The winner of the Glenfiddich Award for the year's best book about food picks up a nice cheque and a case of single malt. The lucky author who lands the Bollinger Everyman Prize for comic writing, awarded annually at Hay-on-Wye, takes home 12 bottles of vintage Bolly. But there won't even be a half of bitter for the winner of the Whitbread Book Awards, which take place later this month. The reception and dinner may still be held at the Brewery in Chiswell Street, the site Samuel Whitbread opened in 1750, but Whitbread plc has changed: the chairman's annual report puffs the fact that 'the last year has seen a transformation.' The 'UK's leading leisure company' sold off all its pubs in April, in order to concentrate on its other 'strong brands and high-quality assets': assets like the Travel Inn, TGI Friday's and Beefeater Steak Houses. At this year's awards, there will be different Whitbread products on offer at the Brewery - guests will receive complimentary cups of Costa Coffee.

LRB 3 January 2002 | PDF Download