Table talk
Vital statistics of a winning recipe
It's not often that your CV makes you £100,000 in an afternoon. But that's just what happened to Wayne Pearson, head chef at the Holne Chase Hotel in Ashburton, Devon.
Wayne netted £106,240 on the National Lottery using the numbers 18 (when he qualified as a chef), 20 (his first job as second chef) and 25 (when he became a head chef).
These were combined with one (his lucky number), 31 (his age at the millennium) and 44 (a lucky stab). Wayne is now considering setting up his own catering venture.
Don't do it my way
Telford in Shropshire has received a serious snub from one of Tinseltown's oldest swingers. The owners of the Compasses pub planned to rename it the Frank Sinatra and fill the place with memorabilia. But a sniffy letter from the star's agent in Hollywood gave a firm refusal. Still, better a letter from the agent than the lawyer.
Just the spot to zinc your differences
Conran has found a unique way to encourage people into his latest venture. Zinc Bar & Grill has a £12m zinc bar which the company's PR says could solve stress problems. US research has established a link between violence and depressed zinc levels in men. Are they expecting people to lick the bar?
Between the rock and a hard place
Working abroad can have its downside, as one British hotelier based in Gibraltar found out recently.
Crossing from Spain into the UK territory can be time-consuming, so our man in Gibraltar parked his car on the Spanish side and walked through. In between the border and his hotel, however, he lost his passport, leaving him stranded on the peninsula while his wife and family were in Spain. After a worrying few hours, and much wrangling with the passport office, a temporary document was issued and he was able to cross through.
Grow your own web's wonder
All the recent talk of genetically engineered food is enough to leave anybody hankering for good old, untampered, naturally grown fruit and veg. But to set minds at rest, the Food & Drink Federation has launched a Web site to explain the benefits of new food technology. And it's not all about "cyberfood" according to campaign manager, Karen Barber. "It's about everyday food we all eat."
So much so, it shows how you, too, can "genetically modify" your very own tomato. Very reassuring. Food future can be found at http://www.foodfuture.org.uk.
And what does a did geridoo?
If you are planning a trip to Australia and are having sleepless nights over which size sleeping bag to take, you are not alone. This is just one of the questions fielded by Aussie Helplines, run by the Australian Tourist Commission. Other visitors have asked about the crime rate of an uninhabited island and where the plastic cups used on Home and Away can be bought.
Double trouble for chocoholics
The latest trend in cocktails is from the Old Courthouse pub in Barnsley, Yorkshire, where, as long as it's liquidized and mixed with strong vodka, anything goes. Among the latest are black pudding, pizza and Opal Fruits flavours. The enthused landlord, Toby Foster, is now working on a tripe variation. "Of course, Mars Bar flavour is the most popular, we went through half-a-dozen bottles this Saturday," he said.
