Recently in pubs and bars Category

There's more trouble ahead for the pub trade, with enforcement activity on the up and, of course, further legislation in the offing.

Still, legislation takes a while to push through Parliament - even the flagship Policing and Crime Bill - so the Home Office has a bit of free-time on its hands.

So in a move about as welcome as a warm lager, officials have been running a series of free roadshows for council licensing officers to encourage more enforcement activity against pubs.

Councils themselves are particularly keen on enforcement activity, as due to the tough environment for pubs, variations and applications for new licences have tailed off and there's a revenue shortfall for many.

Still, you'd hope the police would rise above all this populist nonsense and apply some commonsense to the issue of problem drinking, taking a lead were politicians will not. Well, in a word, no.

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.

Barack Obama's historic landslide victory over Republican rival John McCain last night was not only good news for Democrats and those of a liberal persuasion.

Hospitality operators across London and the UK were also celebrating as ex-pats and interested observers packed into pubs, bars, restaurants and hotels to watch the drama unfold into the early hours.

There were 200 guests at The American Bar at the Stafford Hotel near Mayfair 300 at the Chicago Rib Shack in Knightsbridge, while a whopping 800 turned out at Yates's Wine Lodge, in Leicester Square.

The scene was repeated in bars and hotels across Europe, including Ernest Hemingway's favourite watering hole in Paris, Harry's Bar.

And it wasn't just Europe. Hotels and bars across Asia were packed to the rafters, with the Marriott in Beijing alone seeing 600 punters watching state after state turn Democrat blue. 

Your correspondent was far more professional, watching BBC until the early hours while tucked up in bed...

Last week, London pub the Endurance was banned from allowing drinkers and smokers outside its premises from 6pm in the evening after losing a case against Westminster Council.

Kitchen Rat hears that the Soho-based pub faces a future of competing against its local rivals without the appeal of outdoor drinking thanks to the complaints of just three residents, with one in particular making an almighty fuss.

The resident in question - who presumably was not forced to live in Soho - mounted a vocal campaign against the pub because of the noise its customers were making outside.

It has emerged that she also complained about the market stall traders of nearby Berwick Street shouting phrases such as "strawberries, £1 a punnet" and "get your bananas here". How terribly inconvenient it is for market folk to try and make a living in the heart of London and not believe that they are in a private, gated, community in Surrey.

The Blue Post pub, on the other side of the road to the Endurance, is yet to receive a complaint and its punters can drink outside to their hearts content. Presumably customers at the Blue Post only speak outside in whispers or are all proficient in sign language. At least they are not trying to drink and sell strawberries at the same time.

As the UK's largest pub operator, there is always plenty going on at Punch Taverns and so to keep us journos and other industry watchers abreast of all the news, the company helpfully sends out a weekly e-mail, known as the Grapevine.

In last week's edition, we learnt that the Green Man in London is installing an ATM machine, in a project dubbed 'Hole in the Wall' (catchy). Meanwhile, in the managed division, Spirit, the Wheatstone Inn in Gloucester was re-opening while the Half Moon in Worksop was hosting a charity talent contest.

All good stuff, no doubt, but for some reason, the e-mail did not carry the rather bigger news that the head of the Spirit division, Andrew Knight, left the business rather abruptly (or so it seemed) last Monday, and was replaced by former Whitbread heavyweight Mike Tye

The rumour mill kicked into overdrive as whispers began that Knight had not exactly been preparing for life after Punch - in fact Caterer spent the day with Knight last month discussing his plans for the future of its managed houses.

One wonders if Knight was pondering the words of the late, great Marvin Gaye. "It took me by surprise I must say, when I found out yesterday, I heard it through the grapevine."

Poor Alastair Darling, embattled chancellor of the exchequer.Hated by the pub industry after his merciless hike in alcohol duty in this year's Budget the man is even barred from his local, Punch Taverns owned Red Lion as a result.

As the UK economy splutters and Bank of England head Melvyn King hums "There may be trouble ahead" in his ear, it seems everyone's happy to have a laugh at his expense.

Kitchen Rat was more willing to raise a glass to JD Wetherspoon's latest advertising campaign the budget beer purveyor is promoting Abbot's Ale for a wallet friendly £2.39, along with a range of other keenly priced tipples under the poster headline - you've guessed it - "Move Over Darling".

It's enough to make a man furrow his (strangely dark) brow.

Punch Taverns gives chancellor knockout blow>>

Government fails to disclose beer tax motives>>

This week the Rat was out enjoying a quick pint in a London boozer and took this snap with his Rat-Cam of two hapless builders.

The two chaps had spent the day installing bollards to stop cars from parking on the pavement and were just packing away their tools.

Unfortunately the Rat was distracted by the latest chef gossip from his secret contacts and missed their reaction but he did have the fortitude to realise that a picture speaks a thousand words....

Rumours on the floor of trade-shows can spread like Chinese whispers but the talk of the National Licensed Business Show in Birmingham's NEC yesterday was the appearance of Greene King earlier in the week.

Its Pub Partners managing director David Elliott was scheduled to conduct his key note speech at 2.35pm but the word on the street (or the NEC show floor) was that disgruntled Greene King licensees planned to heckle Elliott's speech. By all accounts Elliott was whisked into the trade show under-cover, swapped time-slots with an earlier speaker and gave his speech before the hecklers could arrive!

As Greene King (almost) says in its current batch of advertising: the key-note with nothing to prove!

Last week’s flooding affected hoteliers, restaurateurs and publicans in pretty dramatic ways, from having your water supply cut off to the road leading to your business becoming inaccessible through the rising tides. Thankfully a little blitz spirit has taken hold in the South-West and Midlands, with rival hoteliers ferrying each other food by dinghy and brewers shipping in water instead of beer in delivery trucks. Come on chaps, stiff upper lip and all that! Worse things have happened at sea.

Unfortunately the pressure has got to a few in the trade.

We've had sleep directors and chief romance officers, goldfish to help you sleep better and life style gurus to help you live better (and remove your guilt of having too much cash). Hell, you can even ReSet your pancreas if need be.

But consultants Audio Sushi (do they like to keep it raw?) are on the scene and aiming to help Chicago Rock Cafes and others across the land abandon soft rock and faux-seventies tunes as part of their latest service: Corporate Music Direction.