Nanny and would-be Alan Sugar Teen Go-getters

Some Jobsworth in Devon has seen fit to stress that even during school holidays any budding Alan Sugar under 16 may not work before 7.00am or after 7.00pm.

 Big Hospitality, 10th December 2010


A friend of mine started work for me as a kitchen porter at the age of 10, was Kitchen Manager at 17 and Bar Manager at 18 years of age. How many laws did the pair of us break?

Bah, humbug!

Minimum Price Diktat delayed

On Tuesday I reported on items that were likely to be included in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill. In the end the government ducked the issue of minimum pricing for alcohol.
Big Hospitality, 1st December 2010

Six months in the life of a sleb-chef

In breaking news it is reported that Aiden Byrne, the Sleb-chef who opened with such a fanfare at the Hillbark Hotel in Frankby back in July of this year, has kicked it into touch already. He's gone shopping and bought the former Black Horse Hotel in West Kirby - more recently trading as The Collingwood - which is due to re-open this week.

Caterer, 2nd December 2010

Norton Manor Hotel, North Yorkshire

My eye was caught this morning by a headline in a Big Hospitality briefing: Win a restaurant and £10,000 with "We Love Malton". 

I was transported back nearly 20 years to March 1991 when I spent every weekend in Malton. My company, Alehouse Investments Ltd, was running Norton Manor Hotel on behalf of the receivers - I think we had a free tenancy because that worked out cheaper than boarding the place up and having to provide security - Norton being the smaller neighbour of Malton, joined together by a bridge across the Derwent.

I have some very happy memories (not suitable for sharing) along with some sad ones: I had a flaming row there with a co-director who had worked for me since she was only 16 - an argument which proved to be terminal to our friendship. Fawlty Towers had nothing on us!

 The Car Park

The Front, with the conservatory

Main entrance (with my pride and joy: the car!)

Reception, with yours truly in attendance

Rita Bennett, the company book-keeper,

serving customers in the conservatory

Roger Lismore, the manager (and chief cook & bottle washer)

laying up the dining room

 

 One of the 13 bedrooms - the numbers jumped from 12 to 14!

 

Alan Statham, Roger's deputy, in the kitchen

The Bank Holiday Bouncy Castle

What do you mean, I should be kept behind bars?

 

 

The Best Bar In The World

According to Drinks International Magazine, London's Milk & Honey has been judged the best for the second year running. The list makes for very interesting reading though the criteria aren't very clear.....
Big Hospitality, 16th November 2010

Passover: The FSA & The Angel Of Death

The FSA's prized pooch - the Score On Doors scheme - went live yesterday. Apparently - and I take this with a big pinch of koshering salt - over 80% of people they interviewed said that the hygiene standards of a restaurant were more important than price or location. Yeah, right! Who did they question: attendees at an Environmental Health Officers convention or supermarket shoppers wearing Michael Jackson-style face masks, whose trolleys were full of industrial-sized cleaning products?
Morning Advertiser, 30th November 2010

In a fairy story in the bible, my distant ancestors were saved because they slaughtered a lamb and scrawled a bloody cross on their doors; hey, presto, the Angel of Death passed over them.....