Lauren
function went very well indeed, Laura was great….
Again, Laura is a gem! I understand she is doing primary teaching, - if you saw the way she handled my three little friends who were waitressing, - she has chosen the right profession! A bonus for the education system, but a loss to the catering industry if she makes the choice to teach full time. I wish I could tell her parents what a special girl she is.
Noleen
Some hotels and motels are resorting to poaching staff from rivals because of a chronic chef shortage in South Australia. Experts say the skills shortage, is widespread including metropolitan Adelaide and regions including Ceduna, Port Augusta and the Yorke Peninsula. There is a shortage of about 3000 chefs in Australia and at least 250 in SA. Interstate hotels are having to import chefs and cooks from overseas to cope with the demand and experts say it could soon happen here. Australian Hotels Association general manager Ian Horne said the problem was “only going to get worse with the mining boom”. “We have a severe shortage,” he said. Mr Horne said chefs were exiting the industry within five years. “We as a community haven’t worked out a mechanism to keep them here,” he said. Mr Horne said operators in Perth were bringing in skilled chefs and cooks from Bali to cope with the shortage. “What we are seeing in Perth is just a handful of years away for us,” he said. Mr Horne said there would need to be several approaches to fix the problem, including skilled migration and incentive packages to keep chefs here. Alek Korcz, executive chef of Lasseters Hotels SA, which includes the Oriental Hotel at Norwood, said “it’s not difficult to get a chef, it’s difficult to get a good chef”. “There’s not enough training,” he said. “Sometimes they are sending me chefs without knives, without uniforms and this is the basic (things you need) to start your apprenticeship.” The Advertiser (Adelaide), January 2.
Slowly, ever so slowly, American hotels are recognising that travellers who suffer from severe asthma and allergies triggered by dust mites, mould, smoke, pollen, chemicals and animal hairs might like to stay in hypoallergenic rooms - for a price.
With as many as one in four travellers coughing, sneezing and wheezing their way through the day, or night, the thought crossed a few minds to develop hotel rooms that are free of all the nasty stuff that causes guests to feel as if their airways are clogging. Not that many didn’t feel that way before checking in. But to find relief in a hotel room, what a surprise. Whether the environmentally friendly rooms become as prevalent as non-smoking rooms and floors in lodging establishments is another matter. Any relief from bad air and bacteria-ridden rooms is a Godsend to travellers with serious asthmatic conditions. “Allergy patients suffer a lot whether it’s sneezing, nasal congestion or a runny nose, but more severe patients could have an asthma exacerbation and that could be life threatening,” said Dr Kris McGrath, an allergist and associate professor of clinical medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Pure Rooms, which can be found in 34 hotels nationwide with a total of 400 treated rooms, is the brand of Pure Solutions NA, a firm located near Buffalo. “At this point, we’re handling individual hotels,” said Brian Brault, the firm’s president, CEO and founder, who described his venture as a new industry. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, which has tested a full floor of Pure Rooms in Chicago-suburban Lisle, and in its Miami Airport and Peachtree City, Georgia properties, plans to have a number of Pure Rooms installed in its 20 company-managed hotels in 2008, and then in 200 franchised hostelries in 2009. The Sydney Morning Herald, January 7.
The rejection of cheap Asian prawns under tough new disease testing will force up the price of both Australian and overseas prawns, importers warn. Imported supplies of the nation’s favourite shellfish are already dwindling and prices have risen. Australian quarantine tests for disease have resulted in more than 300 tonnes, or 22 containers, of raw prawns being refused entry since October. Only seven containers had been allowed in up to December. Since October, one South Australian seafood distributor has raised wholesale prices for imported medium prawns by 30-40 per cent from $18.90/kg to $25.90/kg, reporting that some restaurants have begun buying smaller shrimp sizes. The tough new border controls have angered the hospitality industry, seafood importers and distributors, who fear the financial cost in the next year will top more than half a billion dollars. Hotels and clubs, budget bistros and popular Asian restaurants will bear the brunt of the shortages. Chairman of the Australian Seafood Importers Association Harry Peters says budget and middle-level dining soon won’t be able to source their usual produce and will have to charge more for seafood dishes. “The only alternative will be higher-priced Australian prawns,” Mr Peters said. “Your five stars and three hats restaurants will be OK, because they can pay the high prices and the people who eat there are happy to pay.” The Advertiser (Adelaide), January 7.
The 2008 Australian wine crush began this week in dramatic fashion with flood rains threatening to wipe out millions of dollars worth of grapes and exasperated winemakers declaring war on birds and animals raiding their fruit. The bitter irony is that this year’s harvest in Queensland will be well down as vineyards recover from last year’s drought. As rain hammered the Granite Belt, fruit from far-flung Riversands Vineyard at St George was believed to be the first crushed in Australia this year. It took only two hours on Monday for talented young Ballandean Estate winemaker Dylan Rhymer to put 10.7 tonnes of Riversands white muscats through a shiny new crushing machine imported from Italy. Riversands later discovered it was not the first. It had to take second place to Blind Man’s Bluff from Kenilworth, which had crushed fruit the day before at Marburg’s Warrego Winery. There, three tonnes of chardonnay grapes were pressed. By Wednesday Luke Fitzpatrick from Clovely Estate had joined the race, crushing his first fruit of the season—Verdelho—at the company’s Murgon headquarters. The Courier Mail, January 12.
Beer-loving blokes keen to keep up appearances are dropping the macho act —and the beer gut—by turning to low-carbohydrate brews. Once sceptical about light beer and the image that came with it, men are forsaking traditional heavier brands associated with rugged, knockabout stereotypes. The thirst for the new booze has led to a 250 per cent rise in sales of low-carb brands such as Pure Blonde and Hahn Super Dry. And new low-carb sparkling wine Yellowglen Jewel, which is 30 per cent lower in calories and 40 per cent lower in alcohol, has proved a boon for Foster’s this summer. Foster’s Pure Blonde, which has 70 per cent fewer carbohydrates than regular beers, is the fastest-growing beer by volume in Australia—drunk by women and men. Foster’s group marketing premium beer manager Ben Summons said as long as beer tasted good, men would come flocking. “Today, blokes are more confident and laidback about their masculinity,” he said. Sunday Times,
January 13.
Trade officials will use an Australian-themed restaurant in San Diego to promote the country’s beer, food and wine to U.S. buyers. Bondi—described as an Australian beer bar and restaurant - has been operating in the Californian city since Australia Day last year. Austrade’s Los Angeles-based senior trade commissioner Sally-Ann Watts says Bondi is a hit among locals and tourists alike. “It’s perfect to showcase Australia’s high-quality food and beverage products,” she said. “It’s a great example of growing awareness about Australia’s approach to cuisine.” The Advertiser, January 11.
Greg Norman, the Great White Shark, is selling great Australian beef to US restaurants and luxury food stores as part of a joint venture with Australian Agricultural Co. The venture’s wares are showcased in a Los Angeles and New York supermarket promotion throughout January organised by Austrade, Tourism Australia and the Trade Department. More than 40 Australian food and wine producers will be showcased but it kicked off with a focus on two Queensland businesses —the Greg Norman Australian Prime venture and OBE Beef. Pat Dempsey, manager of branded beef at AACo, Australia’s largest cattle-farming business, said GNAP began US sample shipments in 2006, had steady initial interest and has seen a surge in the past six months. GNAP supplies the luxury Nobu restaurant and Bristol Farms which has 15 high-end retail LA stores. GNAP is looking to sell into new markets. The Courier Mail (Brisbane), January 12.
The days of the traditional pub front bar are almost over, with renovations creating a new culture of drinking in our suburbs. Forty years after the end of the six o’clock swill, when men guzzled huge volumes of beer every afternoon before hotels closed at 6pm, the once male-dominated suburban pub now is home to their wives and children as much as their mates. Australian Hotels Association’s SA general manager Ian Horne says the reason is hotels now have to match restaurants, cafes, bistros and other eating and entertainment options if they are to compete for our dollars. The old public bar just does not pull enough patrons any more. “There’s an inevitability about its future,” Mr Horne says. “The front bar is on the way out.” He cites a change in the local loyalty of customers with so much choice available in the modern hospitality sector and increased affluence of much of the traditional hotel’s customer base compared with previous generation. “Customers have high expectations today,” Mr Horne says. “They’re much more savvy than even a decade ago.” The major changes in hotel offerings have come in gaming facilities and food and beverage areas, the former often providing funds for the latter’s updating. The Advertiser (Adelaide), January 12.
Rejection of cheap Asian prawns under tough new disease testing will force up the price of Australian and overseas prawns, importers warn. Imported supplies of the nation’s favourite shellfish are already dwindling and prices have risen. Australian quarantine tests for disease have resulted in more than 300 tonnes, or 22 containers, of raw prawns being refused entry since October. Only seven containers had been allowed in up to December. Since October, one South Australian seafood distributor has raised wholesale prices for imported medium prawns by 30-40 per cent, from $18.90/kg to $25.90/kg, reporting that some restaurants had begun buying smaller shrimp sizes. The tough new border controls have angered the hospitality industry, seafood importers and distributors, who fear the financial cost in the next year will top more than $500m. Hotels and clubs, budget bistros and popular Asian restaurants will bear the brunt of the shortages. Australian Seafood Importers Association chairman Harry Peters said budget and middle-level dining soon wouldn’t be able to source their usual produce and would have to charge more for seafood dishes. Sunday Times (Perth), January 13.
