The Editor's Hospitality Blog

When it comes to improving the diet and thereby the health of the nation's children, we are all stakeholders.

As parents, we wish to see our children achieve their full physical and mental potential. As taxpayers, we welcome the savings in NHS expenditure that a decrease in the rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes would deliver. And, as industry professionals, we recognise the positive impact our businesses stand to derive from our children having a mature, healthy and respectful relationship with the food they eat.

Perhaps more than any other industry, hospitality has a vested interest in encouraging children to engage with food and cooking. For any food service-based operation to prosper, it needs to attract employees with a passion for cooking and serving great meals, and customers with a passion for eating them.

Continue reading "Support our School Meals Matter campaign" »

The industry's great and good gathered at St George's Primary School in London's Mayfair today, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Academy of Culinary Arts' Chefs Adopt a School programme.

Roy Ackerman, Heston Blumenthal, Willy Bauer, Brian Turner, Albert Roux, Raymond Blanc, Gary Rhodes, William Curley, Andre Garrett, Robin Hutson, Harry Murray, Ramon Pajares, Alain Roux, Richard Shepherd, John Williams and Cyrus Todiwala were just some of the personalities on hand, as The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall sat in on Chefs Adopt a School sessions by Thames Valley University lecturer, Michael Coaker and Chefs Adopt a School's Idris Caldora.

Chefs Adopt a School was founded in 1990 to encourage school leavers to consider a career in the hospitality industry. It was immediately apparent that the level of children's food and cookery knowledge at secondary school age was lamentably poor. The Academy decided that to make a real difference, they needed to focus on a younger age group. A programme was developed to engage, educate, inspire and equip primary aged children with the vital life skills of practical cookery and food knowledge - from plant to plate. Lessons were created to deliver workshops to children in schools that had no cooking facilities.

Today, the programme reaches 21,000 children annually. Now the Academy is looking to reach out to the remaining 4.5 million primary school children across the UK.

Speaking at the event, chef and Academy of Culinary Arts President, Brian Turner called the scheme's plant-to-plate food education "transformational - it's a force for good and teaches children life skills".

The Prince of Wales called Chefs Adopt a School "a brilliant idea".

"Food is related to ourentire cultural heritage", he said, "and we must find a way of reconnecting children to our food, culture and seasons".

London's Goring Hotel (the capital's only five-star hotel still owned and managed by the family that established it) held a Luncheon for Chefs and Food Lovers yesterday as part of its centenary celebrations.

Chief Executive, Jeremy Goring pulled on a fetching woolly hat to welcome arriving guests on the hotel's front steps. These included Sir Terry Wogan, Delia Smith, Albert Roux, Raymond Blanc, Gary Rhodes, Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet) and Tom Parker-Bowles.

Lunch was a free-for-all, as guests swapped tastes of a range of Goring dining-room favourites from down the years - all expertly prepared by Derek Quelch and his brigade. These included:

• Mrs Goring's pigs fry salad with poach duck egg, cider vinegar and honey dressing (the War years)
• Jellied eels with parsley vinegar (the Roaring Twenties)
• Terrine of Goosnargh duck leg with roasted beetroot (the Thatcher years)
• Poached fillets of Dover sole Americaine (the Edwardian era).

After a while I complained of being full. "Novice", cried Matthew Fort, as the Great British Menu judge and food writer spooned a large slab of oxtail pudding onto his plate. He later revealed he was heading off after lunch for a full dinner at Northcote. You've got to admire his metabolism.

On Sunday I was invited to an interactive theatre show based on the classic British TV show Fawlty Towers.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but when we arrived, ordered our drinks long-suffering waiter Manuel was working the crowd offering peanuts from a silver platter and pouring salt into your hand.

Faulty Towers... the dining experience was certainly that. An experience. Think of your worse dining experience: odd or no cutlery, tables served randomly, bread rolls thrown onto your plate, an escaped rat and a screeching hostess... if it wasn't theatre, it wouldn't be funny!

Faulty Towers... the dining experience has been performing since 1997 and has toured the world with it unique style and its interaction with the audience. It has performed throughout Australia, South Pacific, South-east Asia and also a sell-out season at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

If you have ever spent an evening watching Fawlty Towers cringing at Basil's faux pas, Manuel's antics and Sybil's attempt at keeping order then this is for you.

Don't expect a great dining experience, but a chaotic and crazy one - only to be expected when dining with the Fawlty's!

See more photos on Table Talk here >>

You can find out more about Faulty Towers at www.interactivetheatre.com.au

It's a pub crawl with a difference: four pub company bosses will this Friday attempt to scale Africa's highest mountain Kilimanjaro for charity.

Peach Pub Company co-founder Lee Cash and Peach's Tim Doyle as well as Lovely Pubs' chief executive Paul Salisbury and his brother David have so far raised £15,800 but are calling for further sponsorship to meet their £25k target.

The foursome are raising funds for When You Wish Upon a Star, the organisation that makes wishes come true for very sick children, and the Get A-Head Charitable Trust, which fights head and neck diseases, especially cancer.

"We're really chuffed with people's support so far for our charity climb, but are asking for one last big push to help us crack our £25k target," said Cash, adding: "The climb's for two really good causes and we'll definitely be giving it our all." 

To sponsor the quartet visit www.thethreemountaineers.co.uk

If Gary Barlow can do it...

(Picture shows left to right: Tim Doyle, Paul Salisbury, David Salisbury and Lee Cash)

Blog by Emma White

Well, what a day it was yesterday. Caterer held it annual Chef Conference at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in London.

The conference kicked off with Heston Blumenthal who talked to Caterer group editor Mark Lewis about the affect of the norovirus had on his Michelin-starred restaurant the Fat Duck in Bray and how the HPA did not do enough to help restaurants in similar situations.

He also chatted about his new tasting menu, new book and the next instalment of his Feast TV programmed.

This was followed on by a debate on topical issues such as user-generated reviews, food sourcing and training. Joining the debate where chefs Shaun Hill, David Cavalier, Simon Hulstone, John Williams and Michael Caines. The debate was chaired by Brian Turner.

There were great masterclasses from Catey chef of the year, Angela Hartnett (Murano) who teamed up with Spain's Elena Arzak. Angela cooked roasted sweetbreads with pickled peaches, liquorish and fennel and a walnut pasta.

The smells in the conference room were amazing, and had the room salivating!

Elena, shared her recipes for walnut cream, with reinvented red cabbage - a delicate dish with vibrant colours.(see right)

The next masterclass came from two-Michelin starred chefs Michael Caines (Gidleigh Park) and Martin Burge (Whatley Manor).

Michael kicked off with pan-fried duck foie gras followed by wild salmon.

First-timer at the Chef Conference, Martin Burge, who despite his nerves presented his signature dish of mango cannelloni.

The Chef Conference ended with a Chef Eats out. Delegates to the conference had to choice to eat at two-Michelin-starred Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, Phil Howard's the Square and Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester.

To see more photos from the Chef Conference and Chef Eats Out go to Table Talk here >>

I've just picked up on LBC that Marcus Wareing has received the chef gong in the GQ Men of the Year Awards 2009.

There's next-to-nothing on Google other than a piece on the Sun website, but nevertheless this marks the end of an incredible year for Wareing in which he was, for the first time in many, many years, in charge of his own destiny following his parting from Gordon Ramsay Holdings and the launch of Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley.

Speaking to Caterer after the awards, Wareing said: "[It was] the perfect end to my first year at Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley. [I am] delighted and honoured."

Other winners included Outstanding Achievement - Elvis Costello; International Man - Mickey Rourke; Alfred Dunhill Film-Maker - Guy Ritchie; Woman - Lily Allen; Band - Take That; Sportsman - Jenson Button; Solo Artist - Dizzee Rascal; and 2009 Catey Awards host comedian Michael McIntyre.

See our video interview with Marcus Wareing.

Now here's a bit of globe-trotting for you. South African chef Grant Hawthorne last week hosted a celebratory dinner for Australian Formula 1 driver (and winner of the 2009 German Grand Prix) Mark Webber at English restaurant, the Plough Wavendon, with produce from South African and 1979 Formula 1 World Champion Jody Scheckter's English farm, Laverstoke Park.

The international line-up proved for an interesting evening as diners tucked into an incredible seven-course degustation menu featuring some of Scheckter's amazing biodynamic and organic produce such as in the Laverstoke lamb en sous vide with broad beans, carrot, highland burgundy red and Aspley Guise truffle. All the dishes were accompanied by wines from Tasmania, which is where the Mark Webber Challenge Foundation (raising money for charities including the Save the Tassie Devil Appeal and the Leukaemia Foundation) is based.

Continue reading "The people of Wavendon celebrate Mark Webber's German Grand Prix win" »

When TV channel Dave this week awarded a prize for the funniest gag at the Edinburgh Fringe, a swipe at the quality of Starbucks coffee and a comment on the growing trend for hotel spas were in their shortlist.

Funnyman Adam Hills compared going to Starbucks for coffee with "going to prison for sex. You know you're going to get it, but it's going to be rough." And Rhod Gilbert made this observation about spas in hotels: "a spa hotel? It's like a normal hotel, only in reception there's a picture of a pebble."

The award for best gag went to  comic, Dan Antopolski. His winning gag was a one-liner from his show Silent But Deadly: "Hedgehogs. Why can't they just share the hedge?"

The top ten in full:

1. "Hedgehogs - why can't they just share the hedge?"
2. "I was watching the London Marathon and saw one runner dressed as a chicken and another runner dressed as an egg. I thought: 'This could be interesting'."
3. "I had my boobs measured and bought a new bra. Now I call them Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes because they're up where they belong."
4. "I went on a girls' night out recently. The invitation said 'dress to kill'. I went as Rose West."
5. "I'm sure wherever my dad is; he's looking down on us. He's not dead, just very condescending."
6. "Going to Starbucks for coffee is like going to prison for sex. You know you're going to get it, but it's going to be rough."
7. "To the people who've got iPhones: you just bought one, you didn't invent it!"
8. "A spa hotel? It's like a normal hotel, only in reception there's a picture of a pebble."
9. "I've been reading the news about there being a civil war in Madagascar. Well, I've seen it six times and there isn't."
10. "I started so many fights at my school - I had that attention-deficit disorder. So I didn't finish a lot of them."

Boom-boom.

Some of the country's chefs are decending into London for next month's Chef Conference and its your chance to ask the questions you've always wanted to ask.

The event takes place on 28 September at the Jumeriah Carlton Tower in London and will see a stellar line up take part in live interviews and masterclasses.

Topping the bill in a one-on-one on-stage interview is Bray's internationally feted supersonic chef, Heston Blumenthal - famous for his multi-sensory cuisine at his three-Michelin-starred Fat Duck restaurant.

Another three-starred chef, and making her Chef Conference debut, is Spain's Elena Arzak who will be demonstrating with this year's Catey Chef winner Angela Hartnett from Murano.

Michael Caines from Gidleigh Park and Abode Hotels and newly-crowned two Michelin-starred chef Martin Burge from Whatley Manor will hit the stage together in what promises to be a great chef demo.

Other chefs taking part include: Simon Hulstone, chef proprietor, Elephant Restaurant; David Cavalier, food director, Charlton House Catering; John Williams, executive chef, The Ritz, London; Shaun Hill, chef, The Walnut Tree, Abergavenny and Brian Turner, president, Academy of Culinary Arts.

The Chef Conference concludes this year with a lunch at one of three Michelin-starred restaurants in London. Delegates will have a choice from dining at Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley; Phil Howard's the Square and Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester.  

All our chefs will be open to questions, and this is where Caterer needs you. If you have a burning question you want to ask any of the chefs, all you need to do is leave your questions on Table Talk and we will field your questions on the day.

If you leave your questions and comments on Table Talk we'll automatically enter your name into a draw to win tickets to the Chef Conference and a lunch of your choice.

So what you are you wating for  - leave your question here!