It's pizza to go... but hold the prisoners
South London firm Pizzaring thought Christmas had come early when Brixton prison rang to order 26 pizzas for inmates.
A Home Office spokesman, who failed to see the funny side, said the prison's catering service had been stretched by a higher-than-normal intake of 76 prisoners in one day, and a power failure in three wings. The duty governor then splashed out on a selection of medium pizzas costing £4 each for the hungry prisoners.
Normally, meals cost only about 60p in prisons, so the catering budget was blown in one night. The steely-voiced spokesman explained: "It's our duty to feed inmates and otherwise they would have gone hungry."
Sour note turns to sweet success
During a busy Saturday service at Rick Stein's Seafood restaurant in Padstow recently, the boys in the kitchen were flummoxed by a request for Chinese food. Well, you wouldn't travel all the way down to Padstow to the most famous fish restaurant in Britain to eat sweet and sour pork, would you? The temptation to direct the customer to the nearest Chinese take-away was, however, resisted and the diner was offered vegetable tempura. Well, Japan's almost in China, isn't it?
Nigella's going back home on the range
Domestic goddess Nigella Lawson has been invited by the prime minister to cook for George Bush when the president visits Britain next month. This should be to Bush's liking, particularly if she serves her recipe of ham cooked in Coca-Cola. Nigella has a high profile in the USA, with a column in the New York Times and her TV show Forever Summer. She shouldn't have any trouble finding the Blairs' kitchens, either. Her father, Nigel Lawson, was chancellor of the exchequer, and the Blair family actually live at Number 11 Downing Street because the flat above Number 10 was too small for them.
From regal splendour to a ruined pier
A Brighton & Hove version of Monopoly was launched last week with the De Vere Grand hotel pipped to the post for the most expensive square on the board. The Royal Pavilion takes the Mayfair slot, while the Grand takes Park Lane's place.
Grand general manager Richard Baker said: "We don't mind losing out to what most agree is Brighton's best-known building. We can't complain at coming second to a royal palace." Popular restaurant Donatello's is also on the board. The crumbling West Pier, whose blackened skeleton is visible from the Grand, takes the Old Kent Road slot.
£14 charge takes the (cheap and nasty) biscuit
Still in Brighton, the council's services provider Ecovert has come under fire for allegedly charging up to £14 for a plate of biscuits. One councillor fumed: "They're not even posh biscuits, but an assortment of cheap and nasty ones." In an e-mail, staff have been asked to make their own arrangements if organising extra meetings, and to think carefully before using the caterer.
A council spokeswoman added: "As with all such multiservice contracts, some things will be expensive, others will be cheap. But you can't pick and choose."
Ecovert declined to comment.