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As is AA Gill's wont, he'll do anything except get down to the business of reviewing. This week in his procrastinatory preamble before the main event, he tells us all how bad he is at championing causes before (Westminster politician-like) seemlessly taking credit for the government's recent announcemnt of changes to the law on tipping.

Un-Westminster-politician like, though, he does admit and then revel in the smugness and sanctimony of his words, and thus we are endeared to him once more, before he then slams Ba Shan in Soho into oblivion with a no star review.

A good read...and obviously a cause I identify with, having also been at the forefront of campaigining for waitresses' rights - in my own inconspicuous, back seat way..

Gillian Thomson, head of operations at Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH), is leaving the multi-Michelin-starred restaurant group, Kitchen Rat has learnt.

Scottish-born Thomson will leave GRH at the end of this month after eight years with the company.

Gillian Thomson joined GRH at its humble beginnings and has helped grow the company from two restaurants, employing 70 staff, to a global business with 23 restaurants on four continents.

After graduating with a hotel and hospitality management degree from the Scottish Hotel School at Strathclyde University, Thomson worked for what is now Millennium Hotels & Resorts, initially at the company's Glasgow hotel as assistant food and beverage manager.

She then transferred to the group's London hotel in Knightsbridge as food and beverage manager, before becoming operations manager at the Millennium Bailey's hotel. She joined GRH in 2001.

We may be in recessionary times but people are still keen to sniff out a good business opportunity - even those that aren't really there.

On April Fool's Day, property agent Davis Coffer Lyons (DCL) "announced" that it had been instructed to roll out 1,000 new sites for a new edible insect group called 'Love Bug' that had been very successful in the States.

If alarm bells were not ringing about the name (or the number of sites), then the quote should really have given things away.

Brandon Elmon, head of agency acquisitions, said: "We definitely think this concept has legs and will fly. In five years' time, there will be swarms of them."

While a number of clients contacted DCL to commend the joke, a "substantial" number fell for it and were e-mailing for further details, such as size requirements and locations.

One property developer even suggested that the concept would be a perfect fit for a new complex it was building. A DCL agent quietly pointed out there was no such concept after all.

And, Kitchen Rat''s mole at DCL tells us, people are still ringing up and asking about it, despite this announcement on the company website.

Which begs the question - should someone actually create the concept?

Former MasterChef winner James Nathan has joined the Michelin-starred Bath Priory as junior sous chef, Kitchen Rat can reveal.

The 2008 winner of the BBC show, which gives amateur cooks the chance to make the jump to becoming professional chefs, will be working under the guidance of the property's new executive head chef Michael Caines.

Caines has taken over the reins at the Bath Priory following the departure of Chris Horridge, who left in January to join von Essen's Cliveden hotel.

Head chef is James Sheridan, who joins from Caines' two-Michelin-starred restaurant at Gidleigh Park, where he was sous chef. It's his first role as head chef.

The Bath Priory will reopen Monday week (16 March) after a six-week refurbishment programme, which included a complete revamp of the kitchen.

Look out for a Minute on the Clock interview with general manager Sue Williams in next week's issue of Caterer and Hotelkeeper out on 12 March. 

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and balladeer who has become one of the country's most celebrated icons. And every year on his birthday on 25 January Scots across the world pay tribute to their national hero with a special feast.

Burns Suppers have been part of Scottish culture for more than 200 years and the basic format for the evening has remained unchanged since its inception, with haggis, Scotch whisky and perhaps a poem or two being the order of the day.

Dinner usually includes a starter of traditional cock-a-leekie soup before the main course of "Haggis wi' bashit neeps an' champit tatties" (haggis with mashed potatoes and swedes), followed by a sweet course of "clootie dumplin" (a pudding prepared in a linen cloth or cloot) or "Typsy Laird" (a Scottish sherry trifle). Afterwards comes the cheese board, served with bannocks (traditional oat-cakes) and tea or coffee.

After dinner a host of toasts and speeches are made including the loyal toast, immortal memory and toast to the lasses.

Whether you like it or not, Michelin still rocks the cheffing world and remains the key barometer for restaurants across the UK.

This year's guide has caused a particular stir after the results leaked out five days early on the internet and they were met with a mixed reaction from the industry.

But what goes on behind closed doors at Michelin? How do the inspectors evaluate who's worth a Bib Gourmand or the rising three-star?

Watch our video interview with editor Derek Bulmer to find out more.

Barack Obama will be inaugurated as America's 44th president today and it's not just the folks across the pond who'll be celebrating the beginning of a new era in world politics.

Over here in the UK the many US-themed restaurants and bars will be putting on special events too so make sure you head down to one of them to mark the occasion.

Momma Cheri's Soul Food Shack in Brighton is inviting people to pop in throughout the day and there'll be an open microphone giving everybody the chance to say what's on their mind. And for all those who have to work today, there'll be another party on Sunday (25 January). 

London's Chicago Rib Shack in Knightsbridge is also putting on a special party with live music, party food, free beer and footage of the inauguration ceremony taking place in Washington DC.  

TGI Fridays across London will be celebrating Obama collectively toasting him at 9pm with special American cocktails at its venues across the city. They will also be screening all the inauguration celebrations.

Arguably the largest party is taking place at the O2 Arena's Indigo, with the 20109 Change event featuring celebrity performances as well as a live feed to Washington DC to see the inauguration of Obama as it happens.

Finally Madame Tussauds is unveiling a new statue of Barack Obama in a detailed recreation of the Oval Office. Admission is free to all US citizens with valid ID today, and footage of the inauguration ceremony will be shown live in the World Leaders zone.

It seems no-one is escaping the effects of the credit crunch.

Gordon Ramsay has sacked his long-standing public relations guru Gary Farrow, after five years working together.

The move comes just weeks after Ramsay was accused of having an extra martial affair, but Chris Hutcheson, chief executive of Gordon Ramsay Holdings, called the decision a "rationalisation".

He told trade mag PR Week that Ramsay would not look for a new publicist and that the company would continue to use Sauce Communications for its UK PR.

Farrow, chief executive of The Corporation, did not comment.

No one in the industry is going to escape the effects of the looming recession and Kitchen Rat hopes Ramsay will now focus more on the restaurant business than showbiz (although being quoted in Marie Claire probably isn't the best start).

Word has reached Kitchen Rat that the Dorchester has appointed a replacement for Aiden Byrne, the former head chef of the hotel's Grill restaurant, who has left to run his own pub in Cheshire.

Fellow scouser Brian Hughson, former head chef of Gary Rhodes' Michelin-starred Rhodes W1 Restaurant at the Cumberland hotel, has taken over the reins.  

Byrne, who announced his departure last year after obtaining the leasehold on the Church Green Pub in Lymm, Cheshire, was set to leave the Dorchester at the end of January. But as Hughson already started his new role in December, Byrne was set free early and is now fully concentrating on getting things off the ground at his own venture.

According to Byrne the Dorchester is "shooting for Michelin stars" so hopes will be high for Hughson to deliver in the 2010 guide. Well, at least he's got some time.

Aiden Byrne to leave the Dorchester 

Interview with Gary Rhodes and Brian Hughson on winning a Michelin star 

With just over a week to go until the 2009 Michelin guide for Great Britain and Ireland is released, rumours are rife about who will and who won't be getting stars this year.

Kitchen Rat spoke to some of the culinary wizards who have gained stars themselves in the past about who they think deserves to win this year.

After last year's relatively poor crop of awards, hopes are high that there'll be at least a few two stars handed out this year. Restaurants including L'Autre Pied, Nathan Outlaw, Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley and Claude and Claire Bosi's Hibiscus are getting the top votes from their peers but the consensus among the industry seems that 2009 will be yet another year where the UK's number of three-starred restaurants will remain unchanged.

Here's what our top chefs had to say: