Good old Greggs the Bakers. I know they aren’t on the radar of foodies, most fine diners probably don’t know where or what Greggs are, but the La Chavroche of the under classes is bucking recessionary trends and saw underlying sales in the four weeks to 3 January rise by 5.3%.What’s more they plan expansion into the gaping holes that will be left as other shops go out of business. Greggs already currently has 1409 shops which, when you think about it, is an awful lot of cheese and onion pies.

One of the success stories of Luke Johnson, the man behind for my money the only decent pizza chain, Pizza Express, FishWorks now looks to be in trouble. It’s making a loss and unlike the average angler, is not exaggerating when it says the problems could be bigger than predicted

You don’t normally hear the sound of critics’ trotters beating a path to a motorway diner but that all changed last week when the nation’s finest, and a few freeloaders, pulled into the car park at the Popham branch of the Little Chef chain. Like many people I’ve always regarded a Little Chef as the first place to go to after leaving the last day of a festival; the lure of a big fry-up after all those bean burgers and, to be completely frank, the prospect of a lavatory in apple pie order, is too strong to resist.

High flying travellers now have even more reason to take to the air with Lufthansa. The leading German airline is famous for having only the best chefs to cater for their First and Business Class passengers’ discerning tastes. Now Chris Staines, Head Chef of the Michelin-starred Foliage Restaurant at the Five Star Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, has joined the culinary mile high club.

The launch of The Avalon, at 16 Balham Hill, was a very impressive occasion. A ten minute walk from Balham Station, and a stone’s throw from Clapham Common, this newly refurbished bar restaurant is quite imposing externally but when you walk inside, the Victorian style lighting throughout and minimalist, almost utilitarian white brick tiling to most of the walls makes the place look even bigger. The dining area has two magnificent chain chandeliers suspended from the ceiling and copies of Victorian press cuts set into the tiled walls. Named after the Isle of Avalon, from Arthurian legend there is an eclectic mix of seating and décor including a wallpaper mural depicting an Arthurian scene in the bar area.

To Goodman in Maddox Street where the concept of a Russian steak restaurant is in full swing at a special press dinner. Named after Benny Goodman, the Russian/Jewish jazzman, it’s actually part of a chain that began life in Moscow in 2003. Of course we in the UK are used to the idea of hard people from the frozen North selling us steaks, after all we’ve had Aberdeen Angus steakhouses in London since Putin was a boy.