- Harvester (restaurant)
Harvester Restaurants is a family-pub
restaurant chain with more than 160 outlets in theUnited Kingdom . The chain specialises in flame-grilled food and help-yourself salad carts. [ [http://www.mbplc.com/harvester/index.htm Harvester ] ]Harvester was acquired from
Trust House Forte by Bass Retail Leisure, which owns more than 2,000 public houses and entertainment establishments. [ [http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2001/07/26/25484/in-brief.html In brief - 26 July 2001 - CatererSearch ] ] Bass Retail Leisure was later re-branded as Six Continents Retail in 2001, before splitting into two separate companies (one devoted to the Hotel Division) and the other,Mitchells & Butlers in 2002 which contained all the bars and restaurants.The first Harvester was the George Morden, which opened in 1983, in
Surrey .The brand has recently grown far larger after the purchase of a large number of
Brewers Fayre s and Beefeaters fromWhitbread .An attempt to raise the profile of the chain considered removing peas as standard isue with the meals, as they were the vegetable customers most often neglected. [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-45970743.html] However, the decision was eventually made for the peas to remain, after a hotline was set up for customers to help decide their fate. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-74330546.html Food Style: Peas Please! | Article from The Birmingham Post (England) | HighBeam Research ] ] Research commissioned by Harvester in Buckinghamshire said carrots were the children's favourite. [ [http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.565189.0.carrots_are_top_of_childrens_vegetable_pops.php Carrots Are Top Of Childrens Vegetable Pops (from Bucks Free Press) ] ]
When clubs were trying to persuade David Beckham to remain in the UK, Giles Smith of the
Daily Telegraph jokingly claimed thatTottenham Hotspur were offering Beckham 100% ownership of the chain in an attempt to keep him in the country, along with other incentives. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2003/06/14/sfngile14.xml&sSheet=/sport/2003/06/14/ixfooty.html The Sporting Week: Beckham producing boredom - Telegraph ] ] Although this was merely a parody of the country's keenness to keep him, Victoria and David Beckham did meet at the start of their first date at the Castle pub, popular at the time with footballers and their partners, which later became a Harvester. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20030727/ai_n12744511/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1 SUBURBS: Posh and Becks down the pub | Independent on Sunday, The | Find Articles at BNET ] ]Some branches of the Harvester chain featured in the programme "Rogue Restaurants" shown on
BBC1 television channel on 31 July 2008 at 20:00. The chain was highlighted due to poor cleaning practices which included a member of the kitchen staff dropping a chicken on the floor, picking it up and putting it in the oven. They were also highlighted for employing staff who were not properly trained.References
External links
* [http://www.harvester.co.uk Corporate web site]
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