Kitchen Rat: Vote of confidence; Cheesed off; Making a meal of it

Vote of confidence

Last Thursday the general election disturbed countless office Christmas parties (including The Caterer’s) as, come 10pm, the basement dancefloor emptied and people headed to ground level to check the exit poll.

But, rumour has it, those enjoying festivities at the newly opened Sam’s Riverside in Hammersmith may just have been able to strain their ears as Channel 4’s election coverage was filmed next door. Even better, we hear half the presenting team, including Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Labour politician Tom Watson, dropped in after filming, joining an already A-list line-up of Downton Abbey actress Elizabeth McGovern, and the whole cast of sitcom People Just Do Nothing.

Cheesed off

This public service announcement has been a long time coming. Christmas is a time for carols, goodwill and roasting chestnuts on an open fire.

It is not a time to shove anything you like into a wheel of cheese, purposefully denigrating the finest food known to mankind (despite what Paul Foster, who shuns all things cheese-related, says) simply because people giddy on the spirit of Christmas will buy anything with a sprig of holly on it.

This rat’s outrage is currently directed at Aldi, which is offering up Wensleydale with white chocolate chunks, raspberry and Prosecco. The news sent a shiver through The Caterer team not felt since serial offenders the Cheshire Cheese Company sent a wheel flavoured with Parma Violet sweets into the office.

Making a meal of it

According to a survey by Yotel, 79% of travellers want to see predictive room service available in hotel rooms by 2050. The hotel brand suggests AI would be used to guess what guests would want for breakfast. If this rat’s experiences with Alexa are anything to go by, it predicts that asking for a full English or a kedgeree might produce some unexpected results.