More bad news for Wembley. We hear the stadium's inaugural bash was recently cancelled. No, not a sellout Robbie Williams gig or another below-par European Championship qualifier for England. Bizarrely, the extravaganza in question was to have been the Multiplex
Christmas party.
You may remember that Multiplex is the stadium's Aussie builder, which has been slammed for its delayed opening. Caterer Delaware North said that
Multiplex pulled out because numbers for the bash had shot up and the function room in question - which holds 1,900 people - was "no longer suitable". Phew, that's some party.
It's all quite ironic given the rumoured "issues" surrounding the building specifications for the size of the kitchens, restaurants and function rooms. Why doesn't Multiplex just knock a wall through and build it back after the party?
Beware Bitter waitress if you're a tips cheapskate
For everyone who's ever had to smile through gritted teeth after receiving a paltry tip, help is at hand. Hospitality staff should log on to Bitterwaitress.com, where they can vent their feelings about miserly gratuities on its 149-page "shitty tipper database".
Leaving less than 1% merits the title "cheap fuck" - which was the case for a customer called Johnny at Denny's restaurant in Los Angeles, who left a 54p tip on a £359 bill. The disgruntled waiter also pointed out that "he smelled". Poor man.
Celebs aren't exempt, either. Pop diva Jennifer Lopez was slated for leaving a £1.60 tip on a bill of £394 in London. Apparently, J Lo and her posse also "complained that the bubble count was too high in their fizzy water". Surprised it didn't end up over her head.
You know what to do.
Name, rank and serial number only...
It's all fun and games at Elior Towers these days. Apparently, the fact that an e-mail from Mike Audis was leaked to Caterer (31 August, page 7) didn't impress the top brass too much. We're reliably informed that a crack investigation team is currently, quote, "pulling out fingernails" in order to find out who the culprit is. Not literally, we would hasten to add.
Several sources have said that they've narrowed the field down and the net is closing in fast on the perpetrator. How exciting!
It's a bum rap for calendar boy
It's nice to see people in the industry pursuing a hobby outside the kitchen. A case in point is Phil Roker, who is a director of contract caterer Vacherin by day and a budding triathlete in his spare time. So proud of his physique is he that this year he volunteered to pose for a nude calendar at his local triathlon club. Strangely, he was Mr April and Mr May - was he simply too big for one page?
His decision to pose in the buff, however, came back to haunt him at a recent presentation to 200 chefs and catering managers. In the middle of a fairly dry talk about sales figures, Roker was puzzled when the audience began laughing. He turned round and was confronted with a 10ft-high photo of his bare backside. His then boss at Restaurant Associates, Philip Nash, had slipped in the offending slide.
It's never nice to be the butt of a joke.