Table talk
l Hilton boss's brothel connections
Table Talk is grateful to colleagues at sister magazine Estates Gazette for pointing out a potentially sticky situation for Stephen Bollenbach, president and chief executive of Hilton Hotels. Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels asked leading lights in the industry to choose a favourite track for a CD marking the property agent's relaunch. Suggestions include What A Difference A Day Makes, chosen by Kwek Leng Beng of CDL Hotels, and Send In The Clowns, from Onno Poortier of the Peninsula Group. But Bollenbach may regret suggesting a song with lyrics he might want to disassociate from Hilton. His choice? House Of The Rising Sun, a song about a brothel in New Orleans.
l School dinners can save lives
New research suggests that the school dinner ladies who served us vegetables that had been boiled to death (and beyond) were not necessarily stunting our growth after all. While those melting carrots and pulverised peas may have been a bit short on vitamin C, folic acid and iron, it seems the soggy messes were swimming with much higher levels of carotenoids than their tastier al dente cousins. As carotenoids help combat cancer and furred arteries and repair tissue, it seems there really is no gain without pain.
l Maybe they'll nail the thieves themselves
Fowl thieves appear to have swooped on the hospitality trade again. Hot on the wings of the abduction of two tame ducks belonging to west London's Grim's Dyke hotel (Table Talk, 10 June) comes news of the disappearance of two swans from the Wizard restaurant in Alderley Edge, Cheshire. But, unlike the featherweights of Grim's Dyke, it can't have been easy for the poachers to swan off with these birds - they were massive £2,000 sculptures made from steel wire, with large spikes in their bottoms.
l Caught with her pants down
ONE unlucky guest brought a new meaning to the phrase "don't get your knickers in a twist" while staying at Hill's Farm B&B in Leominster, Herefordshire. According to Jane Connolly, recently named AA Landlady of the Year, the woman had been attempting to leave her bedroom by the window rather than use the door when her stuntman-style antics went horribly wrong and she got caught on the window latch. Much to her embarrassment, her trousers gave way and she was found hanging by her knickers. Luckily, all that was injured was her pride.
l A stain on a hotel's reputation
Hotel staff, usually the picture of discretion, occasionally find themselves in situations that test them to the limit. When an important client, the chairman of a large company, brought his stunningly attractive wife (wearing a very, very little black dress) to a banquet at the Langshott Manor hotel in Surrey, the manager had to keep reminding his waiters to keep their eyes on their work and not on her cleavage.
During the meal, when the head waiter was allocated to the top table, everything was going to plan until he began to pour the red wine. Despite a manly effort, he could not help staring. It wasn't until he noticed the sudden silence - and the wine stain on the tablecloth - that he realised he would have to stop pouring.
