Infinite wisdom or just plain grumpy?

Given my hotel background, I tend to get very annoyed when I enter a retail establishment and find the staff who should be serving me or attending to my needs talking amongst themselves, usually about their social activities of the night before. Yes, it tends to be the younger element, often at weekends,  who perhaps have not been taught otherwise so my plea to retailers, including hoteliers, is if you employ part-time staff give them proper training frequently and regularly and ensure that during hours of “showtime” they are dedicating all their efforts to guests and customers. Hardly rocket science.

My name’s not Gordon, but……….

A recent visit to the Lake District prompted me to share some thoughts about recognising the links between the food on offer and the environment in which it’s produced.

 

Many establishments are now trumpeting that their food is locally sourced, but the message is not always backed up by food which reflects a sense of place.  Of course, there’s the ubiquitous Cumberland sausage (available widely around the UK) and the occasional offering of Herdwick lamb, but I also noticed mention of ‘chicken tikka’ and ‘Thai (green curry) flavours’, sending shivers down my spine. 

 

Is this a case of (as with supermarkets) “giving the customers what they want”, is it the fault of the catering colleges (forgive me) or am I missing something?

 

I know that some of our members in this area are doing great work with their menus – do let us know how you’re treating your guests to a real taste of the Lake District or any other destination for that matter.

The Real Green

Over the last week the DT on its letters page has been having a debate about tree planting, originally in London but comments have now come in from further afield. One of the letters came from Julian Maslinski who is chairman of the Westminster Tree Trust and a member of the Considerate Hoteliers Association committee. The argument is based on rather than cut down trees, mainly for safety concerns, and put nothing in their place, there should be a replacement system and indeed a long term plan to plant more trees.

Trees are indeed the lungs of any large conurbation, and not withstanding former Mayor Livingstone’s efforts to curb CO2 emissions, there will always be a need for even more trees and we look forward to hearing Mayor Boris’s grand tree plan. Encouraging participants in the London Marathon to run dressed as trees, and enter collectively as a forest of runners, might be a start!

Strange but sustainable pets

Reading through the background to the Loch Fyne Oyster Company the other day, I noted that John Noble one of the originators of the company, who sadly is no longer with us, had a pet oyster called Hamish. Hamish was with John, wet and dry, for 25 years (yes, if not eaten they have reasonable longevity) and it is difficult to think of a more effective marketing tool when you are selling oysters. Just thought you’d like to know.

Green word overload

It’s on the tip of my tongue, if you can just give me a minute or two. No, sorry, it’s gone. I’ll probably remember it at about 4 o’clock in the morning!

I was asked the other day what alternative word could be used instead of “Green” when referring to environmental and ecological issues. Green is certainly overused, especially by companies purporting to be, well, green but who are blatantly involved in greenwash, i.e. telling green porkies. You see what I mean about overuse.

Having just got over the frustration of trying to find a new word for green, I read in today’s paper that the word “sustainable” is so overused that it is becoming unsustainable. Back to the drawingboard! Have a great weekend!