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Category Archives: Restaurants

Getting ready to watch The Apprentice? My money’s on the hospitality hopefuls

18 Wednesday Mar 2009

Posted by amanda afiya in Restaurants

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Theapprentice.JPGHaving spent the last five weeks of my life planning my social calendar around the BBC1 hit series Mistresses, I was devastated to find out last night that next week is the last episode in the series. What am I to do?

But all is not lost as The Apprentice, Sir Alan Sugar’s search to find a new member to join his rather scary team, with the softener of a six-figure salary, kicks off next Wednesday (25 March, 9pm, BBC1).

So, here at Caterer Towers, we were rather keen to spot that one or two of his would-be apprentices hail from our jolly old industry.

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Top tips on finding the best hotel and restaurant staff

10 Thursday Jan 2008

Posted by mark lewis in Best Places to Work in Hospitality, career, Hospitality, Hotels, Restaurants

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Happy%20face.jpgHave you ever wanted to know the secret to attracting the very best hospitality workers to your company? Or wondered what other companies do to be selected as one of Caterer’s Best Places to Work in Hospitality? Look no further.
Hospitality recruitment specialists, HR on Tap have sent me a list of reasons why some companies fail to find good staff. There’s some good stuff here, I think:
Are you looking in the right place? An advert in trade press will hit people in the right industry, but most readers will statistically be outside your region and most will probably not be looking for a new job. Local papers have similar problems – you get the location right, but not the industry or job seekers. Spread your net wider and it’ll be easier to catch the right people.
Are you offering the right package? Too much money is just as bad as not enough! You need to be competitive but without either making applicants suspicious or imagining the job is more senior than it really is.
Are you looking for Mr / Ms Perfect? Be realistic – it’s really rare to find the absolute perfect match of experience, skills and qualities that you imagine the role needs. How much of it is essential and how much can you train? The more open-minded you are, the more candidates you’ll have to choose from.
Are you flexible enough? If you offer flexible working, flaunt it! It’s a major plus for many people to know that they’ll get a decent work/life balance or be able to work around the school run. Be explicit about this in your adverts
Do you have to advertise? You might find that your perfect candidate isn’t actively looking for a job. Do your homework and you might just find that gem hiding away somewhere, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to coax them away.
Are you prepared to train someone? It might not be as painful as you think. How about someone from a completely different industry? Just because they’ve never worked in your industry before, doesn’t mean they can’t. And if they have transferable skills from another industry, you’ll probably find training doesn’t take nearly as long as you’d think.
Are you well known as a good employer? If not, why not? It’s not all about the money. For some people, switching employers is a big deal and they need to know they’re doing the right thing. You don’t have to be a huge corporate to have a strong employer brand! Get known as a great place to work and you’ll soon reach a point where great people approach you, rather than you having to hunt them down.
Think like a marketing expert! If you can get your head around how to attract customers, then attracting staff isn’t so different. Understand your audience, know where to find them, give them what they’re looking for.
Don’t try to change people. If you want to find real star performers, put talent first (the behaviours and actions that come naturally and are hard to teach) and skills, experience and qualifications last. It might take a couple of days longer to train the person in the skills you need, but it’ll be worth it in the long run. Trying to change behaviours might succeed to a degree, but rarely to any great extent.

Alain Ducasse arrives in London

13 Tuesday Nov 2007

Posted by mark lewis in Alain Ducasse, Caterer and Hotelkeeper, Christopher Cowdray, Dorchester Hotel, Ducasse, Gary Rhodes, Henry Brosi, John Campbell, Michel Roux Jnr, Michelin stars, Raymond Blanc, Restaurants, The Dorchester Hotel, Vineyard at Stockcross

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Alain%20Ducasse.jpgLast night, superchef Alain Ducasse, the man with the most Michelin stars in the world, hosted a star-studded dinner at his new restaurant at London’s Dorchester Hotel before it opens to the public tonight.
Welcoming us, Monsieur Ducasse promised not to serve frogs’ legs, if guests promised not to mention the rugby world cup.
The table plan read like a who’s-who of the UK dining scene: Mark Hix, Tom Aikens, Marcus Wareing, Raymond Blanc, Philip Howard, Michel Roux jnr, Gary Rhodes, Giorgio Locatelli, Henri Brosi, John Campbell, Theo Randall, Sir Terence Conran and many others came to meet the great man and sample his food. At the end of the meal, all of them lined up like kids outside a sweetshop, to view the magnificent kitchen Monsieur Ducasse has had put in at the restaurant.
The sight of so many top-drawer chefs in one room prompted the Vineyard’s John Campbell to tell me: “if a bomb drops on the Dorchester now, you’ll have nothing to write about anymore in the Caterer!” I replied that it would leave UK foodies dining on beans on toast from then on.
Christopher Cowdray wouldn’t have been at all pleased to see a bomb land on us. Christopher is the CEO of the Dorchester Collection. As our seared scallops course arrived, Christopher pointed out to me the amoeba-thin shaving of dried tuna that topped the dish, and which moved like a flickering flame in the heat rising off the scallop below. Stunning.

Champagne, casinos and the danger of addiction

09 Friday Nov 2007

Posted by mark lewis in Ark Foundation, Bob Walton, Earl of Bradford, Restaurant Association, Restaurants, Richard Shepherd

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Richard%20Bradford.jpgCongratulations 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 …

Solving hospitality’s age-old image problem

01 Monday Oct 2007

Posted by mark lewis in career, Catering colleges, customer service, Hospitality, Hotels, Restaurants

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careersforboys.jpgI found a dusty old book at my parents’ house this weekend, which set me thinking about the hospitality industry’s continuing problem with public perceptions of its potential to offer a worthy career path.
Called Careers for Boys, the book was published in 1938 and features a range of insights into the various jobs and professions open to young men seven decades ago that are quaintly dated. “It is a mistake to assume that the coming of the motor age has done away with the necessity for veterinary surgeons”, begins one chapter; while another states that “Today, as ever, the sea has an irressistible appeal for the manly, adventure-loving type of British youth”.
I scanned the contents page for any mention of catering and hotelkeeping, and found none. Finally, under a concluding round-up at the back of the book entitled “Other careers”, I found hotel and restaurant work listed among other such marginal pursuits as brewing, the Ministries and plantation work (“Life in distant parts of the Empire always has a strong appeal”).
When I left University in the late Eighties, it never occured to me to enter the world of hospitality. Indeed, when a friend of mine accepted a full-time job managing a restaurant in Bristol after we graduated, I remember thinking her choice a very odd one. In the four years since I joined the Caterer, my views have altered hugely, to the extent that, if I had known 20 years ago what I do now I reckon I would have spurned journalism in favour of a career in hotels.
I can understand why hospitality held such low currency for careers officers seventy years ago. Hotels were far fewer in number than now; and the restaurant and contract catering booms were still decades away. But why does the image problem persist in 2007?
I think we need more role models the general public can relate to. When youngsters think about hospitality, Jamie, Gordon and Marco spring to mind, along with the poor, beleagured drones they bark at. But these public figures are atypical of the industry.
Instead, we need to ensure that the mention of hospitality conjures images of job satisfaction, international travel, creativity, even glamour – for these are all pleasures that a career in hospitality can offer. Do children appreciate that GMs can live in style in exotic locations around the globe? That sommeliers are courted by wine merchants and get to tour vineyards and champagne caves? That hotel reception staff get to speak to a huge range of people, anonymous, famous and infamous? And that all these job functions, carried out well, can create enormous personal fulfilment? Probably not.
How we alter misconceptions, I don’t know. But I have a nagging doubt that hospitality is no better at shouting about itself now, than it was in 1938.

Textures and Wonderbars

27 Thursday Sep 2007

Posted by mark lewis in bars, Caterer and Hotelkeeper, Ewan Venters, Restaurants, Selfridges, Texture, Wine, wine jukebox

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Jukebox.jpgToday, I had lunch at Texture, the new London restaurant set up by Le Manoir graduates and current Caterer and Hotelkeeper cover stars, Agnar Sverrisson and Xavier Rousset.
There’s quite a buzz around Texture, and it’s easy to see why. Under the beautiful mouldings of its high ceilings, I enjoyed a spectacular meal. Sure, there were enough confits, emulsions, cracklings and wafers to justify the restaurant’s name. But what impressed me most was the clarity and intensity of flavours. My first dish, Tomato and Artichoke Textures, grabbed me by the lapels and transported me back to summer evenings spent watering the tomato plants in my mum’s greenhouse. And, if the sensation of being on a fishing boat on the South China Sea, brine on your lips and sea wind in your face, could be captured and served on a plate, it would probably taste something like Texture’s Mediterranean tuna smoked with Asian flavours.
Lunch done, I popped into nearby Selfridges to see my friend, the store’s food and restaurants director, Ewan Venters, and to check out his new Wonder Bar. The Wonder Bar is based around a wine tasting dispenser that allows customers to choose from 52 fine wines in three measures: 25ml, 75ml and 125ml.This ‘wine jukebox’ means you can sample wines you might not have come across before (some 25ml nips cost less than a pound), or which you might not be able to afford by the bottle (top of the list is a 1996 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Premier Grand Cru, which markets at £70 for 125ml).
To use it, you buy a credit card that can be loaded up to a value of £1000, and which can be topped up. Then you insert the card into the juke box, choose a wine from the wine list, and press the button corresponding to the measure you require.
I whacked £10 on my card, opted for a warming 175ml measure of 1998 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial Marques de Murrieta Rioja, and still had 20p credit left for another day.
The Wonder Bar is a brilliant idea that empowers customers to drink however much they want of whatever wine they want. What a pity then, that Trading Standards Officers have tried to spoil the party by raising concerns that the dispenser contravenes UK alcohol measures legislation.

Are these the five strangest restaurants in the world?

06 Thursday Sep 2007

Posted by mark lewis in Restaurants

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Dinner%20in%20the%20sky.jpgThanks to the Guardian’s excellent Word of Mouth food blog, I have discovered a brilliant list of some of the world’s strangest restaurant concepts.
These are five of the weirdest in no order – but perhaps you have others to beat them?
The Pol Pot-themed Khmer Rouge Experience cafe in Phnom Penh takes tasteless dining to new heights.
Remote Lounge in New York allows guests to watch one another via 60 video cameras.
Modern Toilet Only in Japan could a restaurant exist that has toilets for seats.
At Isdaan in the Philippines, diners can release their anger by throwing ing cups, plates and even TVs against the wall.
At Dinner in the Sky in Brussels, guests eat at a table hanging 50m up in the air.

Dinner with an AA inspector

26 Thursday Jul 2007

Posted by mark lewis in AA, Cumberland Hotel, customer service, Gary Rhodes, Restaurants, Rhodes W1

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Rhodes.jpgThe 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.

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Display your knowledge of fictional restaurants and win a bottle of champagne

23 Monday Jul 2007

Posted by mark lewis in Hotel Cateys, Restaurants

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Moe%27s%20Tavern.jpgThis 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?

School meal for lunch, tea at the Palace

20 Friday Jul 2007

Posted by mark lewis in Apetito, Butlers, Cateys, cigar, Hotels, Restaurants

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Alfred.jpgOther 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).

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