The Caterer Blog

I'm not surprised that news that a hugely expensive Bankok banquet to inspire native chefs was causing a few Thais to choke on their...... well Pad Thai this weekend. The £15k a head
dinner was held on Saturday night at the rooftop Mezzaluna restaurant in the Lebua luxury hotel and was prepared by six three-Michelin star chefs from Italy, France and Germany.

The organisers of the event, which was called "Epicurean Masters of the World", said its purpose was to highlight Thailand as a suitable destination for the mega-rich, with profits going to charity, but why then fly in a bunch of foreign chefs to cook European dishes????... basically the event could have been held at any top class venue in the world as it had no bearing on the local cuisine!

The tories are conducting a 'task force' before announcing a new tourism strategy. Headed by Anne Milton MP the recently appointed Shadow Minister for Tourism the task force will look at five key areas: promoting green tourism; reinvigorating our seaside towns; promoting the family holiday - both to British and overseas markets; harnessing tourism opportunities form the 2012 Olympics; and reforming the structures and mechanisms involved in marketing Britain.

To get your views on record, whether it be that the industry should have its own government department or that marketing budgets for the whole of England should be pooled, visit the task force website and tell them what you think is important...

Each year when I write a piece about people in the hospitality industry competing in and completing the Flora London Marathon, I get a few calls from people who've been left out complaining that we've not mentioned them and, of course, given Gordon Ramsay and Anton Edelmann too much coverage....

Well not this year! This is your chance to let me know that you're competing - I'd also like to know - after the event - what time you completed the marathon in, so we can compile a Hospitality Marathon League table....

So, don't expect me to be psychic...I can't pull this information together all by myself...let me know on the blog if you're taking part...oh and by the way...good luck!

Having had a fun day out in central London last week making the most of the weather, my wife and I and our two mates decided to grab a bite to eat.

We ended up in that well worn slightly down-at-heel favourite Leicester Square. Not a salubrious location I'll concede but convenient.

Anyway, we rocked up at a rammed Chiquitos mexican restaurant. The food served within filled a hole, we had a few drinks, and bar slight sunburn, all was as it should be in our world. That was until nature intervened and we headed to the toilets (not in a pack you understand, individually ).

It seems hospitality operators could be missing out on potential revenue because tourists are being denied entry into the UK for "ridiculous reasons".

A new report into UKVisas, the government body that controls UK entry visas, by Linda Costelloe Baker, the independent monitor for entry clearance, highlighted some of the reasons cited for refusal.

There's been a flurry of awards presented to the great and the good of British hospitality in recent weeks. Among them chef and restaurateur Paul Heathcote, who was awarded an honorary fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University, and Robert Cook, chief executive of Malmaison and Hotel du Vin, who was given an honorary degree from The Robert Gordon University.

Also recognised recently were (as my "male" colleague put it) "dreamy chefs" Chris and James Tanner (pictured below) of Tanners Restaurant in Plymouth.

We all love a list don't we? Well, for those perhaps not in London, but who like popping in and out of the capital, the Evening Standard has come up with a guide to the city's most influential people.

No prizes for guessing that bessie mates Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White are in there along with Berkshire-based Heston Blumenthal (is the Fat Duck now in Greater London) and Jamie Oliver. But there were one or two lesser profiled individuals such as Ramsay's father-in-law Chris Hutcheson, restaurant PR Maureen Mills and Michelin guide editor Derek Bulmer.

Have a look at the list and let me know what you think. A right riveting read or some glaring omissions?

Evening Standard article in full>>

.. or how Manchester lost 3,000 new hospitality jobs to create an extreme sports centre and a BMX bike track for the Olympic Games.

These are just some of the ideas the Government look set to propose as they outline plans to scrap the supercasino project and give Brits 16 casinos instead (plans will be unveiled at 3.30pm today).

The supercasino has been a drawn out affair leaving hospitality operators in limbo for years. Firstly we all thought that Blackpool would be awarded the site - leading to a rush for hotel properties in the seaside town that are being put up for sale again. Secondly we thought the Millennium Dome would take the crown and host Britain's largest casino but instead it was turned into an arena for pop concerts. Then Manchester were the shock winners but Gordon Brown became Prime Minister and prudent Gordon doesn't enjoy gambling (unless he is betting on Northern Rock).

The City of Manchester has threatened to take the Government to Court after it spent £240,000 of council tax payers money on winning the bid which would have been worth £265m to the regional economy.

Hospitality operators may be chomping at the bit to get hold of some outlets in the 16 regional casinos but it will take a canny operator to create 3,000 jobs out of a BMX bike track.

 "The challenges are unique". Yes that's certainly one way to put the idea of building the world's first hotel on the craggy, no gravity surface of the Moon. And yet that's just what budget hotel chain Premier Inn is intending to do.

The Whitbread group has bought an option to build on the moon for a Princely sum of £24. The land will subsequently cost a further £1m from Moon Estates (come on are you kidding me?) Apparently the group feel "it is now more feasible than ever to expect travel to and from the moon to become a common occurrence within the next 20-30 years."

Now it might be just me, but if I had blown, what is bound to be, a hefty wad on flying to the moon, I think I might, just might, want to stay somewhere a tad more upmarket than a Premier Inn. A Four Seasons perhaps, hell even a Hilton!  This, coupled with the fact that you are most likely to be indoor-bound due to the absence of gravity outside for the entirety of your stay, makes the scarcity of extras in a budget hotel a very bad idea.

Springboard's annual Slingsby Cup takes place on Friday 19th September at Westminster Kingsway College and if anyone fancies pushing their work colleagues around London in a shopping trolley now is your chance.

The fund-raiser for the charitable trust, which works with young people, the unemployed and the disadvantaged in the hospitality industry,  will be awarding prizes for the most originally dressed trolley and the most creatively dressed trolley pushers.

The parade (it's not a race remember) takes place in Vincent Square, outside the Westminster Kingsway College.

To register, in teams of four, click here.