The Editor's Hospitality Blog

Lunch at L'Ortolan yesterday, the Michelin-starred Berkshire restaurant run by Alan Murchison, who had a funny story to tell about local sourcing. The occasion was a meeting with Steelite International, to get their feedback on current tableware trends.

Alan has just taken over the site of Claude Bosi's Hibiscus restaurant in Ludlow, and opened his new La Becasse restaurant there. He's been bowled over by the profusion and quality of local produce in the area, and amazed by the level of detail he receives about its provenance. For instance, the local farm that supplies his duck eggs pops a piece of card in each delivery with the name of the bird that produced them.

Apparently, diners at La Becasse last Sunday enjoyed their eggs, courtesy of Denise the duck!

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!