Caterer and Hotelkeeper – 30865
beware smart men when the weather's bad
OUR AA-listed 5Q premier selection country farmhouse hotel is buried deep in the Bowland Hills.
For the first three months of the year it is subject to lashing rain, biting winds and deep snow. Between these intrusions of a typical Pennine winter, we function. Some weekends buzz as if it were a summer bank holiday. Some midweek days we may only welcome a small number for a two- or three-day break, who we nevertheless spoil with roaring fires, full-blast central heating with our usual warm hospitality.
However, there are empty days. Days when eight bedrooms are ready, poised, beautiful in fact, but colder than our visitors would usually wish to find them. Our dining room's beautifully laid tables wait in a ghostly silence and the lounge, plumped and polished, stares unto an unlit grate. Such days we learn to make the most of.
On just such a day in March I minded my two granddaughters. I put baby number one down to sleep in our detached home. I then wrapped up baby number two and hurried the hundred yards' distance to our son's home and tucked her into her own cot for her sleep. Mission accomplished, I dashed back to our now chaotic kitchen-cum-nursery.
On passing the hotel car park I come across two smartly dressed men clutching briefcases. An arm is outstretched "I am the AA inspector and this is my assistant," says one of the men.
I blurt out that I am not open, followed by a garbled explanation of my predicament. It sounds inefficient and silly. They say weakly that they will come again, but I dither, they wait, I apologise and run for the hotel keys, find my unsuspecting husband and get him to watch the dinner. By now I guide a very disturbed inspector around the unlit, cool, Marie Celeste of a hotel.
There goes a whole year's work by everyone - my staff, my family, myself. Of course, I know they cannot let me know. Of course, I know they must take me by surprise. And, of course, I must be courteous and welcoming to everyone. I blew it all!
"Why are you so upset granny?" the future generation ask over lunch, "and what are five Qs?"
VICTORIA WOOD Granny Harrop Fold Country Farmhouse Hotel, Clitheroe, Lancashire.
dishing the dirt on deliveries
FROM some recent observations here are a few hints on how to be a delivery man.
Whenever possible, park in the manager's parking space, take up at least four customer parking spaces, or block all access to and from the car park.
Do try to call at lunchtime when everyone is busy, and block aisles and doorways with bulky packages. Always leave fire doors wedged open.
Don't forget to ask the chef if he is busy, especially when he obviously is, or when there's not a soul in the place.
Finally, if you require a signature, wait until the chef is up to his elbows in pastry, fish guts or butterscotch sauce - and never carry a pen.
Any further hints?
MIKE CONWAY Manager, Glen Nevis Restaurant & Bar, Fort William, Inverness-shire.
sesame can also be a killer
YOUR report "Peanut Poison" (7 April) raises some important issues. But it is not just peanuts that cause violent allergic reactions.
A light glazing of sesame oil on my vegetables was enough to trigger off a near fatal allergic reaction. Within seconds I was reaching for my adrenaline kit, which no doubt saved my life. Tragically, a few of the individuals reported as dying from peanut induced anaphylaxis were not carrying adrenaline.
My purpose in writing is to draw your attention to sesame allergy and to seek your help in raising awareness about this problem so that manufacturers and caterers can take the necessary precautions.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's leaflet Nuts can be vital for some people makes no mention of sesame, which can also kill.
MAGGIE PERKINS, Radlett, Hertfordshire.
hotels lose out to trout farms
WHILE I agree with most of Bob Gledhill's article "Swimming against the tide" (14 April) I feel he could have looked at other aspects of trout supply in greater depth.
Sea trout is only mentioned in passing. This species is exactly the same as brown trout except it has migrated to salt water to spawn - or at least that is the theory.
Unfortunately, evidence shows that as a direct result of salmon farming the species is fast declining, as are jobs within our trade. The Irish government has at last realised this and has banned fish farming in certain areas.
Sea trout is similarly being affected in the west of Scotland. Hotels such as ours, internationally renowned for their sea trout fishing, have had to diversify because the sea trout are no longer here, thanks to salmon farming.
Mr Gledhill's report does not mention wild salmon, a far superior beast compared to farmed salmon. It is more expensive, but many customers ordering salmon will ask if it is wild or farmed.
Purchasing farmed salmon costs jobs, our jobs.
P BOYCE-KENYON Loch Maree Hotel, Achnasheen, Wester Ross.
awash with ideas forrecycling
We have responded to Jonathan Wix's suggestion for recycling soap (Finishing Touches, 24 March) by initiating a clearing house called Soapbox which will collect used soap from any hotel in Cumbria. The soap will be dispatched by a relief charity at work in countries such as Albania, Bosnia and Croatia.
If you wish to participate please write or telephone (0768) 372464 and see your old soap give a clean start to people in need.
IAN HARTLEY Cumbria Hotel Furnishers, Coldstream House, Hartley, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria.
