Russian food was the flavour of the month

Sadly, I missed the Cateys this year, so I was absolutely delighted to read in Caterer a couple of weeks ago that one of my local pubs, the Hoste Arms in Norfolk, won an award.

I could not agree more with the judges on their choice of winner. The food, service and atmosphere of this establishment are first-class and it is not overpriced. It is always busy and the staff are charming. If you are prepared to wait, they will always find you a table.

We are lucky to be able to eat there most weekends, and last Saturday I was pleased to be able to congratulate the energetic lady who runs the restaurant on their recent success. Well done!

I have been away for a large part of last month on holiday, sampling the wonderful foods on offer in Scandinavia and Russia. My last visit to Russia, many years ago, is memorable for lots of reasons but one in particular stands out, and that was the food we ate. What a transformation.

There was I, warning my husband the food would be mediocre, but no, we were treated to an excellent lunch in St Petersburg including Russian bubbly, wonderful smoked fish, caviare, followed by "real" chicken Kiev and, of course, a glass of Russian vodka.

It was a wonderful experience, and certainly beats the diet of tomatoes and cabbage we were subjected to last time.

While I've been away, my team has been ploughing on through the minefield of trying to identify ingredients or products which may contain genetically modified soya or maize. Thankfully, the majority of suppliers have been very helpful, providing us with all the necessary product specifications.

Our deadline is the middle of August, when we agreed that our managers would receive all the necessary information so they could train partners ahead of the date in September when this latest set of regulations comes into force.

Three of our department store restaurants will be very pleased to hear that we have just received approval to replace their old registers with the latest touch-screen catering register.

The main advantage is that it will allow the cashier to accept our account card at the register, which I know will please both customers and staff.

In addition, we will have more detailed information on the dishes we have sold. But, as with any change, it does not involve simply swapping one register for another: it requires new cabling, new register housing and a new set of price schedules.

CAROLINE MORTIMER is general manager, catering, for the John Lewis Partnership

Next diary from Caroline Mortimer: 16 September