Caterer & Hotelkeeper articles from August 2007

Caterer & Hotelkeeper archives from August 2007

How to: avoid employing illegal workers.(Infozone)
August 2, 2007... The prospect of illegal workers applying for work armed with apparently "legal" documents is a major concern to employers, all the more so as the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 makes it an offence to employ a worker aged over 16 years who has...

News.(Infozone)(recruitment trends of hospitality industry)(Brief article)
August 2, 2007... * Internet recruitment on rise One in 10 hospitality businesses actively recruited additional staff during 2006, with 14% of those using the internet, research has revealed. The survey of 4,500 hospitality employers by Jobcentre Plus also...

250 pints of your bests, please.(Features)
August 2, 2007... Dust off the tankard, get on the loose-fitting trousers and prepare to decorate that sawdust - the 30th annual Great British Beer Festival kicks off next week in Earls Court, London. Taking place on 7-11 August, the festival is the perfect...

Infozone Foodfile ingredients in season.(Features)
August 2, 2007... Fish Meat Worth purchasing if you can find a steady supply at present are sand eels. Our supplier has managed to source a good provider and they are available for [pounds sterling]7.50 per kg. They are similar to whitebait but, in...

Still seeking answers on training.(Features)
August 2, 2007... The ears of college lecturers must be burning across the UK. First, Marco Pierre White brands catering colleges as "the biggest waste of time" in a recent interview with Caterer. Then, Oliver Peyton echoes White's view, calling college "a...

Features.(Letter to the editor)
August 2, 2007... letter of the week I refer to Oliver Peyton's comments about the state of British colleges (Caterer, 26 July, page 7). Between September 2006 and May I visited 95 colleges. I've also visited most colleges in New Zealand and many in...

Features.
August 2, 2007... CH02-08-07 Letters I am e-mailing you about your article "Catering colleges are a disgrace" (Caterer, 26 July, page 7). I don't think Marco Pierre White or Oliver Peyton do the industry any favours with comments like these unless they...

Four O Nine.(Features)
August 2, 2007... Hidden above the Clapham North pub and reached via a private entrance, Four O Nine is a recent addition to south London's dining scene from chef Iain Smart. Kerstin Kuhn went to visit Four O Nine is a hidden treasure in south London's...

Review of Reviews.(Features)
August 2, 2007... The Daily Telegraph 28 July Mark Palmer is "blissfully happy" with the service at La Becasse, Ludlow, Shropshire, but finds that the tasting menu leaves him unfulfillede_SClBThe foie gras looks like a tricky fence at the Hickstead...

Season's eatings.(Features)
August 2, 2007... With the game season due to start in less than a fortnight, Tom Vaughan looks at the seasonality of produce in the British Isles and what it means to chefs and restaurateurs, who highlight the season ahead "I can't believe it when I go into...

Side Orders.
August 2, 2007... Caterer and Hotelkeeperse_SSRq Gazette, 15 December 1897 At West London, Mr Rose was recently requested to express an opinion as to whether the person who called a cab for another was liable to pay the fare. The question arose out of a...

SPanish tasting.(Features)(Restaurant review)
August 2, 2007... Jason Atherton, chef-director of London's Maze restaurant, has always had a hunger for food knowledge. He reports on his most recent trip, to Barcelona I like to travel to different food destinations at least two or three times a year, and...

Is private equity working in the public interest?(News)
August 2, 2007... Private equity firms are buying up significant chunks of the hospitality industry worldwide. Is this a good thing, or should we be worried? Nic Paton reports It would be fair to say that private equity has not been getting the best press...

Ashes to ashes.(consequences of smoking bans)
August 2, 2007... A month into the English smoking ban, an ex-boxer has been brutally killed trying to stop three men lighting up in a London bar. Nic Paton finds out how inflammatory the legislation has proved, and how operators are dealing with customers who...

Making net networking work.(Inside)
August 2, 2007... The internet has moved into an interactive phase, known as Web 2.0, where gossip is global and its weight constantly monitored. So it pays to keep tabs on what is being said about your business. Ross Bentley explains Among his many famous...

Advanced intelligence.(Inside)
August 2, 2007... Luke Mellors has built a career, and an industry-wide reputation, on A love of skiing was behind Luke Mellors's decision to build a career in the hotel industry, because it was as a teenager enjoying an extended winter's holiday in the...

Sodexho steps in with school meals.(News)
August 2, 2007... London borough appoints Sodexho after Compass pulls out By Chris Druce Sodexho has been awarded the school meals contract for Richmond upon Thames which rival Compass Group quit in June, claiming that a lack of investment had made the...

Cocktail of the Month.(recipes and menus of cocktails)(Brief article)
August 2, 2007... Pimm's No 1 While the summer has been monsoon-like, you can't get away from the fact that summer drinks are alive and well, and one of the most iconic is Pimm's No 1 Cup. Its origins lie nearly 200 years ago, back in 1823, with a...

Side Orders.
August 2, 2007... CH02-08-07/Side Orders/Good Week Bad Week/164 words Good Week: Tea drinkers The homely cup of tea is at its lowest price in 30 years. Vegetarians Non-meat eaters are being offered [pounds sterling]300 off life insurance...

Good week/bad week.(Side Orders)(briefs)(Brief article)
August 2, 2007... Tea drinkers The homely cuppa is at its lowest price in 30 years. Vegetarians Non-meat eaters are being offered [pounds sterling]300 off life insurance in the belief that they're less likely to suffer from deadly illnesses. Chippies...

UK budget hotel sector by brand.(Infozone)
August 2, 2007... * By the end of April there were 1,171 hotels and 85,665 rooms in the branded budget hotel sector. * By number of rooms, the sector remains dominated by Premier Travel Inn and Travelodge, with 38.2% and 22.6% respectively. * The less...

A minute on the clockSimon Cook.(News)(Interview)
August 2, 2007... Simon Cook, who runs the Hilton London Gatwick Airport hotel, was recently named general manager of the year for the UK & Ireland by the group. He talks to Kerstin Kuhn about his success and the particular challenges of running an airport...

Infozone.(officials and employees of Lowry hotel and Hoole Hall hotel)(Brief article)
August 2, 2007... Move of the week John Allanson, the former resident manager of the Lowry hotel in Manchester, has been appointed general manager of the Hoole Hall hotel near Chester. He joins the 97-room Hoole Hall after it was bought by entrepreneur...

My life in hospitality.(Infozone)
August 2, 2007... Brian Turner Highs... The way I see it, I've been quite lucky in my career. I've done some amazing things. When I was 20, I went to work in Switzerland for 15 months at the Beau Rivage Palace. People didn't do that sort of thing in...

Hyatt Regency Kiev Saint Sophia, Ukraine.(Side Orders)(Hotel review)(Brief article)
August 2, 2007... This hotel is in the historic centre of the Ukrainian capital, overlooking many sights including Saint-Sophia's Cathedral. It has two restaurants and two bars, including the Grill Asia and the Bar on 8. Opened 15 July Owner CJSC Sofia...

Interlaken OCT hotel, China.(Side Orders)
August 2, 2007... This five-star hotel in southern China is set within a resort modelled on the Swiss alpine village of Interlaken, featuring three streets of gingerbread houses and a lake, a spa, restaurants and shops. The hotel offers four dining outlets,...

Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Switzerland.(Side Orders)
August 2, 2007... On the shores of Lake Geneva, this latest addition to Fairmont's international portfolio is housed in a 1906-built belle-epoque style building with views of the Alps. It offers dining options including La Brasserie du Palace and the fine-dining...

Strategy clinic.(analysis of smoking bans)(Brief article)
August 2, 2007... "I'm sure that the smoking ban is affecting my rural food-led destination pub business. What can I do?" It isn't too late to think about how you can fill in the holes in your business that the smoking ban might have caused. Presumably...

Subway closes in on top slot.(Doctor's Associates Inchours.)(Brief article)
August 2, 2007... Sandwich chain Subway this week issued a battle cry as it opened its 1,000th store in the UK and Ireland - it's coming for McDonald's. The US operator, now opening six stores a week in the British Isles, has overtaken KFC's 722 UK stores...

Flexible working pleas.(management of work hours)
August 2, 2007... Where do employers stand on requests by staff for flexible working to allow them to care for family members? Katee Dias of law firm Goodman Derrick explains PROBLEM One of my staff has submitted a flexible working request as she...

Going places.(Infozone)
August 2, 2007... Uwe Opocensky has been appointed executive chef at the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong. He joins from the Shangri-La Hotel group, where until recently he held executive chef positions at a number of its Asian properties. Before that, Opocensky...

Here's to the next 25 years.(Side Orders)(Pride of Britain Hotels)
August 2, 2007... As the Pride of Britain hotel consortium marks its 25th anniversary, chief executive Peter Hancock ponders what the next 25 years will hold In 1982 a small group of UK hoteliers were persuaded by Gerald Milsom to start a new consortium. It...

Over to you.(News)(Brief article)
August 2, 2007... How will hospitality develop in the next 25 years? Andy Cooney, head of marketing and development, Marston's "Hospitality operators will have to increase their quality and variety of offering to coax people into using them. There will...

All wired up.(Inside)
August 2, 2007... Pub operator Greene King has a new online ordering system to make Real ale and technology are subjects not normally mentioned in the same breath, but Greene King is determined to change that. The pub operator recently introduced an online...

Arora names T5 launch team.(News)(John Donaldson, Vincent Madden and Raj Shah, launch members of Arora International Hotels)(Brief article)
August 2, 2007... The senior management team to launch Arora International Hotels' flagship Sofitel property at London Heathrow's Terminal 5 next year have been named, Caterer can reveal. When it opens next March, the [pounds sterling]200m Sofitel London...

Departing Hix wins plaudits from industry.(News)(Mark Hix leaves Caprice Holdings)(Brief article)
August 2, 2007... Industry colleagues have paid tribute to Mark Hix, chef-director at Caprice Holdings, following his resignation after 17 years with the group. After working out his 12 months' notice, Hix plans to return to his West Country roots and is in...

Catering leaders hit back at Peyton slur.(News)
August 2, 2007... Hospitality and education chiefs lambast restaurateur's catering college criticisms as "reckless and irresponsible" By Daniel Thomas Industry figures from across the hospitality and education sectors have rounded on Oliver Peyton after...

WinePress shut for weeks.(News)
August 2, 2007... The sister restaurant to the two-Michelin-starred Vineyard at Stockcross has been forced to close its doors for six weeks due to extensive flooding. The WinePress restaurant, in the Donnington Valley Hotel & Spa in Newbury, Berkshire, saw...

Hospitality counts costs of flooding.(News)
August 2, 2007... Work begins to estimate flood losses, and to begin repairs By Christopher Walton Hospitality businesses in areas affected by last week's extensive flooding are starting to get back on their feet - but are preparing for the worst as...

The week in brief.(Compass Group PLC)(Orient-Express Hotels Ltd.)(Wembley PLC)(Brief article)
August 2, 2007... People 1st strategy queried Ian El-Mokadem, group managing director of Compass Group UK & Ireland, has questioned the strategy of People 1st, the Sector Skills Council for hospitality. El-Mokadem told Caterer he was supportive of any...

News.(world's tallest building under construction)(Brief article)
August 2, 2007... Room with a view? The hotel and residential development that is expected to become the world's tallest building has now reached its 140th floor. The [pounds sterling]160m Burj Dubai, slated for completion at the end of 2008, will contain more...

Admiral yet to pick its targets.(company forecasts of Admiral Taverns)(Brief article)
August 2, 2007... Admiral Taverns has no acquisition targets on the horizon despite negotiating a refinancing package that has opened the lid to a [pounds sterling]1b war-chest. The third-largest tenanted pub company in the UK has renegotiated a three-year...

Films boost UK tourist numbers.(News)
August 2, 2007... The film industry contributed [pounds sterling]1.8b to UK tourism last year as holidaymakers flocked to destinations featured on the big screen, according to research. An Oxford Economics study suggested that one in 10 of all visitors to the UK...

Burger King staff take pay fight to High Court.(News)
August 2, 2007... Four long-serving staff made redundant by fast-food chain Burger King have mounted a David-and-Goliath High Court fight for massive compensation from their former employer. The workers say that they were each informed of their job losses in...

Table Talk.(innovations of Domino's Pizza Inc.)
August 2, 2007... oxford bags a local hotel We've all been there. About to leave the house and we have this nagging feeling we've forgotten something. But whatever it is will be minor compared with something as big as a hotel. Yes, after the collapse of...

Caterer loves.(Side Orders)
August 2, 2007... Beer "Beer is something that's there to be enjoyed for its taste, character and diversity. That's why today there's an unrivalled choice of great beer and there's never been a better time to drink it." These wise words were uttered by...

The briefing.(reports of Federation of Small Businesses )(Brief article)
August 2, 2007... * Many firms don't report crimes Small firms have such little confidence in the police that 40% don't even bother to report crimes against them, the Federation of Small Businesses has announced. The FSB's research showed that 57% of small...

News.(Infozone)
August 9, 2007... * Boost for west London London mayor Ken Livingstone has launched a catering and hospitality training initiative for west London residents in preparation for the 2012 Olympics. The Skills for Food scheme will invest [pounds...

Springboard award winner.(management of Richard Hughes restaurant )(Brief article)
August 9, 2007... Every year, Springboard's Awards for Excellence celebrate what a great place the hospitality industry is to work in. In our sixth monthly profile of the winners, we look at the Lavender House, Norwich, which won the award for best student...

Going places.(Infozone)
August 9, 2007... Sodexho has appointed Raj Verma as corporate HR director for the UK and Ireland. Verma joins the contract catering giant from banking group Abbey, where he was head of HR and a member of the Abbey executive committee. He also spent six years...

M&B faces [pounds sterling]60m hit if deal is scuppered.(Mitchells & Butlers)(Brief article)
August 9, 2007... By Christopher Walton Mitchells & Butlers could lose [pounds sterling]60m if its proposed joint venture on property ownership with Robert Tchenguiz's investment vehicle R20 fails to go ahead, analysts have warned. The operator of the...

No sluggishness at Slug owner.(reports of Laurel Pub Co.)(Brief article)
August 9, 2007... The Slug and Lettuce pub chain is opening six new outlets a month, as plans laid by owner Laurel Pub Company to double the size of the estate by the end of the year take shape. Laurel, which aimed to boost the estate from 50 to 100, now has 86...

Side Orders.
August 9, 2007... Our back pages: stories from the Caterer vaults The Caterer and Hotel Keeper, 14 May 1927 A London Sunday newspaper is the responsible authority for the following dress suit comedy. The manager of a big hotel, who mistook one of the...

A degree of assistance.(recruiting of Malmaison)
August 9, 2007... Students from L'Ecole HoteliA[umlaut]re de Lausanne visited Birmingham's Malmaison hotel recently. Tom Vaughan caught up with them to find out what can be gained from a close relationship between education and industry "We're also...

Set for a speciality September.(Features)
August 9, 2007... Autumn may be a dry month for events as everyone jets off to sunnier climes, but prepare yourselves for September, when there will be a glut of fairs and festivals. The biggest of these is the London date for the Speciality & Fine Food...

Infozone Foodfile ingredients in season.(supply and demand of food)
August 9, 2007... Fresh produce Vegetables such as British broad beans and fresh peas in the pod (both about [pounds sterling]1.80 per kg) are still plentiful - mange-tout and sugar snaps are about [pounds sterling]3 per kg. There are good supplies of salad...

Summer dress codes.(laws, regulations and rules of dress codes)
August 9, 2007... Employment lawyer Andy Williams explains how managers should deal with staff who take the idea of a relaxed dress code too far The problem The company operates a dress-down code during July and August, as the workplace can become hot...

Strategy clinic.(management of banks)(Brief article)
August 9, 2007... "Looking through the property pages, I have seen a number of interesting properties, but I'm unsure what I can afford to borrow" There is no easy answer to this question. So many factors influence a bank when it considers a lending...

My life in hospitality.(Infozone)
August 9, 2007... Henry Besant Highs... I used to feel a bit nervous saying I was a bartender. Unless you were working somewhere like the Savoy, it wasn't really seen as a proper career. That perception has changed now, though. The bar culture has...

The briefing.(Infozone)
August 9, 2007... * Lenience for late-payers UK businesses are failing to take advantage of laws which protect them from late-paying customers, a new report has found. The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 entitles firms to charge...

stage craft.(Features)
August 9, 2007... Commis chef Christopher Bartlett recently won a Caterer competition to work in the kitchen at Le Gavroche for a day. Tom Vaughan caught up with him and head chef Michel Roux Jnr to see how it went The kitchen at Le Gavroche is credited with...

Set your sites on the right marks.(prices and rates of Alexanders restaurant )(Brief article)
August 9, 2007... Back in March, Observer food critic Jay Rayner described prices at Alexanders restaurant in Limpsfield, Surrey, as the type "that make the wallet recoil like a small lad's testes on hitting icy water". It was a great line that hinted at an...

Free sample of wine isn't against the law.(Side Orders)
August 9, 2007... letter of the week Recent guidance has clarified the law as it relates to measures and dispensing of wine by the glass (Caterer, 19 July, page 6). It may, however, leave a number of questions unanswered for licensed trade operators. ...

La Petite Maison.
August 9, 2007... With its sister restaurant in Nice a popular celebrity haunt, La Petite Maison in Mayfair was always going to be a place to be seen. But how does its menu hold up? Tom Vaughan pays a visit It was of little significance, one might argue,...

Review of Reviews.(Side Orders)
August 9, 2007... The Guardian 4 August Matthew Norman finds outstanding cooking at Baslow Hall in Baslow, Derbyshiree_SClBThe warning siren was briefly activated on being told, "Today, chef has a surprise for you!" ("Please," I said, "I'm not at all...

Wosskow back at Out of Town helm.(planning of entrepreneurs)(Brief article)
August 9, 2007... Entrepreneur plans to double business and add 600 jobs By Helen Gilbert Restaurant entrepreneur Lawrence Wosskow has rescued Out of Town restaurant group from administration - five years after selling it for [pounds sterling]25m. ...

Book Review.(Wake Up and Smell the Profit)(Book review)
August 9, 2007... Bean there, done it, here's how Wake Up and Smell the Profit John Richardson and Hugh Gilmartin Idiego, [pounds sterling]9.99 ISBN 0-549066-9-1 Many people realise that coffee is a goldmine, but they approach it with...

Good brews is no news.(Inside)
August 9, 2007... Producing a flavoursome cup of coffee in banqueting quantities is often a For all the attention focused on baristas and the art of the espresso, the most profitable coffee sector of all is, in fact, the least glamorous one. It's the bulk...

Taking the soft option.(laws, regulations and rules of school food services)
August 9, 2007... In their rush to get only healthy drinks Any school caterer serving to school-age teenagers will, from next month, have to follow new rules. There are new regulations concerning food and drink sold and served within schools, but it's...

Tannin salons.(buildings and facilities of coffeehouses)
August 9, 2007... Despite the UK being a nation of tea drinkers, there has been nonationwide chain of tea outlets since the heyday of the Lyons CornerHouses. But that may soon change. Janet Harmer reports on two operators with big plans for their own distinct...

Service with a smile.(Inside)
August 9, 2007... We've become so used to having our products work properly that we've Maintenance is something of a hot topic in the coffee trade. Many caterers avoid suppliers' service agreements, disliking the cost of the premiums and preferring to...

Flood-hit firms warned about lay-offs and cutting hours.(News)
August 9, 2007... Flood-hit hotel and restaurant businesses which have cut staff working hours or temporarily laid off workers have been warned that employees can claim full redundancy payments after just four weeks. Any employee laid off without pay or put...

Good week/bad week.(Side Orders)
August 9, 2007... Cod Birds Eye to use sustainable fish in its fish fingers, replacing cod with pollock. McDonald's Pre-school children prefer the taste of food in McDonald's packaging to that in unbranded wrapping, a study finds. Female beer drinkers...

UK hotel market shows brisk first-half growth.(News)
August 9, 2007... The UK hotel market maintained high levels of growth in the first half of 2007 with fears of rising interest rates denting consumer spending failing to materialise. UK revenue per available room (revpar) in the six months to the end of...

Jones to head kitchen at new Hilton eaterie.(News)
August 9, 2007... Podium head chef Marvin Jones The London Hilton on Park Lane hotel has closed its Park Brasserie and is transforming the space into a contemporary restaurant. The hotel is investing [pounds sterling]500,000 in the project, which will...

Alimentum, Cambridge.(Side Orders)
August 9, 2007... This new eaterie in Cambridge offers a modern French menu with Mediterranean influences underpinned by ethical values. The first UK restaurant to serve "ethical" foie gras, it serves free-range meat and fish from sustainable sources. ...

Piada, London.(Side Orders)
August 9, 2007... Named after the popular Italian street food the piadina, an olive oil-based flatbread, this is Piada's second London outlet serving the speciality bread with a range of 16 fillings. The restaurant is open all day and also offers a take-away and...

The Plough, Wavendon.(Side Orders)
August 9, 2007... Housed in a former 16th-century coaching inn and bakehouse, this restaurant has been revamped and opened under new ownership. It now features a dining room, bar and garden courtyard, with a modern European menu focused on seasonal local...

Barn Asia, Newcastle.(Side Orders)
August 9, 2007... This new restaurant bills itself as Newcastle's first pan-Asian eaterie and offers a combination of Vietnamese, Cambodian and Thai cuisines, specialising in Asian tapas. The decor features regional artwork, and colourful ceiling lights next to...

A talent and a great friend.(Side Orders)
August 9, 2007... Pravin Sharma was so ebullient that I set him a challenge on his days off - to enter the Roux Scholarship Pravin Sharma was so ebullient that I set him a challenge on his days off - to enter the Roux Scholarship. He went in to have fun and...

Tragic loss of Roux Scholar Pravin Sharma.(Side Orders)
August 9, 2007... I had the opportunity to spend time with Pravin Sharma ("2006 Roux Scholar dies after long illness", CatererSearch.com) at the Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development (OCLD), Delhi, during our two-year senior kitchen training programme in the...

Peyton's view short-sighted.(Side Orders)
August 9, 2007... Reading Oliver Peyton's comments about catering colleges (Caterer, 26 July, page 7) was like dejA vu - and then some Reading Oliver Peyton's comments about catering colleges (Caterer, 26 July, page 7) was like dejA vu - and then some....

Caterer loves.(Side Orders)
August 9, 2007... Ice-cream Summer seems to have arrived at last (touch wood), and what better way to celebrate the sunshine than by indulging in ice-cream? Who cares about toning that beach bottom? A little bit of ice-cream in the sun never hurt anyone....

Beer boosters must stand up and be counted.(Side Orders)
August 9, 2007... Beer writer and marketing consultant Pete Brown urges chefs to do more to promote the national drink as an accompaniment to fine food Last month Michel Roux Jnr won the prestigious Beer Drinker of the Year award at the All-Party...