The Editor's Hospitality Blog

Congratulations to Trunkwell Mansion House proprietor, Bob Walton, who has been named as the new chairman of the Restaurant Association, and to Richard, Earl of Bradford, proprietor of Porter's Restaurant in London, and the association's new vice-chairman.

The two were in top form at this week's Restaurant Association 40th anniversary dinner, hosted by 2007 Catey Lifetime Achievement award-winner, Richard Shepherd at Langan's Brasserie in London.

Walton presented a gift to Manny Franks, the oldest serving member of the association, who promptly joked that the presidency and vice-presidency were mere sinecures. "The committee used to work far harder in the past, than it does now", he told guests, to much laughter.

I congratulated Richard Shepherd on the excellent, pink Beef Wellington served to guests. "That was the easy part", he told me. "The hard bit was getting 80 portions of ice cream up two flights of stairs without them melting." The ice cream came courtesy of event sponsors, Movenpick.

With dinner over, Bob Walton took a few of us across the road and signed us in at the Ritz Casino. For someone whose only experience of gambling is a pound each way on a 100-1 in the Grand National, the casino, with its Venetian chandeliers, murals and fine-dining restaurant offering Chinese, Thai, Lebanese, Indian and Western food, was a revelation.

The following morning, I conducted an interview with one of the leading lights of the Ark Foundation, whose remit is to protect hospitality workers from all forms of addiction. I opted not to mention the previous evening's activities ...

Three cheers for Michael Quinn, the man behind the Ark Foundation and joint winner, with his Ark colleague Peter Kaye, of the 2007 Cateys Special Award. Not content with raising awareness around the UK hospitality industry of the dangers of alcohol dependency and other drug misuse, Quinn has now taken his message global.

Michael is currently in Australia, touring colleges and spreading the Ark message. Check out this radio interview he recently conducted with Australia's ABC Radio.

 Last night, five Michelin-starred chefs, with no less than 10 Michelin stars among them, descended on South Downs College to cook a gourmet dinner and raise money for The Ark Foundation.

Heston Blumenthal, Marcus Wareing, John Campbell, Angela Hartnett and Phil Howard gave up their time to raise money for the arm of Hospitality Action which focuses on drink and drug abuse awareness. Working alongside the students and lecturers of South Downs College, the chefs managed to raise just under £20,000 for the charity.

But while many will benefit from the work of The Ark, they weren't the only winners for last night presented those college students - front and back of house - to not only rub shoulders with the Michelin elite, but also learn under the fine tutelage of Skylon GM Simon King and the Boundary's house manager, Olubunmi Okolosi.

Our video is still in the editing suite at the moment, but don't forget to check out the Caterersearch video channel over the next few days to see the highlights.

In the meantime, check out some of our photos from the night.