The Editor's Hospitality Blog

From 6am on Sunday, it became illegal to smoke in public places. In the name of research, I took a tour of my local south London pubs, to see how punters were coping with the new law.

Anyone who has strayed into the Hollybush on Crystal Palace High Street, will know that at times you've needed a knife to cut your way through the smog and reach the bar. Not any more. As I passed by, three men were huddled outside the door, collars up against the drizzle, puffing on their rollies. Bless them, they looked like little lost souls, peering wistfully into the pub, where their pint glasses stood on the bar.

Down Gipsy Hill at the Railway Bell, locals had the luxury of a beer garden to venture out into when they needed a smoke. One particularly heavy smoker shuttled continuously from bar stool to beer garden, just about finding the time to take his anorak off and take a slurp of his lager before it was time to wrap up against the elements and head out again.

One regular summed up the sense of smoking being ever more of an illicit pleasure, when he announced, "I'm off out for a sneaky fag behind the bike sheds".

I asked Sue, the landlady, how her customers had reacted. "No problems so far - but the rowdy, Friday evening crew, who are all smokers, will be the real test".

How did your customers react to the implementation of the ban? Did you have to ask anyone to put out a cigarette? Did more familes come in for lunch? And what was the impact on takings?

Tomorrow night is Cateys night, when we celebrate the best chefs, hoteliers and restaurateurs in the land; I'll be off home to practice my opening speech in the mirror after I write this posting.

It's a long, hard road to Cateys night. The judging process alone involves three full days of back to back judging sessions at the Grosvenor House Hotel, at which more than a hundred industry experts help us establish another roster of winners. Then there are meetings with the designers responsible for the look and feel of the night, trips up to the Grosvenor House to discuss table plans, seating and menus, discussions with sponsors about their role on the night, conference calls with guest presenters ...

Short and sweet blog today, I'm off to the Grosvenor House on Park Lane for the Cateys. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow...

The 2007 Cateys awards are over, and once again I'm left with a roster of worthy winners, a hatful of memories and a sore head.

If you were there, I hope you had a great time. If you weren't, here, in no particular order, are just a few of my highs and lows from the night.

* I'm always amazed by how many people are involved in pulling together an awards function. As I arrived in the Great Room, mid-afternoon, a swarm of staff and technicians were setting tables, ironing tablecloths, rigging lights, hanging light curtains, even painting walls. The faces of the guys responsible for building the tower of champagne glasses were a picture of concentration.

* Sabrage isn't an easy art to master: just as guests began to drift in for pre-dinner drinks, a hapless Grosvenor House staffer managed to total a whole bottle while trying to lop off its neck with a sword.

* The Grosvenor House Hotel is looking well. I had a suite upstairs, lucky me, and the makeover has resulted in really welcoming guest rooms, and a lobby area that works well.

* Guest presenter, Dara Ó Briain, was great company during the soundcheck in the afternoon. he told me about some of his worst experiences of presenting events, including one bash where every table was festooned with balloons at eye-level - "I felt like I was telling gags to a roomful of ballonheads, and they could only see me from the waist down." During the Cateys, he described the difficulties of presenting in the round (this year's Cateys were conducted on a circular stage in the centre of the Great Room). It's a great format, he said, "because it means half of you get to see my arse at any given moment".

* Radio mikes should be treated with extreme caution. My hands-free headset mike sounded like a good idea, but its tendency to cut out through my opening speech left people comparing me to R2-D2, a Dalek and Norman Collier.

* Great food, as usual, from the team at the Grosvenor House. Marcus Wareing called the veal main course the best he had ever tasted at a Cateys night.

* Cigar-smoking Richard Shepherd doesn't approve of the smoking law, as became abundantly clear in the lively conversation at our table over dinner.

* Congratulations to Yo! Sushi's Robin Rowland for the most vigorous celebration of the night - brandishing his statue in the air, he reminded me of Sir Bobby Moore holding the World Cup aloft in '66.

* The most touching moment? Richard Shepherd's bearhug with Terry Holmes, after Terry had announced he was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement award. Richard's standing ovation from the audience was also a bit special.

* Chef Director at Lexington Catering, Rob Kirby's five o'clock shadow almost took the skin off my face when he gave me a great big kiss at end of the night.

* Best dressed guest? Clearly Simon Woodroffe (check out next week's Caterer for photo).

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was reading a book called The Perfectionist, about the life of three Michelin-starred French chef, Bernard Loiseau. I'm about three quarters of the way through it now, and thought I'd pass on what I've learnt so far.

Tragically, Loiseau's life story is defined by his suicide, in 2003. The owner of the Côte d'Or restaurant in Burgundy put a shotgun to his own head, rather than continue to bear the constant pressure of retaining his three Michelin stars.

Is The Perfectionist a good book? For me, it's at least a hundred pages too long, and the prose can at times be terribly overworked (quote: "the black truffle … does for French cuisine what a Wonder Bra does for an ambitious ingénue …"!) But as an insight into the world of French haute gastronomie in the second half of the twentieth century, and, in particular, Loiseau's complex world, Rudolph Chelminski's book works both as history lesson and cautionary tale.

After a week defined by the Cateys, it's nice to be able to sit back and enjoy a couple of bashes laid on by other organisations this week. Last night saw the Craft Guild of Chefs' annual awards at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London; tonight, it's the turn of the Academy of Culinary Arts, at Claridge's. Tomorrow, I diet ...

The Guild put on their usual uptempo evening. Host with the most Alan Dewberry, who MC-ed as energetically as ever, introduced Guild stalwarts David Mulcahy and Steve Munkley as the Ant and Dec of the chef world when he invited them on stage to run through the shortlist. Later, Lilia and Darren from Strictly Come Dancing lent a little Latin pizzazz to the evening.

The Guild has a lovely tradition of giving winners a dinner jacket with its motif on the left lapel, when they go on stage to receive their award - a nice bit of theatre that reminds me of the moment the winner of the US Masters dons the green jacket.

I was thrilled to see Simon Young of the Jumeirah Carlton Tower pick up the conference and banqueting award - he did such a sterling job for us when he hosted our Chef Conference a couple of months back.

All the winners were present except Marco Pierre White, who picked up the Special award at the end of the night. There to receive the trophy for him was Marco's group exec chef, Callum "I get free psychoanalysis as part of my salary" Watson.

I've just got in from the Academy of Culinary Arts' 25th annual awards of excellence, which were held at Claridges. What a spectacular night!

I need to get to sleep soon (I am meeting Marco Pierre White for lunch tomorrow to discuss his forthcoming Caterer guest editorship, and that'll require all the energy I can muster) but I'll briefly fill you in on the event.

The awards, which reward the best young people under the age of 26 working as chefs, pastry chefs or in service, were co-hosted by Brian Turner and Ritz Hotel Exec Chef, John Williams, who did a nice Two Ronnies turn onstage.

Sometimes you have to pinch yourself when you see your table plan: I was sat with Ramon Pajares, Michel Roux, Richard Shepherd, Jane Asher and Gerald Scarfe, among others.

I was interested to read about People 1st's launch, earlier this week, of a Gold standard customer service campaign aimed at ensuring the customer experience for visitors to London before, during and after the 2012 Olympic Games is as positive as possible.

Their release quotes from a recent Square Meal Restaurant Guide survey, which revealed that 50% of UK diners find fault with the restaurant service they receive.

The campaign is backed by London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, who said:

"For the next few years leading up to the 2012 Games and beyond London will be the focus of the world. We are expecting a huge increase in the many millions of tourists who currently visit our capital from abroad and from around the UK and we must grasp the opportunity to ensure we offer a first class welcome to everyone – a welcome they will never forget."

What do you think of service standards across the country? I think they can be patchy. recently I went to a pub behind Piccadilly Circus and received such an astonishingly frosty 'welcome' at the bar that I immediately turned around and walked out again. And a few months ago, as I approached reception at a hotel in Scotland to check in, I was greeted with absolute silence from the person behind the desk. It was a bizarre and uncomfortable few seconds - I waited for her to acknowledge me, she waited for me to introduce myself - that would sit well as a case study on how not to greet customers in a management training video.

What and where was the best customer service you have received recently? And the worst?

How would you like to bag a free place at a 14-day Hospitality Management Summer Programme at the Ecole Hotelerie de Lausanne, Switzerland? Or perhaps you'd like to brush up your management skills at Cornell University, USA, or our very own Cranfield University School of Management?

The Master Innholders are currently accepting applications for their MI Scholarship scheme - but you'll have to hurry if you want to be in with a chance as the closing date for applications is July 31st. And don't expect to waltz onto the guest list of a high-value training course without a bit of effort on your part.

I'm fascinated by the Sunday Mirror's story about a kitchen porter's claims that he suffered racial harassment and discrimination, religious discrimination and victimisation at Gordon Ramsay's flagship restaurant in Chelsea.

The paper quoted a friend of Ramsay's as saying:

"Gordon employs more than 1,000 people of all nationalities. He spends a fortune sponsoring youngsters who want to be chefs through the Gordon Ramsay Scholarship Programme. It is a real hot-house in a kitchen and people shout and swear all the time - but he would never tolerate racism."

This is a fair comment. The commercial kitchen has to be the most testosterone-charged of workplaces, as well as one of the most racially diverse, and banter goes with the territory. As for Gordon himself, he has forged a hugely successful TV career out of being a foul-mouthed genius of the kitchen, but his abuse is blind to colour and creed - he'll tell anyone to f**k off out of his kitchen.

The question, then, is this: when does banter go too far? And can employers ever hope to keep it within the boundaries of acceptability?

Let me know what you think.

If it's true that the customer is king, then lying to one of your hotel or restaurant guests must constitute an act of treason. Yet, according to the excellent Waiter Rant blog, deceit is as much a part of table service as plates, salt and pepper.

The blog's latest posting lists some of the more common half-truths uttered to guests. Some of my favourites are:

* Why yes sir, I used diet tonic water for your Tanqueray 10 and Tonic.

* The fish was delivered today.

* No madam, the fish isn’t frozen. (At least not now!)

* That table’s reserved. (It isn’t. I just don’t like your attitude.)

* Your children are adorable.

* Yes, the cheese was made from the milk of happy cows that roam free on verdant green pastures. (Right before we kill them!)

* It was a pleasure serving you.

Are you ever economical with the truth when speaking to guests? You can tell us - it'll be our little secret ...

I've now finished The Perfectionist, Rudolph Chelminski's account of the life and untimely death of three-starred French chef, Bernard Loiseau. What a sad story.

In my first posting, I described how the first half of the book introduces Loiseau within the context of the great French chefs of the past fifty years. In the second half, the author cements the image of a chef whose gastronomic confidence and lack of personal self-confidence seem to flourish in tandem. We learn of his invention of a system of binding sauces with vegetable purées; and one of his defining creations, frogs' legs with garlic purée and parsley juice, is described in enlightening detail. But at the same time we witness him working ever harder to hone his offering, becoming overly embroiled in building works at his restaurant and incurring mounting debts ("Bernard had mortgaged his future to Michelin").

Other magazines and websites may be content to focus on a single subset of the hospitality industry, but here at the Caterer Group we like to challenge ourselves.

I like to think of us as a great, big bag of Revels with all the toffees removed - lots of different flavours, none of them disappointing. All facets of the industry are covered, from restaurants to hotels and from pubs to corporate dining, and at times this can make for some pretty varied working days for us journalists.

Take today. At lunchtime, Caterer Towers were visited by frozen meal suppliers (and Cateys sponsors) Apetito, who were keen to present their palatable new range of primary school meals. I tried the lasagne and the meatballs and can confirm that neither would have me calling my mum and asking her to pass me a burger through the school gates.

Three hours later, an impeccably attired gentleman in tails was leading me through the corridors of Buckingham Palace and past the famous first floor balcony from where the Royal Family have done some of their best waving, to a teatime reception at which the new City & Guilds Level 2 dimploma for butlers was unveiled.

The palace was, well, palatial. In common with many of London's poshest addreesses, there was Moulton Brown in the loos. And, inevitably, there was a plate of Duchy biscuits on the sideboard.

I'll write more about the course in next week's Caterer. Suffice to say, it sounds fascinating, and a positive step towards improving levels of service in this country. Course modules such as "introduction to wines, spirits and cigars", "maintaining surfaces and antique furnishings" and "country sports" had me tempted to jack in this editing lark and retrain.

Who's your favourite fictional butler? Mine's Batman's butler, Alfred (pictured).

This week, the Hotel Cateys reach their judging stage. Posting blogs may be tricky: I'll be holed up all day in a succession of central London hotel rooms chairing judging sessions, and when I do surface, the only news I'll have to report will be our winners - which are top-secret until the autumn.

So here, in the meantime, is a little competition to keep you amused (I confess: I lifted all of the questions from a round in this week's University Challenge.)

If you know the answers, fill in the comments box below and send them in to me. If I receive more than one set of correct answers, I'll choose my favourite tiebreaker answer. I'll send a bottle of champagne to the winning entry.

One: In which Hollywood director's movies does the Big Kahuna Burger repeatedly appear?

Two: Which cartoon characters work at Burger World in Highland, Texas?

Three: What is Milliways Restaurant otherwise known as?

Tiebreaker: what is you favourite fictional restaurant, bar or hotel?

The AA's chief hotel and restaurant inspector, Peter Birnie, joined us at the first judging sessions of the Hotel Cateys at the Dorchester Hotel this week. I took the chance to pop out for a bite with him afterwards, to witness an inspection first hand.

We went to Rhodes W1, Gary Rhodes' new fine dining venture at the Cumberland Hotel. I loved
the restaurant's Kelly Hoppen-designed interiors - the crystal chandeliers that dominate reminded me a bit of Superman's ice palace in the Christopher Reeve movies. Our initial concerns that we had hit the restaurant on a quiet night were soon dispelled, as the place filled up steadily.

So, how does an AA inspector inspect? In short, with huge care and a huge attention to detail.

I've just met Group Managing Director of Compass Group UK & Ireland, Ian El-Mokadem at Compass HQ in Uxbridge. Over lunch, Ian (known affectionately as Elmo around the industry) shared his views on People 1st, school meals reform and his vision for the future of the UK's largest foodservice operator.

On People 1st
Elmo said he was supportive of any attempt to simplify the training landscape, but said "I just don't understand what the Dickens [People 1st] are doing. In a year of doing this job, I haven't spoken to them, and haven't seen their agenda very clearly" - this, from a man whose office is a mile down the road from People 1st's offices.

So, can the Skills Passport work?

"If we and other big players say 'yes', it's going to get critical mass - but I wouldn't put money on it working."

On Strengthening Compass UK's client offering
If clients ask, 'why do business with Compass?', Elmo answers that, as well as being empowered to offer their own sector expertise, his various divisions can draw on the strength and depth of the organisation as a whole. To back up this claim, work is going on to strengthen support functions such as IT, training, health and safety and product development. He calls this approach "freedom in a framework". His vision is of a truly joined-up business, proud of its diversity but with all self-imposed barriers knocked down. To achieve this, he needs to create a sense of teamwork and shared focus. Elmo oversees around 7000 sites, employing some 70,000 employees, so the ongoing task of applying and communicating a core set of company values is a complex but crucial one.

Elmo holds up the recent rationalising of the group's fine dining divisions into a single division, Restaurant Associates, as an example of the sort of rethinking planned for other parts of the business. In B&I division Eurest, this will mean realigning the offering and organisational structure to address the challenge of being more retail-savvy and more informed by the increasingly "grab and go" nature of high street dining.

Ongoing restructuring extends to the group's supply chain, which currently encompasses around 9000 products, plus other produce sourced at the local level. Plans are afoot to rationalise the chain and create procurement efficiencies across the group. And chefs are being encouraged to get more involved in the procurement process.

"They should have an involvement at the beginning and the end of every procurement decision", said Elmo.

On School meals standards
Elmo's message to the government mandarins responsible for school food guidelines was: "job done, guys!" In other words, nutritional standards have successfully opened a national debate on the standard of school meals, but the time has come to stop regulating. In particular, he feels the forthcoming ban on cakes and other confectionery at breaktime could have the opposite effect to the one desired, as more children bring snacks in to school with them, and more catering companies cut their losses and withdraw from schools.

The sun's out, another week's issue of Caterer and Hotelkeeper has been put to bed and, as if the world doesn't seem a warm and cuddly enough place already, a bit of food-supply news has just come in to warm - or should that read 'chill' - the cockles.

Foodservice wholesale distributor, 3663 First for Foodservice has donated one of its 'end-of-term' trucks for use in various humanitarian relief projects in Africa.

Normally, lorries that have been replaced are stripped down, and their parts recycled elsewhere across the fleet, but not this time. Better still, the lorry has been loaded up with books, medical supplies and wheelchairs. Once these gifts are offloaded, the vehicle will be used to distribute perishable food items to remote African villages.

More than 20,000 people and five community projects are expected to benefit from the lorry and its contents. Credit where credit's due ...

Has your place of work done anything you'd like to shout about?