, Hertfordshire

Judge: Jason Atherton, Pollen Street Social, London

North East

Tim Bilton - The Butcher's Arms, Hepworth

Andrew Pern - The Star Inn, Harome

Stephanie Moon - consultant chef

Judge: Nigel Haworth, Northcote, Lancashire

WINNER: ANDREW PERN

Ireland

Chris Bell - The Longridge Restaurant, Preston

Brian McCann - Shu, Belfast

Chris Fearon - Deanes at Queens Head, Belfast

Judge: Richard Corrigan, Corrigan's Mayfair, London

WINNER: CHRIS FEARON

South West

Andre Garrett - Galvin at Windows, London

Paul Ainsworth - Number 6 Restaurant, Padstow

John Hooker - Browns Hotel, Tavistock

Judge: Michael Caines, Gidleigh Park, Devon

Scotland

Tony Singh, Oloroso, Edinburgh

Michael Smith, The Three Chimneys, Isle of Skye

Philip Carnegie, Inverlochy Castle, Fort William

Judge: Alan Murchison, 10in8 Fine Dining Group

Midlands

Richard Bainbridge - Morston Hall, Norfolk

Aktar Islam, Lasan, Birmingham

Sue Ellis, Belle House, Pershore, Worcestershire

Judge: Glynn Purnell, Purnell's, Birmingham 

Wales

Hywel Jones - Lucknam Park, Nr Bath

Gareth Jones - Bodesgallen Hall, North Wales

Aled Williams, Plas Bodegroes, Gwynedd

Judge: Angela Hartnett, Murano, London

A Miami doctor is sueing a restaurant for not teaching him to eat a vegetable: an artichoke to be precise.

Arturo Carvajal says he was hospitalised after eating an entire grilled artichoke at a branch of Houston's in north Miami and is now seeking $15,000 (£9.450) for pain and medical expenses.

Apparently it was Arturo's first time eating the vegetable and he didn't know he was only supposed to eat the fleshy meat on the leaves.

Glenn Viers, vice president of the chain, told businessinsurance.com that while it is difficult to make light of a situation where a guest ends up in hospital, "it's just kind of a silly notion" that the company has a duty to post warnings against someone eating an entire artichoke.

"What's next? Are we going to have to post warnings on our menu they shouldn't eat the bones in our barbeque ribs?" he added.

But while most casual dining restaurants have gone down the discount voucher route to drum up footfall there's one Arizona eatery that is literally giving its grub away - but only if you weigh more than 25 stone.

The Heart Attack Grill, home of flatliner fries and the quadruple bypass burger (pictured), is doing its bit to encourage the morbidly obese one-step closer to giving the bucket an almighty boot.

If you don't qualify for the free food yet, a few trips to the diner will no doubt get you there in no time.

Diet drinks are strictly unavailable.

Customers are given surgical gowns to wear as they tuck in to the calorie-laden grub delivered by wairtresses dressed as nurses.

Blair Rivers, who at 46 stone almost qualifies twice for the free food, has been signed up to star in an advert for the unusual offer.

The restaurant, which boasts the tagline "taste worth dying for" is run by former nutrionist Jon Basso who used to head up a Jenny Craig weight loss diet centre. Clearly when some people fall off the wagon, they fall very, very hard.

The 15-storey soundproofed, thermal-insulated property was constructed in just six days using prefabricated columns and modules and "modern" construction techniques (the foundations were already laid) and it was reportedly built to withstand a magnitude 9 earthquake.

The construction workers, of which there appears to have been a great many, took just 46 hours to finish the main structure and another 90 hours - were they slacking? - to finish the building enclosure.

Remarkably, despite the speedy build no workers were injured in the process.

Impressive stuff.

Over 3,000 nominations for businesses across the capital were received which was whittled down to a shortlist of 100 finalists in 16 categories by a judging committee. Over 100,000 votes were logged at their website which determined those who came out on top.

For hospitality, Mark Fuller's Sanctum Soho Hotel was voted London Hotel of the Year, while Crazy Bear scooped London Restaurant of the Year beating Theo Randall, Aqua Neuva, The Square and Trinity. Crazy Bear also won London Club of the Year.

Aqua Spirit just off Regent Street won London Bar of the Year.

Bar Italia, Soho took home the award for Best Coffee Shop and the London Food Market of the Year went to Borough Market.

Awards in full:

London Men's Fashion Retailer of the Year - Jeffery West
London Beauty Salon/Spa of the Year - MACS Salon
London Coffee Shop of the Year - Bar Italia
London Hotel of the Year - Sanctum Soho Hotel
London Food Market of the Year - Borough Market
London Cultural Attraction of the Year - Elephant Family
London Sports Attraction of the Year - Polo in the Park
London Health and Fitness Facility of the Year - The Third Space
London Live Music Venue of the Year - The O2
London Theatre Show of the Year - Les Misérables
Best Green Contribution to London - Recycle for London
London Restaurant of the Year - Crazy Bear
London Women's Fashion Retailer of the Year - Sefton
London Bar of the Year - Aqua Spirit
London Club of the Year - Crazy Bear
Outstanding Contribution to London lifestyle - 95.8 Capital FM's Help a London Child

For more photos go to Table Talk >>

With a total of just 143 calories and 2.4g of fat - compared to 9.2g in a normal burger - this is the ideal dish to sup on after a hard day deciding what to buy at some of my favourite designers' catwalk shows. It even has fewer calories than the average sushi lunch.

The "skinny" burger is the creation of InterContinental London Park Lane's executive chef Paul Bates and is made from finely hand-minced buffalo steak, mixed with onions, spices and herbs.

Dry grilled and topped with a baby gem lettuce leaf, ribbons of cucumber and cherry tomatoes, it is accompanied by sugar free salsa, raw baby shallots and coriander cress, and served on a most stylish glass plate. Together with a glass of wild berry iced tea, it costs £20.

"This is no oxymoron," said Bates. "I took time to develop something that really works; the skinny burger is perfect for fashionistas, who want a tasty treat without the calorie guilt."

Well, that's me darlings, I'm off to the InterContinental now. But if anyone is going to join me, they need to hurry as the "skinny" burger is only available until tomorrow - 22 September - the final day of Fashion Week tomorrow.

With the UK living through a newly enforced age of austerity, where the foreign secretary has to share his hotel room with a junior aide and the tax man has taken to writing to the public begging them to repay the cash he has absent-mindedly forgotten to deduct, its perhaps no surprise that those in the contract catering sector are following suit.

Kitchen Rat hears that while researching an article one Caterer journalist was surprised to be called back on their home phone rather than the mobile number they were in the main using to speak with people.

But it pays to watch the pennies in these dicey times after all and as the managing director of the £20m turnover caterer in question rightly pointed out "it's a bit cheaper than the mobile". Well quite.

So yet again a case of the private sector leading where the public sector can but follow, and perhaps another meaning to the label cost-sector catering.

But the c'leb chef's rage is nothing compared to the Florida fella in this video.

Apparently he has just been sacked. And apparently he's not too happy about it. His kicthen rampage forces his brigade to cower in fear as utensils and ingredients are flung in the air, before making a break for it.

But just as you think he might calm down, comes the money shot.

Definitely, DEFINITELY watch right to the end.