Grading system curries favour
THE founders of a new national grading scheme for Indian restaurants have pledged to rid the sector of rogue guidebooks and phoney certificates.
Indian restaurants have become a traditional target for dubious guides, certificates and awards, damaging the integrity of the restaurateurs and frequently costing them hundreds of pounds a time.
The National Dome Grading Scheme, launched last week at London's Bombay Brasserie, hopes to act as a trade body to counter such events and provide a set of standards for Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nepalese and Sri Lankan restaurants.
The scheme's founders, Peter and Colleen Grove, who are co-editors of The Real Curry Restaurant Guide, are preparing a dossier of evidence of fraud, which the couple will eventually hand over to the police.
"It's not just the restaurateurs who are losing out, the customers are also being misled and rightly wonder what is going on," Mr Grove told Caterer. He said he was aware of at least 15 scams, four of which had been traced to the same person.
Supporters of the Dome scheme also hope it will end the flock-wallpaper-and-lager-lout image that has dogged Indian restaurants since the explosion in the number of high street tandoori restaurants in the 1970s.
The grading scheme is modelled on the English Tourist Board's Crown scheme for hotels. Domes indicate the standard of the facilities, including the kitchen, the decor, and the training of the staff, rather than the quality of the food.
A one-dome restaurant, for example, will be a basic curry house. Most standard restaurants will be classified at the three-dome level, while only those with exceptional facilities will be awarded the higher levels. An additional red D will be awarded for innovative food.
Membership of the scheme costs £150 a year and members will receive a range of help and advice on areas such as public relations, market trends and menu development. They will also receive annual publicity in The Real Curry Restaurant Guide.
l Caterer's new publication, Food Service Management (FSM), which covers workplace, healthcare and education catering, would like to hear from chefs working in these sectors who have original curry recipes.
Send your recipes to Jane Eccles, FSM, Reed Business Publishing, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS.
