Caterer & Hotelkeeper articles from May 2003

Caterer & Hotelkeeper archives from May 2003

In Brief.(news from the HCA)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Grossman comes first Loyd Grossman has been appointed the HCA's first Honorary Patron, a membership category introduced by the association to "pay tribute to national figures or individuals who have undertaken important work in NHS...

BUSINESS ROUND-UP.(Thistle Hotels urged shareholders to reject UKPd555 mil hostile bid from majority shareholder BIL)
May 1, 2003... Thistle holds firm against bid Thistle Hotels this week urged its shareholders to continue to reject the pound sterling555m hostile bid submitted by majority shareholder BIL. Chairman David Newbigging described the offer, which values...

News Round-up.(hospitality industry news)
May 1, 2003... Michels takes over Hilton hotel division Hilton Group chief executive David Michels has assumed responsibility for the company's hotel division following the death of Anthony Harris two months ago. Harris, who died of cancer on 11...

TUC proposes extra pay for bank holidays.(Trades Union Congress)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Hotel and pub operators have given a cautious thumbs-up to a call from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to make sure every employee who works over bank holidays is paid extra or given time off in lieu. A recent report from the TUC points out...

Review OFTHEREVIEWS.(restaurant reviews)
May 1, 2003... 27 April Melinda Stevens visits Jean-Christophe Novelli's Auberge du Lac, Welwyn I ordered the steamed caramelised carrot gateau flan with Emmental cheese and basil veloute sauce and wrapped in winter lettuce, if only because it...

Pressure mounts for all-out smoking ban.(Parliament under pressure to implement a total smoking ban in restaurants and cafes)
May 1, 2003... Pressure is building for Parliament to implement a total smoking ban in restaurants and cafes, with the public, restaurateurs and MPs all voting in favour of it in the past few weeks. According to Mori research for London health...

Contract catering round-up.(announces various catering contracts)
May 1, 2003... Research cafe win for Holroyd Howe Contract caterer Holroyd Howe has been awarded the three-year contract to provide staff feeding and hospitality services at Research International's London head office. The market research company has...

London's slump pains continue.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... London hotels continue to be hit hard by the economic slump, with room revenue recording a double-digit fall, according to the HotelBenchmark Survey by Deloitte & Touche. With a drop in occupancy across London hotels of 6.6 percentage...

Extra work permits will boost jobs.(foreign workers will be allowed to take low-skilled hospitality jobs)
May 1, 2003... An additional 10,000 work permits are to be granted from this month to allow foreign workers to take on low-skilled hospitality jobs. The Government scheme, which runs from now until May 2004, favours workers from EU accession countries...

Faites vos jeux - Guernsey takes bids for first casino.(St Pierre Park and Grande Mare hotels are bidding for first gaming licence to be granted in Channel Islands)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The St Pierre Park and Grande Mare hotels in Guernsey are bidding for the first gaming licence to be granted in the Channel Islands. CI Traders, the AIM-listed company that owns the St Pierre Park hotel, said it would invest pound...

Hospital Caterers Association.(conference highlights)
May 1, 2003... Service must match food improvements Medical staff need to communicate more with hospital caterers, and service levels must improve, if patients are to benefit fully from the improved hospital food now being produced. This was the...

Hospitals warned about legal threat over nutrition.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The danger of litigation owing to a nutritionally poor diet in hospital is growing, warned senior clinician Professor Simon Allison, head of clinical nutrition at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham. Allison said that a recent study...

Hospitality elite make Rich List.(Urs Schwarzenbach, owner of Dolder Grand hotel in Zurich, is hotel industry's richest person)
May 1, 2003... Times may be tough, but there's still plenty of money to be made in hotels and restaurants, if the recently published Sunday Times Rich List 2003 is anything to go by. A good showing from the hospitality industry saw financier Urs...

Filleting courses take to the road.(North Shields Fish Filleting Training School will operate mobile training facility for fish filleting)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The dying art of fish filleting will receive a boost when a new mobile training facility dedicated to teaching filleting skills takes to the road this month. Project manager Allan Schiller from the North Shields Fish Filleting Training...

On the way to recovery.(Hospital Caterering standards)
May 1, 2003... What's the point of preparing first-class food if the service that places it on the table is second-rate? Poor service spoils good food. Does that sound familiar? Think you're reading last week's Caterer by mistake? Don't worry, for the...

Crooks cashing in with data protection scam.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Fraudsters across the UK are attempting to cash in on businesses' responsibility to register with the Government's Information Commissioner. Quoting the Data Protection Act 1998, companies are sending professional-seeming letters...

Fear of Sars could wipe out Asian hotel profits.
May 1, 2003... Hotels with a high exposure to the Asian market could struggle to survive if the Sars epidemic is not brought under control by the summer, or autumn at the latest. Of UK-listed companies, Millennium & Copthorne (M&C) is seen to be most at...

S&N to sell off properties to pay for brewing expansion.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) has put its portfolio of 1,450 pubs, restaurants and lodges up for sale, including its Chef & Brewer and Premier Lodge chains. The move comes after a four-month period of negotiation to sell half of S&N's...

stockwatch.(industry statistics )
May 1, 2003... The end of hostilities in Iraq has brought some cheer to leisure shares, which have taken a more positive direction over the fortnight to last Monday. Only five of the companies whose share prices are listed above recorded a decline. One...

Woz joins in the jungle japery.(Chef Antony Worrall Thompson in "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!")(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Chef Antony Worrall Thompson (far left) is currently stretching his wits and skills to the utmost in an attempt to survive in the jungle for the ITV series I'm a celebrity, get me out of here!. The maverick chef, who runs Notting Grill in...

Noble House launches Ken Hom academy.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Celebrity chef-restaurateur Ken Hom and restaurant company Noble House have launched an in-house training programme for the company's chefs working in its Yellow River, Jim Thompson's and Oriental Restaurant Group brands. Dubbed the Ken...

Managers face axe as IHGcuts costs.(InterContinental Hotels Group )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is to slash 30% of its senior management roles in a bid to reduce annual costs by at least $50m (pound sterling31.4m). The phased redundancy drive is part of an organisational review that started last...

Bankers take over at Le Meridien as asset value slumps.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Hotel operator Le Meridien has been put in to the hands of its bankers after breaching bank covenants and slumping in value to below the level of its debts. The company was bought from Compass two years ago for pound sterling1.92b by a...

Personals.
May 8, 2003... n Were you at South Devon College of Arts & Technology, Torquay, between 1985 and 1989? If so, there is a reunion planned at the Palace hotel, Torquay, on Saturday 4 October. If you are interested in attending, please e-mail Sarah Goodwin (nee...

News Round-up.(multiple articles)
May 8, 2003... Hotels could do better for women in business Most women business travellers feel uncomfortable eating and drinking alone in hotel restaurants and bars, according to research. The Company Barclaycard Travel in Business Survey, released...

Leigh Myers to head kitchen at Park restaurant.(Derek and Nicola Cheetham)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Derek and Nicola Cheetham, owners of the Tulketh hotel in Preston, Lancashire, open their first restaurant, the Park, on 11 May after a year of refurbishment and preparation. "We're aiming for a great restaurant with rooms, rather than a...

people On the move.(Obituary)(Biography)
May 8, 2003... Nicola Darby has joined bars, restaurants and hotels operator the Fat Cat Group as recruitment and training manager in its Derby offices. She held the same position at Regent Inns-owned Jongleurs. Justin Cooper has been appointed the company's...

Delia's soccer collection.(Delia Smith, Delia's Canary Catering)
May 8, 2003... Delia Smith and her team are working hard to take Norwich City FC's Carrow Road stadium into the premier league for football food. Janet Harmer reports Delia Smith readily admits that she knew nothing about business or large-scale catering...

The hotel world's trendsetter.(Kimpton Group)
May 8, 2003... Think of any quirky trend that has sprung up in the hotel world, and there's a fair chance it started in the Kimpton Group, as Gillian Drummond explains So, first things first. If, like many, you've been wondering why certain hip hotels...

Review OF THE REVIEWS.(Restaurant Review)
May 8, 2003... 3 May Jan Moir is effusive about restaurant Tom Aikens in London SW3 The rabbit dish is another visual joy; a deep, white bowl containing a stockade of carrot sticks, fencing in rillettes made glossy with a sweet wine and carrot jelly,...

Spring vegetables.(Sat Bains)(Interview)
May 8, 2003... Too few chefs let vegetables take centre stage on their menus, but that's something Sat Bains, chef-director of restaurant Sat Bains at Hotel des Clos, can't be accused of. Here, he discusses spring vegetables with food writer Michael Raffael...

Building a better wine list.
May 8, 2003... Are you ignoring the potential of your wine list? Fiona Sims talks to those in the know and finds you don't have to be a wine expert to have a brilliant list The on-trade is not very good at selling wine. There, I've said it. I'm not...

The critics' choices.(wines )
May 8, 2003... Setting trends in wine means keeping ahead of the game and spotting the next big thing. So what, asks Fiona Sims, are the experts currently raving about? English wine has ceased to be a bad joke," declared Tim Atkin MW in The Observer...

Simply the best sommelier.(Loic Maillet, UK Champagne Ruinart Sommelier of the Year)(Interview)
May 8, 2003... What does it take to make a great sommelier? Caterer talks to Loic Maillet, who has just won the country's top prize, the UK Champagne Ruinart Sommelier of the Year How does it feel to be the best in the country? Fantastic. Do you know...

All the fun of the fair.(London International Wine & Spirits Fair)
May 8, 2003... It's the premier event in the wine trade calendar - and now the on-trade. So brace yourselves for the London International Wine & Spirits Fair The London International Wine & Spirits Fair is upon us once again. This year,...

'Greedy' operators threatening Dublin restaurant scene.(Cooke's Event Co., Duzy's Cafe)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Irish restaurateurs have been branded "greedy" by one of their own number, as the Dublin restaurant scene faces further upheaval with the closure of two well-known operations. Cooke's Event Company, a catering enterprise that operated...

BOOKREVIEW.(Book Review)
May 8, 2003... BY Stephen Carter Latin Flavors On The Grill Douglas Rodriguez $35, Ten Speed Press (Tel: 00 1 510 559 1600, Web: www.tenspeed.com) ISBN 1-58008-055-3 This will be the third book by Douglas Rodriguez that I have read,...

Last supper.(Angela Hartnett)(Interview)
May 8, 2003... Faced with her last meal on earth, London's Connaught hotel executive chef Angela Hartnett would start the proceedings with a Martini Bianca So, Angela, what's for dinner? Anolini (stuffed pasta with veal and beef in light chicken...

table talk.(restaurant news)
May 8, 2003... There's nothing like a couple of cold pints More than 50 holiday-makers are toasting John Smith's bitter and Foster's lager, after the brews prevented a major fire sweeping through their hotel as they slept. A fire that broke out...

Percy's.
May 8, 2003... The waiting is over for the Bricknell-Webbs as the regional development agency makes a decision on their grant. Rosalind Mullen reports It has been a year since Tina and Tony Bricknell-Webb applied to the regional development agency (RDA)...

What went wrong at Le Petit Blanc?(brasserie)
May 8, 2003... Backed by one of the highest-profile celebrity chefs and with sites in four up-and-coming areas, Le Petit Blanc looked set to really cash in on the trend for big-name brasserie eating. But now it's in administration and is seeking a buyer....

Tide turns for Riesling.
May 8, 2003... Dragged down by association for too long, Riesling now deserves re-evaluation on restaurant wine lists Do you want to know how to please the critics? Get more Riesling on your wine list. This was the suggestion of top sommelier Matthieu...

Whitbread moves focus to Travel Inn.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Whitbread is to focus much of its capital spending in the coming year on its Travel Inn chain, as it strives to reach its target of 25,000 rooms by 2008, the hotel and leisure group said last week as it unveiled its full-year results. A...

Dempsey to join Macdonald Hotels.(Patrick Dempsey leaves Restaurant Associates)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Patrick Dempsey, chief executive of Restaurant Associates, the fine-dining division of contract caterer Compass Group, is to join Scottish group Macdonald Hotels as chief executive on 5 August. Dempsey, a former managing director of...

Hotels optimistic that US tourists will return soon.
May 8, 2003... Hoteliers at the top end of the market are generally optimistic that the number of high-spending American visitors will start to pick up now that major combat in Iraq is officially over. But some fear most Americans are still too nervous...

Britten leads UK-wide hotel grading review.(Alan Britten)
May 8, 2003... Alan Britten, former chairman of the now-defunct English Tourism Council, has been asked by the Government to head a team to review the different hotel grading schemes operating in England, Scotland and Wales. A spokeswoman for...

Croydon Aerodrome hotel celebrates 75th birthday.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... The world's first airport hotel, the Aerodrome in Croydon, Surrey, has celebrated its 75th anniversary. The 84-bedroom hotel was built in 1928 to serve the increasing number of air passengers using Croydon Airport, the world's first...

Sussex hotel gears up to launch.(Radisson Edwardian Hotels will open Sussex hotel in London, new hotel in Manchester)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Radisson Edwardian Hotels will open its Sussex hotel near London's Marble Arch next month, after a pound sterling6m refurbishment. The hotel, previously named the Savoy Court, closed in December 2002. It will have 101 bedrooms when it opens as...

Letters Caterer.(Letter to the Editor)
May 8, 2003... SSC is making its mark in catering education In response to Clive Robertson's comments about the Sector Skills Council (SSC) (Caterer, 24 April, page 16), as a member of the SSC editorial panel, I don't feel that education has been missed...

Contractors call for code to end rivals' dirty tricks.
May 8, 2003... Contract caterers are calling for a code of practice to end the problem of outgoing contractors bad-mouthing the incoming company, which causes unrest among staff and damages the image of the industry. Eaton Group chairman Peter...

News Round-up.
May 8, 2003... Coubrough joins contract caterer Holroyd Howe David Coubrough is quitting as chief executive of recruitment company Portfolio International and Prime People to join contract caterer Holroyd Howe as a nonexecutive director. Coubrough...

QMH predicts a tough year.(Queen's Moat Houses PLC)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Queens Moat Houses has issued its strongest warning yet that trading will be worse than expected this year. The warning, from chairman Richard Jewson, crucially brings into question the company's ability to fulfil its banking covenants. At...

Livingstone heads campaign to boost London restaurants.(London mayor Ken Livingstone launches promotion for London area services, attractions)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... London's restaurants, in partnership with Mayor Ken Livingstone, are to kick off a pound sterling3.8m relaunch in an effort to boost the post-Iraq war slump. The Totally London Month campaign will run from 17 May to 15 June and will aim to...

New rules to blame for drop in Giardino profits.(Giardino Group PLC)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... The Giardino Group, which operates the Cafe Giardino, Pellini, Auberge, Azzurro and Carpaccio brands, has blamed new accounting standards for forcing it to cut its reported operating profits by pound sterling3m to pound sterling722,000 for the...

Howdy, pardners, have a nice stay.(US economy is primary reason by Americans have been reluctant to travel)
May 8, 2003... After nearly two years of wondering where all the Americans had gone, hoteliers in the UK say they can see the first signs that the dollar spend is returning (see page 6). Let's hope they're right. The shortfall in US visitor numbers has been...

stockwatch.(stock prices for hospitality companies)
May 8, 2003... The post-Iraq war bounce-back in the stock market has given a boost to share prices that have fallen sharply in recent months due to international exposure or general undervaluation. Among the hotel operators with a strong presence...

Thistle loses takeover fight.(BIL International Ltd. acquires Thistle Hotels Ltd.)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Thistle Hotels, London's biggest hotel operator, lost its battle for independence last week when it reluctantly agreed to a pound sterling627m takeover bid from its biggest shareholder, Singapore investment firm BIL International. It had...

My career - unit manager.(excerpt of interview with Crown Society caterers manager Michael Mugridge)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2003... Michael Mugridge, general manager of the Insurance Hall in London, tells us about working life as a contract catering unit manager with Crown Society caterers Q Where do you work? A I work for Crown Society, and our contract is with...

Stone Mill.(hotel)
May 8, 2003... If any chef is to carry on where Franco Taruschio left off in South Wales, it would seem logical that it's Simon Kealy, now back home in a new venue Some people are just blessed by geography. If you live in the part of south-east Wales...

My route to the top.
May 8, 2003... Jim Walker From baking bread on an oil tanker to running a company with 11,000 staff and annual sales of pound sterling64m, it's been an exciting voyage for Jim Walker, chief executive of Initial Catering Services Jim Walker, the son...

Surviving A cash-flow crisis.
May 8, 2003... Antonia Brandes, commercial property partner at Fladgate Fielder solicitors, considers whether the Insolvency Act can help you solve a cash-flow crisis The Insolvency Act 2000 has introduced the concept of a moratorium designed to protect...

claire lawson.
May 8, 2003... Until the 1970s, the Brewery in London was the main site of Whitbread's brewing operation. Today, it's a conference and event venue. Claire Lawson is general manager I live in Muswell Hill, London, seven miles from work. If it came to it,...

salary watch.
May 15, 2003... HOUSEKEEPERS The war in Iraq and the concern caused by the spread of the Sars virus have led to further decreases in occupancy levels across the London area, especially at the luxury end of the market. As a result, housekeepers are...

Woodcock takes new role at S&N.(Brief Article)
May 15, 2003... Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises has appointed Rob Woodcock operational planning director, a newly created role in the division. His brief will be to ensure the division is prepared for coping with changes in the business, including...

people On the move.
May 15, 2003... Iain Fleming is the new general manager at the training and conference centre Brookfield Manor in Hathersage, Derbyshire. He was previously general manager at Forest Pines Hotel, Golf Course and Spa in Broughton, Lincolnshire. Nikki...

Rick Stein buys first hotel in Newquay.(Brief Article)
May 15, 2003... Rick Stein, chef-proprietor of Padstow's renowned Seafood restaurant, has bought a hotel in nearby Newquay. The 44-bedroom Rocklands hotel, revealed Stein, had got "a fantastic location on the cliff's edge overlooking the sea and Tolcarne...

Who's who... Movenpick Hotels & Resorts.
May 15, 2003... M?venpick Hotels & Resorts moved into Turkey and Kuwait this year and plans to expand to up to 70 hotels by 2005. Angela Frewin looks at the Swiss-based company named after a bird's feeding habits What's the history of the company? ...

Catering for the Welsh Assembly.
May 15, 2003... They're a proud people, the Welsh. They're proud of their language, they're proud of their capital city, and they're proud of their own produce. These are all things the contract caterers at the Welsh Assembly need to know The taxi driver...

table talk.
May 15, 2003... 'Bento'ver backwards to offer something original It's come to our attention that the "new lunch" is box-shaped - bento box-shaped, in fact. It seems that conference hotels in particular are increasingly offering lunch Japanese style - fish...

College courses under fire.(Brief Article)
May 15, 2003... The delivery of hospitality and catering courses by colleges is often dull, says a new joint report by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) and the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI). On top of uninspired delivery of theory within...

New Yorkers shun French restaurants.
May 15, 2003... New York's top restaurants are still facing a consumer backlash because the French government refused to back America's attack on Iraq. There have been nationwide boycotts in the USA of French cheese and wine, and some restaurants have...

Smoke bomb.
May 15, 2003... Smoking in restaurants and bars is now illegal in New York, Los Angeles and Norway, and will be in Dublin next year. Kathy Watson looks at the pros and cons of a total ban and asks... could it happen here? Smoking - for some it's a...

Trends in tableware.
May 15, 2003... In a crowded marketplace it's often the small points of difference that make a restaurant stand out, and presentation of the food is one area where there is room for innovation. Tableware manufacturers large and small are rising to the...

BOOKREVIEW.(Book Review)
May 15, 2003... BY JOHN CAMPBELL One of the key factors in the development of a dish is more often than not left out. Presentation, luxury ingredients and classic combinations are considered more important than the foundation of the dish - taste. Sybil...

London builds support for conference centre project.
May 15, 2003... Plans are afoot to give London the large-scale world-class convention centre it lacks. Leading business tourism operators have persuaded the London Development Agency to champion the project, which will develop London's burgeoning business...

Gordon Ramsay's cafe culture.
May 15, 2003... After undergoing a refit rumoured to have cost in excess of [pounds sterling]1m, Gordon Ramsay's Boxwood Caf? opens its doors today in London's Berkeley hotel The walls are covered with hand-made silver and gold leaf paper, the stone floor...

Le Pont de la Tour.
May 15, 2003... The new chef at Le Pont de la Tour, Martin Caws, aims to make the Conran restaurant as well known for its French food as for its views over London After two-and-a-half years as head chef of the Michelin-starred Mirabelle in London's...

National Restaurateurs' Dinner.(Brief Article)
May 15, 2003... The 16th annual Restaurateurs' Dinner was held recently at the Savoy hotel, London. Supported by Caterer and presented by the Academy of Culinary Arts, the Academy of Food & Wine Service and the Restaurant Association, the night was an...

Last supper.
May 15, 2003... An eleventh-hour fest of Norfolk's best with local boy Tom Aikens behind the stove is on the wish list of Galton Blackiston, chef-proprietor at the county's one-Michelin-starred Morston Hall What's on the menu? Morston lobster with new...

Hard Rock hit by drop-off in tourism.(Brief Article)
May 15, 2003... The Rank Group's chain of Hard Rock Caf?s remains under pressure from the falling levels of international travel and tourism. The group, which has 105 owned or franchised Hard Rock Caf?s in 45 countries (including seven in the UK), revealed...

Benjys opens two sites in Birmingham.(Brief Article)
May 15, 2003... London sandwich chain Benjys has made its first foray outside London with the opening of two new branches in Birmingham. The second of the two opened at the Paradise Forum on Monday following a store in the Ramp area of Birmingham last...

The Travel Inn man.
May 15, 2003... He may not be lucky as a racehorse owner, but Whitbread's Alan Parker certainly has a winning streak when it comes to Travel Inn. And his plans don't stop there Alan Parker, managing director of Whitbread hotels, seems an ordinary sort of...

in brief.(Brief Article)
May 15, 2003... Holroyd Howe double Holroyd Howe has gained two new contracts - with Honda UK in Langley, Buckinghamshire, and the Design Council in London - worth a total of [pounds sterling]750,000 in annual sales. At Honda, Holroyd Howe is required to...

Global report.
May 15, 2003... usa Hotel reopens at Ground Zero The Millenium Hilton hotel, located only a few metres away from Ground Zero in New York (right), reopened to an emotional welcome last week. Following the refurbishment of all 55 floors at a cost of...