Remarkable Success of 'Cookery Book With a Difference' is Boost to New Children's Kidney Centre at Great Ormond Street

LONDON, August 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

A book entitled A Life in Food, a personal perspective on cooking and hospitality by the pioneer of boutique hotels, is proving to be a big winner for a new children's kidney centre at Great Ormond Street Hospital.  Written by Bea Tollman, the Founder and President of Red Carnation Hotels, the book has been so successful that it is being reprinted for the third time.  Its earlier two editions have completely sold out, selling nearly 8000 copies.  Patients with kidney conditions at Great Ormond Street Hospital are benefitting from this remarkable success, with the full selling price of the book going towards Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity.^[1]

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120829/558934 )

A Life in Food is part cookery book, part autobiography.  It charts Bea Tollman's remarkable career in the hospitality industry.  In three continents, and in a career spanning more than 50 years, she has been at the forefront of the trend towards boutique hotels.  The lavishly-illustrated account of her life is interspersed with recipes for many of the 'signature' dishes which she has created at her restaurants and hotels.

Bea Tollman said, "Over the years, many people have asked me how I learned to cook, and where my journey with both fine dining and comfort food began.  A Life in Food is the result.  I hope it brings to others a little of the pleasure which cooking has given me all my life.  And I am delighted that proceeds from the book are going to such an important cause."

Notes to editors

A Life in Food is available from Amazon.co.uk:  Price £25.00

Red Carnation owns and operates 14 award-winning luxury boutique hotels.  These are situated in the UK, the Channel Islands, South Africa, Switzerland and the United States.  They are predominantly 5-star, providing a level of service considered by many to be unparalleled.  Not only is this reflected in the countless industry and media awards which the hotels have won, but in the words and actions of regular guests, whose repeat business, reviews and recommendations to others are a source of enormous pride for everyone involved.

In London, Red Carnation has the Milestone, 41, Egerton House, The Chesterfield (Mayfair), The Montague and The Rubens.  In Evershot, Dorset, it has Summer Lodge, an outstanding country house hotel.  In St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Red Carnation has two hotels - The Old Government House and the Duke of Richmond.  In Geneva, Red Carnation has the Hotel d'Angleterre, situated on the shores of Lake Geneva.  And in Palm Beach, Red Carnation has The Chesterfield (Palm Beach).  Finally, in South Africa, Red Carnation has three hotels - the Twelve Apostles, just outside Cape Town; Bushman's Kloof, a Relais & Château hotel located in the heart of the bush, nearly 130 miles from Cape Town; and the Oyster Box at Umhlanga.  

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust is the country's leading centre for treating sick children, with the widest range of specialists under one roof. With the UCL Institute of Child Health, we are the largest centre for paediatric research outside North America and play a key role in training children's health specialists for the future.

Our charity needs to raise £50 million every year to help rebuild and refurbish Great Ormond Street Hospital, buy vital equipment and fund pioneering research. With your help we provide world class care to our very ill children and their families. http://www.gosh.nhs.uk

The British Kidney Patient Association (BKPA) Children's Kidney Centre at Great Ormond Street Hospital brings together the dialysis unit and kidney wards for inpatients and contains 15 inpatient beds and 10 haemodialysis beds. It also includes a brand new teenage area for older patients who need to come into the hospital on a regular basis for dialysis. The new ward offers more space and en suite facilities providing more privacy and comfort for patients and their families.

1. The Starlight Children's Foundation also benefits in part from the sales.

For further information, or to receive a review copy of the book, please telephone or email:

Great Ormond Street:    
Andrea Ttofa, Deputy Head of Communications
Tel: +44(0)20-7239-3039    
email: Andrea.Ttofa@GOSH.ORG

Red Carnation:        
Stephanie Chiswell
Tel: +44(0)20-7514-5633
email: schiswell@rchmail.com