Table talk

High tea in Tibet Chocolate bars, freeze-dried soups and Kendal Mint Cake tend to keep most climbers going. But for six British novices, tackling a 22,326ft mountain in Tibet, that just wasn't good enough. They insisted on taking a five-course meal with them - together with chairs, tables and a complete silver service. The team from Forest Row, East Sussex, climbed Lhakpa Ri, where they scoffed the meal and set a new world record for the highest-altitude formal dinner. They dined on caviar and biscuits, followed by a main course of duck, couscous and vegetables. Dessert was a chocolate bombe, cheese and biscuits, and a Fortnum & Mason birthday cake. The climbers raised money for the British Lung Foundation.

Political intrigue… with spoons
Russian MPs are being given plastic spoons after cutlery started disappearing at an alarming rate from the Russian parliament. Workers at a parliament cafeteria started doling out the plastic spoons after being told they would have to pay to replace the dozen or more spoons that disappear every week. MPs are the main suspects behind the disappearance of the spoons, local media reported. Gennady Raikov, head of the Credentials and Ethics Commission at the Russian parliament, said he was not surprised by the reports. "The MPs would even roll up a carpet or two and slip them out if they thought they could get away with it," he said.

Celebrating the barmy army sarnie
Business caterer Eurest celebrated British Sandwich Week (9-15 May) by elevating the humble sarnie to new culinary heights at conference and training venue Ranmoor Hall in Sheffield. Chef de partie Mick Watson took inspiration from Down Under and created the G'Day Sandwich, made from grilled kangaroo steak served in a Foster's beer bread with salad, a tinny of pepper-and-tomato chutney, and surfboard potatoes - whatever they may be. His colleague, Clint Wass, cooked up a real "tweet" with the Birdseed Sandwich of thyme-scented partridge in a carrot and cumin-seed bread with sautéd red cabbage and rhubarb chutney. Catering manager Mandy Voyse said: "The chefs have created these new sandwiches enthusiastically, even to the extent of baking their own bread."