Caterer and Hotelkeeper – 7272

01 January 2000 by
Caterer and Hotelkeeper – 7272

lIT IS no great surprise that Laurence Isaacson's dream restaurant should unite his present business with his previous career in advertising. The Groupe Chez Gérard deputy chairman, who has just raised ú4m for expansion through a stock exchange flotation, has confided that he would love to launch a restaurant called Brands.

The menu would offer only branded foods, such as Bird's Eye fish fingers, Nescafé instant coffee and McCain's oven chips. The walls would be decorated with advertisements and stills from television commercials. Sadly though, Mr Isaacson's dream is unlikely to materialise since his target market, brand-conscious children, don't go out enough in the evenings.

lA READER tells of a thoughtful gesture at the Olive Tree restaurant in Bath. Suffering from a heavy head cold, she sniffled her way through her entire meal. When coffee was served, her partner was handed petits fours - and she was given a Lemsip.

lWESTERN restaurant themes have been adopted with gusto in the former Soviet Republics, but the latest is perhaps the most unusual. The Ukranian city of Gorlovka is to open a restaurant called Café Barnsley, named in honour of the Yorkshire town. It will serve filled Yorkshire puddings, whose low cost base fits easily into the low-wage Ukranian economy.

To ensure authenticity, the restaurant staff recently went to Barnsley to be trained in Yorkshire pudding making by the chef at the Town Hall, Andrew Butterworth.

lHOTEL guests are occasionally troubled by the playing of loud music in the room next door. But things got much worse at the Glasgow Copthorne recently, where, as part of a music festival, a trio played loud, live rock music - on the hotel roof.

lHAVE you heard of the Lake Bassenthwaite monster? If not, maybe that's because Armathwaite Hall in the Lake District has only just realised the tourism potential of mystery monsters. If you manage to snap a photograph of the monster you will win ú10,000 - providing you are on one of the hotel's weekend break packages.

lTHERE is a school of thought that says chefs shouldn't cook with bay leaves since the herb is not good for the heart. But a cutting from a US magazine warns that the risks could be even higher. Accidentally swallowing a bay leaf, it claims, could cause the sharp edges to puncture the intestine, with dire consequences.

lIN AN attempt to rise above the ordinary customer ferrying service, Jokers restaurant in Bournemouth has bought a 25ft-long stretch limousine, previously owned by US film star Eddie Murphy.

Jokers manager Richard Hayward says the investment is paying off in increased business and customers are on a high before they even set foot in the restaurant - possibly because of the enormous cocktail bar in the back of the car.

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