The Editor's Hospitality Blog

I'm off to the Hospitality Action Question of Sport dinner at Wembley Stadium tonight. The idea is that guests get wined and dined, check out the stadium's makeover and test their knowledge of sporting trivia, while the industry's charity makes pots of cash.

I'll report back tomorrow on what goes on. Meanwhile, to get in the mood, a few of us have racked our brains to contrive a 'top ten' of sportstars with hospitality connections.

Can you think of any we've missed?

Gordon Ramsay seemed set for a career-making sign-up to Rangers FC, before a cruciate knee ligament changed his plans. Lucky he could cook a bit ...

Terry Venables Current England assistant coach, El Tel once owned a nightclub called Scribes West on Kensington HIgh Street.

Lee Dixon Former Fat Duck shareholder Lee Dixon still co-owns the Riverside Brasserie on Monkey Island.

Frankie Dettori This year's Derby winner lent his name to the chain of restaurants he launched in partnership with Marco Pierre White.

David Coulthard co-owns Monaco's "chic, affordable and accessible" Columbus Hotel with Malmaison mastermind, Ken McCullough.

Sir Alex Ferguson managed Fergie's pub after his playing career ended. Downstairs bar, the Elbow Room was apparently named in honour of his robust style of play.

Together, Sir Ian Botham and Alan Lamb (AKA Beefy and Lamby), are the face of British meat.

Shoeless Joe's Bars may not have worked out, but Victor Ubogu now runs a corporate hospitality company firm that's got a packed summer and autumn schedule.

Roberto di Matteo followed his Chelsea career by opening two restaurants, Friends and Baraonda, a stone's throw from Stamford Bridge.

(... to sound of barrel being scraped ...) Christian minister and erstwhile heavyweight boxing champion of the world, George Foreman is now making the world a thinner place, thanks to his Lean, Mean, Fat-reducing Grilling Machine.

Three-Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal has been forced to close his Bray restaurant, the Fat Duck, following a food scare, according to Telegraph.co.uk.

The article stated that dozens of customers had reported feeling unwell after eating at the restaurant, however, initial tests conducted by environmental health officers as well as the restaurant's own food safety consultants have been negative.

Blumenthal closed the restaurant on Tuesday and reservations for have been cancelled.

It went on to say that no date has been set for the restaurant's reopening.

He told the Telegraph: "After 14 years of work, to come to the point where you have to close the restaurant is upsetting. The Fat Duck for me is very much a labour of love. The samples have all come back negative. It's very strange. We called in the environmental health officers and they said it could be a non-specific virus which is going around."

On Wednesday night, Blumenthal lead a brigade of Michelin-starred chefs who cooked alongside the students of South Downs College for a dinner in aid of The Ark. The dinner raised just under £20,000.

Our hearts go out to Heston Blumenthal, who last week was forced to close his beloved flagship restaurant, the Fat Duck, following a food scare.

Read Guide Girl for the latest developments....

His decision to close the restaurant before the environmental health officers even knew about the situation illustrates what many people already knew about him - that he is one of the most considerate chefs you could ever wish to meet.

Inevitably, this will have financial ramifications for him, but we hope this isn't something that is sustained - 2009 is going to be tough enough for many operators - and so it's good to know that he hopes to reopen later this week. 

Hats off to him for putting on such a brave face and for giving us a lesson in morality. Read Guide Girl for the latest developments....

Fat Duck unlikely to reopen this week>>

Three-Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal has joined forces with a team of scientists at Reading University to develop hospital food recipes.

According to the BBC, the host of Channel 4's Heston's Feasts series and owner of the Fat Duck in Bray is contributing to a project to improve nutrition on elderly care wards.

The Reading University team has been experimenting with introducing umami into British staples such as shepherd's pie to enhance the taste. The long-term aim of the project is to develop a series of recipes that revive older diners' palates. The project is also hoping to work towards combating malnutrition among the elderly. 

Dr Lisa Methven, lead researcher, told the BBC that older people suffering from a deterioration in taste don't get an extra taste bud, while they can be fitted with a hearing aid or a pair of glasses. "Our hope is that we can develop foods that older people can get more pleasure out of and enhance their nutritional status," she said.