The Editor's Hospitality Blog

Encouraging news for the beleaguered pub sector: if last weekend's Beer on the Wye festival in Herefordshire is any sort of bellwether, British boozers are still up for quaffing as much beer as ever.

The festival was scheduled to run from Friday to Sunday last weekend, but the final day had to be cancelled after the event was drunk completely dry by the end of Saturday night.

In total, punters downed 1200 gallons of beer and 300 gallons of cider and perry before the event organisers, CAMRA, had to call time.

Did you see 2009 Acorn Award winner Will Holland on Saturday Kitchen this morning? Didn't he do well?

The Michelin-starred chef of La Becasse in Ludlow, owned by L'Ortolan chef-proprietor Alan Murchison, debuted on the James Martin show with a perfect demo and a delicious parmesan-crusted halibut, sag aloo and lime emulsion dish - check out the recipe here.

But not only did our 29-year-old rising star appear on the show with the presentation skills of an old pro, he also gave his precious Acorn Award, which he won last month, a huge plug. Bless his big cotton socks!

We're going to be catching up with Will and Alan in a month or two to showcase the cooking of La Becasse and L'Ortolan, so watch out for that at Caterersearch.com/video.

In the meantime, La Becasse celebrates its second birthday today - happy birthday boys and here's to many, many more awards and loads more TV exposure!

Congratulations to the team of young chefs from North Devon College, which last Friday won the 2009 Nestlé Toque d'Or awards.

Event organisers celebrated the competition's 21st anniversary in true style with a lavish bash at the O2 Arena attended by industry movers and shakers as well as by parents and friends of members of the five college teams that had reached the grand final.

Over the years, some 5000 students have entered the Toque d'Or competition, in which teams create a restaurant concept, set up their themed restaurant at a live event and serve a three-course lunch to 100 paying guests.

This year's event, which was again hosted by TV presenter, Mark Durdon-Smith, featured a Dragon's Den-style line-up of judges quizzing finalists onstage about burnt tuiles, early mornings and menus delivered by a rapper. Under cross-examination, one team told judges how it had had a problem with fish that took too long to defrost. "We're not used to such good fridges", one team-member admitted.

Meanwhile, the maitr' d of another team paid tribute to her fellow team-members for coping after she got sick and had to drop out of service. "Was that after tasting your own meal?" asked the ever-cheeky Durdon-Smith.

As the team from North Devon College celebrated wildly, Durdon-Smith asked one of them which of their prizes they were more excited by: VIP tickets to see Beyonce at the O2, or a stage in Anton Mosimann's kitchens. "His kitchen", she said shyly, pointing at the bow-tied maestro who had handed her the trophy only a moment before. Correct answer.

On Sunday, myself and pubs & bars editor, Emma White headed to London to take part in the British 10k run.

We were running for Hospitality Action, and it was great to see a huge number of lesser-known charities out there such as St Dunstan's (help and support charity for blind ex-Service men) and Crossroads - Caring for Carers as well as Cancer Research, Anthony Nolan Trust and the Rainbow Trust.

The race started at 9.35am at Hyde Park corner, and being two of 37,000 runners that morning it took us just over an hour to get to the start line - not great for our nerves!

The course took us through central London passing some of the most famous tourist attractions including Trafalgar Square, St Pauls and Westminster.

Luckily the weather held up and despite start-line nerves, we both completed the race in just over an hour!

If you would like to sponsor us there is still time - log onto our JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/team_caterer

The two-Michelin-starred chef and 2009 Lifetime Achievement Catey award-winner Raymond Blanc was on sparkling form yesterday as he threw a lavish party at Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons to celebrate the hotel's silver anniversary.

Around two hundred guests were treated to a piano recital on Le Manoir's impeccable lawns, and then joined in on a rendition of La Marseillaise to mark Bastille Day, before the formal speeches began. Sensing a lack of Gallic gusto in our singing, Raymond ordered a second rendition - this time with all guests holding clenched fists to their hearts - which he led rousingly from the stage. Fantastic.

The French Ambassador spoke first, and named Raymond as one of only three people, along with the French President and the Queen, with the power to pull him away from official duties at his London residence on Bastille Day. Paul White, President and CEO of Orient-Express, then paid tribute to Raymond's success, recalling how he had seen the French chef's star rising over the years, through the pages of Caterer and Hotelkeeper.

Before speaking to his guests, Raymond welcomed every member of his 203-strong team onto the lawn. Then, at the climax of a typically impassioned and heartfelt speech, he brandished his Catey and dedicated it to them all.

The menu:

Tartare of Scottish langoustine, flavours of Japan

Salad of heirloom tomato, Kalamata olive, Sicilian tomato essence sorbet

Confit of wild River Severn salmon, elderflower, yuzu cream, garden radish

Mr Ring's "Bury Hook" lamb, braised fennel, coco beans, aubergine puree

Pochaed peach in white wine and citrus fruits, black figs filled with a port ice-cream

The Ritz Carlton and Marriott hotels in Jakarta have been hit by two bomb blasts overnight. 

At least nine people, including foreigners, have been killed and 48 injured in the explosions at the luxury hotels in the Indonesian capital. There are no reports that any British people have been killed.

The first two blasts, in Jakarta's central business district, occurred at about 0730 (0030 GMT). Reuters quoted police as saying another, unexploded, bomb had also been found at the JW Marriott. 

"I heard two sounds like 'boom, boom' coming from the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton. Then I saw people running out," security guard Eko Susanto told AFP.

Latest reports as that a second unexploded bomb has been found at one of the hotels.

The Marriott Hotel was the target of a bomb attack in August 2003 in which 13 people were killed.

 Video from Sky News

** Twitter was apparently the first to break the story. First at the scene was user Daniel Tumiwa - who's first Tweet read: Bom @ marriot and ritz Carlton kuningan jakarta. 

The stars of the industry were out at last night's National Restaurateurs Dinner at London's Park Lane Hotel. Roy Ackerman, Bob Walton of the Restaurant Association, Lexington's Tim West, chefs Jason Atherton, Brian Turner and John Williams from the Ritz, Andrew Davis of von Essen and Bob Cotton were among the hundreds who gathered to raise cash for the Restaurant Association, Academy of Culinary Arts and Academy of Food and Wine Training.

In total, well over £25,000 (and counting) was raised on the night, most of it from an auction that featured such tempting highlights as a visit to the Martell cognac house, a weekend the Prague Rocco Forte Collection hotel, the Augustine, and a stay for six people at Bovey Castle.

Last week's Independent Restaurateur Catey winner, James Thomson, was clearly in a mood to prolong his personal celebrations, as he bagged a gourmet, chauffeur-driven tour of London that will take in Zafferano, Aubergine and L'Oranger, courtesy of the London Fine Dining Group and von Essen.

And Richard Shepherd revealed himself as a closet Spandau Ballet fan, when he successfully bid for a set of tickets to see the elaborately coiffeured, be-frilled Eighties popsters in concert this autumn.