Abstract
It has been suggested that whenever you turn on your television you are never more than half an hour away from a programme about food and cookery, indeed there are channels dedicated solely to cookery programmes. The newspapers, especially the Sunday editions, run regular articles about the expansion plans of new theme restaurants or multimillion-pound take-over deals, as well as regular restaurant and hotel reviews and articles about cooking food at home. Cookery books, often tied to TV series, regularly top the best-seller lists. Chefs are a key part of the cult of celebrity. There has been an explosion on social media of blogs on food of all types, reviews of eating experiences as they happen and multiple photographs of the food on the plate. What this means is that the food and beverage manager faces an increasingly informed and potentially sophisticated customer with broader tastes and experiences than ever before.