Originally published on Friday, 29th May 2009

Alfresco action and Cookbook Clubs

Straight from the Chef's table.

SPOTTED

Launceston Place and Great British Menu chef, Tristan Welch, getting creative with his newly acquired Mr Whippy machine – choose from rhubarb and custard, Earl Grey tea or raspberry ripple. Bring your own Flake.

The new-look Planet Hollywood gearing up for a relaunch around the third week of June. New venue: Haymarket; swanky new design by Jonathan Manser, responsible for Sketch and the W Hotel Group; new cocktail list, courtesy of Salvatore Calabrese. £5 million spent. Recession?

Brit Packers Nick Moran and Ioan Gruffudd lunching in the sun at Bord'Eaux , Natalie Imbruglia quaffing LP at the new Belle Epoque champagne terrace at Harvey Nic's Fifth Floor and James McAvoy showing just how down-to-earth he his by queuing with the mere mortals at Busaba Ethai on Wardour Street.

OVERHEARD

Not to be outdone by all the terrace action taking place in London, Sam and Eddie Hart are due to unveil their own outdoor space at Quo Vadis on 22nd June. Alfresco addicts will be able to snack on crab mayonnaise, octopus and chorizo salad or scotch eggs. We're there.

Rumours abound about whether Heston Blumenthal will be launching his first London restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental hotel, and what it will be called. Current favourite, of course: The Crispy Duck.

The Dish wouldn't be complete without an offering from ever bang on-trend Mark Hix. His latest diversion is Hix's Culinary Fixes, a cook book club to be held at Hix Oyster and Fish House in Dorset. The first book, fittingly, will be Whitstable Natives by Michael Cable.

ON TREND

And ethically so. We've all heard about the Nobu bluefin tuna debacle and now Twitter is all a-tweet, led by ocean-conscious Tom Aikens, about sustainable fishing with documentary feature End of The Line due to be released on June 8. There's never been a more important time to find out exactly where the fish you're eating comes from.