Table talk
Eye'll be there
Life as a concierge is anything but dull, if a survey by Summit Hotels & Resorts is anything to go by. When it asked its concierges to relate the most unusual request a guest had ever made, the results were startling. At the Royal Garden in London, the concierge stood in as best man at a guest's wedding; while at the San Regis in Paris, he was given 24 hours to find 3,000 red roses for a romantic guest. More bizarre is the story from the Kitano hotel in New York. When a guest accidentally flushed his glass eye down the toilet, the concierge found a nearby eye specialist who could make a replacement, escorted him there and gave his opinion on the results when the guest returned.
From crazy cows to lazy cows Animal activists could soon be battling for the freedom of cows to roam, following the discovery in Australia that the lazier the cow, the more tender the beef. The scientists have also found the gene that determines how tender the sirloin will be. Does this mean the meat industry could be facing a campaign on the merits of genetically modified beef? That'll be interesting.
One way to get a ship-shape bank balance A waiter's order pad recovered from floating wreckage after the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 is estimated to fetch £12,000 when it is auctioned by Sotheby's. A biscuit picked up by a cleaner from the ship's deck shortly before she set sail is valued at £2,000. Both items go under the hammer at Sotheby's Marine Sale at Olympia, London, on 25 September.
It's an ill wind Our commiserations go to Annie Schwab of Winteringham Fields in north Lincolnshire, who instead of getting a holiday in Barcelona last month had to play nurse instead. Not only was her husband Germain recovering from an operation to remove kidney stones, but the Schwabs' three-year-old Great Dane, Bolliver, had to be taken to the vet for an identical procedure. "It's amazing that I didn't end up taking Germain to the vet and Bolliver to the hospital," joked Annie. Both patients are doing well and Table Talk sends best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Roe over, cheese and onion Table Talk is grateful to Maurice Fitzpatrick, head of economics at Taxation Consultancy Services, for writing to The Times and pointing out an anomaly in the VAT tax system on food in the UK. He wrote: "Caviar is classed as ‘ordinary food' and is not therefore subject to VAT, while a packet of crisps is regarded as ‘special food' and is taxable at 17.5% VAT." Perhaps hotels could consider replacing bowls of crisps with caviar canap‚s in future.
The good old daze When a gentleman telephoned Caterer the other day, he was greeted with a reply along the lines of "Caterer & Hotelkeeper, how can I help you?" After a silent pause he responded, rather baffled: "Pardon, ancient hotelkeepers?"
