in brief
Chef critical
A Scottish chef was in a critical but stable condition last week after his car plunged 90ft down a steep embankment in the Highlands. Steven Pledger, 39, who works at the Strathcarron hotel in Wester Ross, crashed about half a mile west of Glencarron Lodge on the A890, which runs from Achnasheen and Lochcarron.
Organic relaunch
Restaurant chain Pizza Piazza is to change nine of its restaurants into organic pizza restaurants before the end of this year following the opening of its first Pizza Organic in Horsham, Surrey, last month. The group, which has 23 Pizza Piazzas, is expecting its food costs to increase by 8-10%.
UK prefers fizz
A preference for fizzy drinks means Britons drink less bottled water than anyother Western European country bar Finland, claimsa Datamonitor report. Consumption per head has grown from 9.2 litres in1994 to 11.4 litres in 1998, but this is still a tenth of French or Italian consumption.
Good hotel guide
The Good Hotel Guide2000: Great Britain and Ireland is published today(2 September) and costs £14.99. It is the 23rd edition of the guide and covers almost 800 hotels,including more than 100new entries.
