Diary – 7 February 2004

One of the perks of being a director of a hotel is visiting and eating at the competition. The idea is to taste, look and learn. On this mission, and on the instructions of our chairman, the managing director of the Devonshire Arms Country House Hotel at Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire and I met for lunch in one of the most famous restaurants in London. The Devonshire Arms is the proud possessor of a Michelin star, so the managing director and his chef know a thing or two about the job. As I seldom go to London, it is an excitement to see what’s what in the fashionable world.

I have known the chosen restaurant for many years, but I am so stuck in my ways that I was surprised by the changes I found since I last ate there. There is a black-trouser-clad lady greeter, a new role in the restaurant.