The next time you go out to eat somewhere posh why not play a little game I like to call spot "the fashion victim." You can base it on various items at the establishment - from menu styles through wine lists and even the decor, all of these are fine and I am sure we all can be called fashion victims in some way.

A majority of these traits are totally harmless and are part of the establishment's make-up. They serve to embellish the meal experience, indeed without them it might detract from the evening and spoil what might be the perfect night out.

There is, however, one fashion, one nasty pestilence spreading its cancerous tendrils through the kitchens of our country and it is easy to spot. When your waiter approaches the table with your selection, I am sure you are imagining the culinary delights your hot starter/ main/dessert he will deliver, what joy! But wait, there's something wrong with the way he is crossing the restaurant - no it's not the way he is walking but all the same the picture just isn't right. It nags at you and the whole scene drops into slow motion as your mind races to unravel the mystery.

Then with a jolt you realise he hasn't got a waiters-cloth, the plate is in his sweaty hand! But you ordered a hot dish, why isn't the plate hot? "Enjoy your meal," he says and retreats from the table. Your heart sinks, how can this possibly be any good when it is lukewarm, especially if (god forbid!) you happen to be in conversation with your dinner companion and didn't scoop it all into your mouth as soon as the plate touched the table!

OK, it left the kitchen in perfect condition, but now it is a very sorry reflection of its former glory. It can never recapture the spark of culinary perfection the chef intended and all because the chef is a fashion victim. Why serve hot food on a tepid plate? Surely it is common sense that when you put hot food on a cooler surface i.e. a warm plate, the plate won't warm up, the food will get cold and so it follows that as soon as the food hits the plate it is deteriorating.

Alternatively, if you use hot plates and I don't mean sizzling, the food will either get slightly hotter or remain at the same temperature - therefore it will reach the customer in near perfect condition and remain that way for longer, giving the customer a chance to appreciate the chef's culinary creation.

Sufferers of this plague of "warm plates" will say that a dish will overcook if the plate is too hot, but surely the plate would need to be almost incandescent to effectively cook something for any great length of time.

I am sure that chefs of the South West already infected with this pernicious disease, having read this, will all be sniggering up their sleeves, giving each other knowing smiles and raising their eyes to the ceiling as you would with a foolish child, but if memory serves me correctly it was the village fool who enlightened the emperor to his lack of clothes!