Articles by Date : March 01 2006 - March 31 2006

Formula 1 ace to open hotel in Split on Adriatic coast
Formula 1 star Jarno Trulli plans to open the first in a chain of luxury hotels on the Croatian Adriatic coast bearing his name. more
(31 March 2006 17:43)

Gourmet Holdings suffers setback after London terror attacks
Restaurant company Gourmet Holdings suffered a set-back in the first half of its financial year as customers stayed away from its Richoux restaurants.... more
(31 March 2006 15:35)

Argentinian export ban leads to huge rises in beef prices
The cost of imported beef has rocketed by as much as 30-35% following bans on exports from Argentina and a foot-and-mouth scare in Brazil. more
(31 March 2006 12:24)

Motorway giants in fight to change 'outdated' laws
Roadside groups have stepped up their fight to change laws which campaigners say leave motorway service areas "stuck in a time warp". more
(31 March 2006 12:24)

News in brief
Tragus Holdings; Win an iPod with Opodo; René Lasserre; Rayner at Chef Conference; more
(31 March 2006 12:23)

Northern Hospitality Awards celebrate the best of the North
Michelin-starred chef Andrew Pern was awarded the title of Best Chef at the inaugural Northern Hospitality Awards held on Monday night at the Lowry.... more
(31 March 2006 12:05)

Sleepwalking chef seeks medical help over fears he’ll burn house down
A former chef is seeking medical help to stop him cooking in the middle of the night, according to today’s Daily Telegraph. more
(31 March 2006 10:38)

Enterprise Inn confident it will meet targets despite weak consumer spending
Pub operator Enterprise Inns is trading well despite weak consumer spending and increasing legislative pressure and costs on its licensees. more
(31 March 2006 10:38)

Allium to close as Dolphin Square hotel goes
Allium, Sodexho's fine-dining restaurant in London's Dolphin Square hotel, will shut at the end of next month, after the hotel closes its doors for.... more
(31 March 2006 10:38)

UK restaurant group Clapham House bids for Tootsies owner Urban Dining
UK restaurant group Clapham House has made an offer to buy rival Urban Dining Group, owner of Tootsies. more
(31 March 2006 10:04)

East Devon gastropub changes hands
East Devon gastropub the Puffing Billy has been bought by two local licensees and restaurateurs. more
(30 March 2006 15:58)

Clifford Grauers is new GM at Great Eastern
Hyatt veteran Clifford Grauers is to become the new general manager of London's Great Eastern hotel, Caterer can exclusively reveal. more
(30 March 2006 15:58)

New owners for historic Highland inn
Calum and Ally Richardson Dobie are the new owners of the Inn at Loch Ericht, an historic Highland inn reputedly visited by Queen Victoria in 1861. more
(30 March 2006 15:53)

Monmouthshire pub and backpacker hostel sold
A community pub and backpackers’ hostel in the Monmouthshire market town of Abergavenny has been sold off an asking price of £270,000. more
(30 March 2006 15:48)

Pub entrepreneur snaps up Rab Ha’s in Glasgow
David Davidson, a pub entrepreneur with outlets across the UK, has bought the leasehold on Glasgow’s Rab Ha’s Bar, Restaurant and Hotel. more
(30 March 2006 15:44)

Former employee buys Devon’s Mountain Inn
A former employee is the new owner of the Mountain Inn country freehouse in the small village of Lutton, Devon. more
(30 March 2006 15:36)

Maidstone couple buy Folkestone guesthouse
First-time buyers from Maidstone have snapped up the Kentmere Guest House, which sits on one of the main roads into Folkestone in Kent. more
(30 March 2006 15:28)

Nail in the coffin of the curry restaurant
The Government’s new points-based immigration scheme could sound the death knell for many of the UK’s curry restaurants, warns Enam Ali. more
(30 March 2006 15:07)

Compass faces second US lawsuit
Compass Group faces its second US lawsuit relating to allegations of bribery and corruption in the awarding of United Nations peacekeeping contracts. more
(30 March 2006 14:22)

Harry’s Bar chef named in sexual harassment pay-out case
The chef at the centre of a massive sexual harassment payout is to continue working at a famous London private members' club. more
(30 March 2006 14:20)

Ford-McDonald plans restaurant at Oxo Tower
Dominic Ford, former director of Harvey Nichols's food and retail division, is returning to London's Oxo Tower, but this time on the second floor. more
(30 March 2006 14:19)

Grade II-listed restaurant in Chipping Campden for sale
A Grade II-listed property in Chipping Campden that houses Joel’s restaurant is up for sale for the first time in more than 20 years. more
(30 March 2006 12:01)

Alpha admits European fraud may cost £2.5m
Alpha Airports has admitted that it has lost up to £2.5m as part of a European-wide fraud. more
(30 March 2006 11:46)

Scottish pubs say smoking ban was rushed through
Pub operators and associations in Scotland have attacked the introduction of last weekend's smoking ban as rushed and confused. more
(30 March 2006 11:22)

Rainer Becker and Joël Robuchon to open in Hong Kong
Renowned chefs Rainer Becker and Joël Robuchon are both planning new restaurants in Hong Kong, Caterer can exclusively reveal. more
(30 March 2006 11:20)

Neil Morrissey set to open third hotel next year
Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey is to open a third hotel as part of his group's ambitious expansion plans, Caterer can exclusively reveal. more
(30 March 2006 11:20)

The Bench: London weekly hotel performance to 26 March, 2006
London hotels saw revenue per available room (revpar) rocket by 35.6% in the week ending 26 March, according to figures from hotel benchmarking.... more
(30 March 2006 11:11)

The Bench: London airport hotel performance in February 2006
Airport hotels increased revenue per available room (revpar) by 5.1% during the month of February. more
(30 March 2006 11:07)

London hotels achieve glowing figures in February
London hotels staved off the winter chill in February with a rosy 8.5% boost to revenue per available room (revpar), according to preliminary figures.... more
(30 March 2006 11:02)

Spring campaign from Visit London
Visit London has teamed up with Transport for London for a £1.25m campaign to attract visitors to the capital. more
(30 March 2006 10:23)

Digital newspaper from NewspaperDirect
Imagine being able to offer guests a choice of 300 daily newspapers. Digital newspaper distribution company NewspaperDirect provides a.... more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

Web-based recipe and menu management system, Starchef.net from StarLogics
StarLogics' web-based recipe and menu management system, Starchef.net, takes the guesswork out of recipe costing and menu analysis by providing.... more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

Virtual interactive concierge (VIC) from Whichway Media
For many modern hotels, employing a concierge to help guests with information about local attractions and services is no longer a viable option..... more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

EPnet cashless system from Quintus
The EPnet cashless system from Quintus integrates access control and food service payments on one small card. more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

A better balance
Low-salt, low-fat, fresh, local, GM-free, additive-free, no added sugar - there's a smörgåsbord of buzz words in the catering arena nowadays. But are.... more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

Critics anon.
I find it rather a poor effort that the "two professional waiters from Scotland" - as opposed to amateur waiters? - who write so robustly in defence.... more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

Critic spot-on
Further to the response from two "professional waiters" to Jan Moir's review of Andrew Fairlie's Gleneagles restaurant (Caterer, 23 March, page 23),.... more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

Babylon revisited?
Thank you, Linda Woodhouse, for highlighting what a travesty Hotel Babylon was, both in its depiction of the hotel industry in general and the.... more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

Conflicting statistics
Your article "Britons are top of dining-out league" (Caterer, 23 March, page 15) contained lots of fascinating information. But, after just a cursory.... more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

This tax could deter tourists
I agree with Grant Hearn, chief executive of Travelodge, about the dangers of a "bed tax" to the health of our industry (Caterer, 23 March, page 22). more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

Human assets are key to future growth
I refer to James Garner's leader (Caterer, 16 March, page 4), where he reported that Robert Cook had flagged up the HR issue as perhaps the key.... more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

Richard Neat: Our man in Marrakech
He won two Michelin stars in London, one in Cannes and then returned to the UK to see it all go wrong at Oxo Tower. Now Richard Neat has.... more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

The Pigalle Club, London
The brainchild of Mean Fiddler founder Vince Power, the Pigalle Club is a 1940s-inspired supper club offering live music every night. more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

The Han of Nazz, London
The Ottoman-style interior has been masterminded by Richard Sleeman. Enjoy an affordable Middle Eastern menu in the draped, private booths. Plans are.... more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

Electronic customer satisfaction system from Long Range Systems
Paging specialist Long Range Systems has designed an electronic customer satisfaction system built into a tip-tray so that restaurant operators can.... more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

What can we do to improve our wine offer and increase sales?
We run a 40-cover neighbourhood restaurant and have noticed our wine sales have fallen in recent weeks. What can we do to improve our wine offer and.... more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

Eclipse, West Hampstead, London
This new addition to the Eclipse brand has been opened by the award-winning Ignite Group. It combines the fresh fruit cocktails the Eclipse brand has.... more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

Pravin Sharma is 2006 Roux Scholar
Pravin Sharma, sous chef at London's Courthouse Hotel Kempinski, has won the Roux Scholarship at his first attempt. Sharma, whose early training was.... more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

Good week/Bad week
GOOD Richard North Ex-InterConti boss in line for £1.2m under performance-based share plan this year, despite quitting in December 2004. .... more
(30 March 2006 00:00)

Great French Chefs and Their Recipes
Great French Chefs and Their Recipes is a rare thing: a true chef's book that you can find in high-street booksellers such as Waterstone's. more
(30 March 2006 00:00)