Sunday, January 30, 2011

Luxury hotel's fly infestation caused by dyslexic chef who could not read use-by dates

It describes itself as a ‘hidden gem’ nestling in 280 acres of beautiful parkland and serving only the finest food and drink. But when environmental health inspectors arrived at the luxury Mellington Hall Hotel, they found a ‘significant fly infestation’, mouldy strawberries and cream past its use-by date.

The Victorian gothic mansion, which boasts on its website that it offers ‘a combination of the finest food and drink savoured in elegantly furnished surroundings with an attentive and knowledgeable staff to make your meal with us unforgettable’, was closed immediately and deep-cleaned following the inspection last July.



But after a second visit this month also found mouldy food, it emerged that the chef was dyslexic and had been unable to read the use-by dates.

Lance Thomas and his wife Vanessa, with whom he runs the hotel near Church Stoke, Powys, Wales, were fined a total of £6,750 at Welshpool magistrates for the breaches of hygiene. They have now adopted a colour-coded system so that the unnamed chef can identify the food that is going off.

4 comments:

Insolitus said...

So they never thought to figure out the reason for the problems after the first scandal? And they're still keeping the chef? I mean, he must have known he had trouble reading the dates and he must have known the spoiled food was his fault, and yet he said nothing - sure, he was probably embarrassed and worried about his employment, but these incidences were costly, both in regards of money and reputation, and totally unnecessary.

He (or she) must be one hell of a chef. (Or a relative, a cynic might add.)

L said...

That's dyslexia? Sounds more like plain old illiteracy to me.

02/10/2011 could be February 10th or October 2nd (depending on how you read the date)... but that has nothing to do with being dyslexic. It has to do with what country you're from!

WordyGrrl said...

Hmm, we've got fly infestation and mouldy strawberries? Sounds more like lack of sanitation than dyslexia. Even an illiterate person can detect bugs and moldy fruit.

Kildonan Dyslexia School said...

As L stated above this seems to be more of an issue of illiteracy rather that Dyslexia. I tutor students with Dyslexia by the way so I doubt the credibility of reported "Dyslexic chef".