Table talk

Whatever happened to Arabella and Tarquin?

A fascinating press release hit the desks at Caterer this week. We were all intrigued to learn that PR people are more likely to be called David or Sarah than Edina or Torquil, banishing the popular myth that public relations is an occupation mainly for people with very silly upper-class names. So this week, as you're contemplating the war with Iraq, economic doom and gloom and the downturn in the property market, take heart from the fact that the most popular name for a female PR is Sarah (no fewer than 117 occurrences), with Sophie and Charlotte coming in at numbers 36 and 37 respectively.

The French correction

There is evidence from the Fat Duck restaurant in Bray that the French are finally beginning to acknowledge that British cooking is improving. But it is a slow process, according to restaurant manager Didier Fertilati. "In France there is still the feeling that you can't eat well in England. But there is a slow change over there, with some French knowing that something exciting is happening over here. The problem is they often don't know much about British restaurants and are a bit out-of-date."

When you're so hungry you could eat the plate

The litter which customers leave outside high-street fast-food chains continues to be a problem. But the Plumtree fish and chip shop in Keyworth near Nottingham may have the answer. It has started using edible take-away trays made from potato starch. The idea is that after eating your cod and chips on the move, you can then eat the tray.

Somebody's got to do it

Small Luxury Hotels of the World is looking for six couples to become luxury hotel testers. Tough job, eh? The successful applicants need to be experts at reclining in foamy baths while quaffing Champagne, sampling king-size beds for comfort and judging the quality of coffee, wine and food on offer. To apply, write in 50 words "Why I would make a good luxury hotels tester" to testers@slh.com.

Get down the pub - it's your patriotic duty

In case you let it pass you by, last week was National Pubs Week. And there are many of you who did, because 27% of adults never visit a pub. MPs are urging you to support local boozers, which are closing at the rate of 20 a month. Middlesbrough MP Ashok Kumar said community pubs provide a lifeline to people without other visible means of support.

Witchetty grub's up

Is TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson going out to the Australian rainforest for the next series of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here? We thought we'd find out by calling his Notting Hill restaurant. We were put on hold. The telephone music was Groove Armada, not The Lion Sleeps Tonight, sadly. We waited just the time it probably takes to put in a contract-checking call to ITV - and finally got a "no comment". Oh well, you never know, the nation might still get to see a lesson in pickling scorpions and pan-frying ants.