Caterer and Hotelkeeper – 7248

ON-THE-JOB TRAINING does go on IN COLLEGE

I WOULD have left college this June if not for the City & Guilds 706/2 and 707/2 examinations being replaced by a pilot General National Vocational Qualification Level 3 Advanced Course.

I passed my City & Guilds courses, but now have to complete another year at college. Imagine then, my disgust on reading the article by Ian Guthrie, "On-the-job training is the most realistic" (30 June).

I find out that three young college graduates let all the others down by not knowing the correct procedures. I haven't graduated yet, but I can cook an egg, make proper gravy and produce a béchamel sauce to the right consistency - all learned at the taxpayer's expense.

Not only do I feel annoyed by this, I feel that Mr Guthrie's opinions are unrealistic. I can assure readers that the college I attend has a very "real" and popular environment.

It has a 50-cover restaurant open from Monday to Friday, including a Thursday evening session, plus theme nights once a month, always fully booked. The standards are expected to be high and the teaching is of the highest quality.

In fact, my course could be called "on-the-job training in the college" where the customer is our work.

JUSTIN DI MARCO

Student,

Mid Kent College.

when we'll do two for ones

WHEN the entire staff, chairman and directors of the English Tourist Board offer to work two days for one day's pay, we'll join the Two for One madness.

Keeping up standards and quality while twice the people are using the hotel at half the price must be the madness of the century. The Daily Telegraph's increase in sales from the Two for One offer must have them laughing all the way to the bank.

RUTH BUXTON,

Adelaide Hotel,

Brighton,

Sussex.

should DINNERS COST SO MUCH?

I AM concerned at the exorbitant cost of industry dinners for chefs. In Scotland recently, we had two annual food events within a week of each other. The first was the Scottish Food Proms in Glasgow, where a week of dinners and guest chef workshops featured Scottish and English chefs demonstrating to the general public.

The opening night was a black tie event: a seven-course gala dinner cooked by a team of Scottish chefs at a cost of £45 per head. At other venues around the city there were similar events, costing £30.

Just after the Glasgow event there was a food festival in Perth. The format was also a series of dinners throughout the week with the headlight being a seven-course, black tie, gala dinner at £50 per head.

I write as a chef and college lecturer and while I am sure that local hotels in and around Glasgow and Perth would have benefited from these events, what of the working chefs, commis chefs or catering students?

What real chance do they have of participating, keeping up to date with culinary trends and to witness modern Scottish cooking?

WALTER McCRINDLE,

St Andrews,

Fife.

Taking THE TOUGH OPTION

IN last week's opinion column "Beware of the automatic choice" (7 July) Michael Gottlieb bares his coffee soul beautifully.

He is not alone in being seduced down the speed-at-all-costs path. Speed and quality are mutually exclusive when it comes to real coffee.

If, as we believe, "tastes are becoming more sophisticated" then restaurateurs need to rise to the challenge rather than look for an easy option.

It does take a modicum of skill to use an espresso machine and to produce a perfect espresso. The results are well worth the effort and he is right: not only his customers, but his bank manager will thank him for years to come.

TONY RUSSELL

Chairman,

Cafe Society,

Wallington,

Surrey.

A new slant to the debate

I WAS very interested in the recent controversy regarding the English Tourist Board's attempt to recruit hotels for a Two for One special offer.

Some correspondents have complained about the damage this can do to the hotel industry. And Caterer's editorial (23 June) refers to the practice as increasing the "scepticism about published rates among the general public".

However, there is another type of "offer", where people spend weekends at various establishments, either at very low prices or free as an apparent prize, only to discover that the offer does not include such extras as meals, transport, and so on. These are priced at horrendous levels to recover whatever loss the hotelier may have incurred from his original generosity.

This is, of course a variation of a better-known scam in which people apparently win foreign holidays, and are then inveigled into parting with more than they would have paid for the holiday through a reputable agency.

At least one of the holiday groups is now facing legal action. Perhaps those people who pursue such a policy within this country might take warning.

PW DAVEY

Moordown,

Bournemouth.

DISCRIMINATion is still rife

I was pleased to read the article by Mary Williams ("Young Blood, Old Issues", 16 June) concerning age discrimination. I have experience of this as an employer for various large companies and now as someone actively seeking employment.

When I was a catering manager for a merchant bank, I once recruited a silver service waitress. I found an applicant who was experienced and suitable for the position. She was middle aged. I was told not to employ her because "she was not young and pretty". Instead I was told to employ a young and pretty but less-qualified girl because "she's got a pair of arms and legs" and that was all that was required.

It is wrong to suggest that people do not apply for jobs offering less money than they have been used to. I am actively seeking employment and am realistic enough to understand that I may not find the wages I used to earn, but I still apply. At one job interview I was openly told I was too old and at another the wage offered was so low that I concluded it was a crafty way of putting me off without having to mention age.

Name and address witheld.

success DRIVing the COFFEE MACHINE

UNUSUALLY, I am one step ahead of Michael Gottlieb. (Viewpoint, 7 July) I've been there, done that and at the end of my four-year search to solve the manual versus automatic cappucino and expresso problem I pronounce thus:

Yes, manual machines produce the real thing fast, but only if all your staff are Italian and made their first cappuccino while they were still in nappies. If not, forget it, your cappuccino will come like the staff who make it - in all shapes and sizes.

Or you will have to employ one or two or however many staff necessary just to drive the cappuchino and espresso machine and drill them until they can do it in their sleep.

I also had several automatic machines on trial - some disgusting, some near misses, some quite good - but the technology of the latter let them down and the machines collapsed with alarming frequency.

But now, by George, I think I've got it! A machine which really does produce cappuccino that tastes authentic, has a head on it that lasts to the bottom of the cup and so far (why am I tempting fate like this?) has not let me down - all at the press of a button.

Interested readers are invited to contact me on 071-928 0839 for details or to make me an offer for a hardly used, one careful owner, two-group manual machine which is sitting, unloved and unused, in my restaurant.

ELIZABETH PHILIP, Managing Partner, The Archduke Restaurant Group, London SE1.