Letters
We must have ministerial support
I WAS astounded to read the article regarding Virginia Bottomley's proposed visit to Japan.
How gracious of Mrs Bottomley to agree to "go on one overseas trip for them [the British Tourist Authority]"!
As National Heritage Secretary, ultimately responsible for tourism into the UK, she should be prepared to be more involved in this manner. The fact that the BTA "has never persuaded such a senior government figure to lead one before" is a sad indictment on the ministry and the way our industry has perpetually been perceived.
While I didn't particularly agree with his politics, Australia's one-time tourism minister, John Brown, adopted an approach that put the country firmly on the world tourism stage. By being personally actively involved, the country's whole economy has been able to derive huge benefits.
It is time for the UK tourism industry, which has become tremendously professional in many sectors in many ways, to be given the right sort of leadership at the highest level. Surely, as such a key revenue generator for the country, we deserve nothing less?
SCOTT DAVIDSON
Adam's Row, London W1.
Set-price menus are too restrictive
Jeremy Shepherd's letter on set-price menus illustrates that he operates his business the way he sees fit. However, I would like to challenge his statement that set-price menus are what customers want.
Our new menu is à la carte due to customer demand. We operated set-price menus for years. We found them restrictive and at times our chefs found it difficult to be creative with seasonal luxury foods, such as lobster, because we do not operate supplements on our set-price menu.
We could operate menus similar to the Chinese menu policy which is à la carte and set-price, but the set-price menus never appeal to me. I prefer to compile my own menu via the à la carte method. Chefs can cost each dish, apply the mark-up and achieve their gross profit far more easily.
We will continue to serve an ever-increasing number of customers who appreciate a good selection of dishes to satisfy all their diet preferences and budgets. We have lost business in the past due to set-price menus.
Long live à la cartes!
GEOFF DIBBLE
General Manager,
Fairfield House Hotel, Ayr.
Foodguides: lend a hand!
Having worked in the West End as a chef for many years, my husband decided to set up his own restaurant in Cornwall two years ago.
Taking Egon Ronay's advice, as stated in a national newspaper, my husband and I aimed for a mid-stream restaurant with an informal atmosphere, offering local produce and realistic prices. We believed Cornwall needed restaurants where chefs had gained a wealth of expertise and experience - there are too many amateurs microwaving frozen foods!
We wrote to the Egon Ronay's and the AA's respective restaurant guides informing them of our existence. Egon Ronay's Guides has obviously put us on the back-burner (as nearly two years have passed and we have not been inspected, although in a letter it said we would be on its list of visits).
The AA has written us off totally stating in a letter to us that "our menu has not got the wow factor". Having not paid us a visit, we are at a loss to know what the wow factor may be. However, we thought the guide was there to advise on the quality of food and presentation, not to tell people what they should eat.
When new restaurants first open and need all the help and encouragement they can muster, where is the support from the guides? Is it not in the interest of the general public, whom these guides are aimed at, that more prompt attention is given to provide an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of the local area.
DIANA WILLIAMS
JR's Bistro, Porthleven, Cornwall.
Understanding the directive
AS A regular reader and supporter of Caterer's supplement Food Service Management, I was interested to read the article in the March issue suggesting that catering staff may no longer be able to use domestic laundry equipment to launder their own protective clothing and uniforms.
To state that it is not clear how the EC Directive on the Hygiene of Foodstuffs will be implemented into UK legislation is misleading. This was one of the reasons for the introduction of the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995 in September last year. Regulation 1 in Chapter VIII states that "Every person working in a food handling area shall maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness and shall wear suitable, clean and, where appropriate, protective clothing".
The Industry Guide to Good Hygiene Practice: Catering Guide, a copy of which every caterer should have and is available from HMSO outlets by quoting ISBN 0-11-321889O, provides clear and sensible advice on this question. Provided the clothing is clean and does not represent a health hazard, where and how it is washed is not an issue.
It is incorrect to say that pockets on a chef's coat cannot be on the outside. While this may be undesirable in respect of the possibility of accumulation of food particles, no offence is created solely because of the position of the pocket on the garment.
Perhaps I might suggest that caterers should be advised against implementing new and perhaps costly procedures, without first taking advice as to how their already established procedures might be valid in terms of compliance with the current legislation.
PHIL PHILLIPS
Technical Services Manager,
British Hospitality Association, London WC2.
Addressing the need for flexibility
With reference to the article by Geoff Dibble in which he mentioned inflexibility of staff, the Glasgow College of Food Technology has, in fact, recognised this need for flexible and versatile staff.
The college, in consultation and partnership with leading members of the hospitality industry, has developed several courses specifically designed to meet this need for flexibility and versatility.
The national certificate and higher national diploma course in sport and hospitality management are designed to give the students the specialist knowledge required for leisure club operations, complemented by a broad range of skills relevant to the other areas of service offered by the hospitality sector.
The national certificate course started in 1990 with our first higher national diploma students graduating in June 1997.
GRAHAM MACLEAN
Senior Lecturer, Glasgow College of Food Technology,
Glasgow.
Charity needs your help
A group of mentally disabled adults in Kent is proving that they can play a meaningful role in society, but they need some help.
At the South of England Rare Breeds Centre, Woodchurch, 50 disabled people run a busy tourist attraction working with farm animals, managing the horticultural nursery and cooking and serving meals in the Granary Restaurant.
Over the past two years, the charity that supports them, Canterbury Oast Trust (registered charity no. 291662), has raised enough funds through donations of cash and goods to build a small function centre.
Enquiries are already coming in thick and fast, but are being turned away. Why? Because so far the charity hasn't been able to raise enough money to furnish and equip the centre. The group needs 80-100 banqueting chairs and at least 10 tables, as well as curtains, carpet and kitchen equipment.
Are you replacing equipment? Can you help these brave young people? In making this appeal I must explain that we have to maintain standards to quash the assumption that "anything's good enough for disabled people". But, nevertheless, we are grateful for second hand items in a reasonable condition. If you can help, please telephone 01233 861493.
MARGARET HANLON
Ashford, Kent.
North-South divide in menus
Your recent feature "Budget menu recipes" (9 May), reported on a quality low-cost menu design service supplying restaurants north of Birmingham. Southern readers may once again have feared geographical discrimination.
We would like to allay such anxieties with the news that short-run printed menus are cheaper in the heart of commuter belt Surrey.
Designer Menus of Stockport, Cheshire, claimed to provide "the lowest-priced menu design service in the UK" offering 30, three-colour, A3, encapsulated menus at £250. The Studio of West Byfleet, Surrey, quotes this specification (including full colour) at £150.
JAMES SINGER
Versutus Advertising,
Rosemount Avenue, West Byfleet, Surrey.
