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Business Traveller

Travel Tips from Lyon, France

Aired May 08, 2005 - 15:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: It's the fuel you need when you're on the road, but not everyone has their own private chef onboard.
I don't mind if I do.

On this month's show, the journey that you and your food take on a business trip.

Hello and welcome to this month's CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER. I'm Richard Quest, this month in Lyon, in France, some say the culinary capital of the country. There are more than 2,000 restaurants in this city alone.

We've come here because this month's program is all about food. The meals you eat on a plane, what you eat in a hotel. Eating as a business traveler; what's good and what's not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(voice-over): We look at the route your airline food takes and the choices available at altitude. Plus what to do when you have special dietary requirements on the road.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

This is one of Lyon's famous food markets, where even the local chefs come to buy their produce, and for good reason. Look at the fresh fruit and veg on display. It's a gastronomic delight. Over here they're buying baguettes, fresh croissant, pastries, plenty of choice. There is fresh fish, pates, unusual meats. Even exotic seafood, to say nothing of the local cheeses that are on display.

The airlines would have us believe that their chefs are out and about every day in places like this choosing the fine product that will appear in your airline meal. The reality, of course, is very different. Making thousands of meals a day prevents them from getting to these sort of places. However, they do remarkably well to create delicacies like this for your flight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Think airline food. Think cardboard fish. Think rubbery chicken. We all complain about it.

The reality is, though, it is lost luggage, flight cancellations and ticketing problems that usually top the list of complaints.

The job of an airline caterer is to try and make the quality of the food as high as if you're eating at a restaurant on the ground. That's the theory.

Take for example the London Heathrow kitchens of LSG Sky Chefs, the world's biggest airline caterer. Last year they served more than 270 airlines with 362 million meals worldwide. That's nearly a million meals a day.

IAN RUTTER, LSG SKY CHEFS: This is one of the many chillers within the unit. This is the chiller that holds the raw fruit and vegetables. This will hold a daily stock of fresh asparagus, fresh aubergine, which are coming in from the Middle East.

QUEST: For Ian Rutter, there are strict rules for handling all this food that are set down by the international regulators.

RUTTER: Once a product is put into the blast chiller, it brings the product down to below 5 degrees under an hour and a half, and the chef will then actually prepare and write the temperatures and the time he has placed it into the chiller, so he can monitor that he has followed the whole hygiene procedure.

QUEST: As well as freshness and hygiene, another concern is that food in the air doesn't taste as it does on it ground. Our taste buds are dulled by the pressurized environment. The longer the flight, the nastier it can taste.

PETER JONES, INFLIGHT CATERING: Generally speaking, food has to be spicier than it would be if you tasted it on the ground. I'll give you an example. Most airlines, when they are selecting wines for their wine list, would definitely take the wine onboard the aircraft and taste it onboard aircraft, because red wines in particular can taste quite differently when drunk onboard aircraft compared with what they would taste like on the ground.

QUEST: So that strong sauce may disguise the taste of something else, but it can also make you feel bloated.

If they manage to get the food tasting right, what you eat effects how you feel, which is why the airlines also have to make sure the food is nourishing.

HANNAH THEOBALD, NUTRITIONIST: Flying not only disrupts your body clock. It also messes up your digestive system as well. So I would recommend that people eat light meals before they fly and also try and have light meals on the plane. So, for example, just having small meals, perhaps requesting a low energy meal, and then if they are still hungry, having snacks, such as bananas and apples, which all travel very well, and this will keep your digestive system healthy and help reset your body clock as well.

QUEST: Food at the back of the plane is pretty much all the same, but one way airlines are distinguishing themselves from each other is by the quality of food for premium passengers.

In the latest "Sky Tracks" survey, Gulf Air was voted the world's best airline food in first class, trumping the likes of Swiss and Thai.

So, time to put the airline to the test. What makes Gulf so good?

This is one of the reasons Gulf Air topped the vote, the onboard chefs who spoil premium passengers by preparing the food on the plain.

IGOR SIMONSIO, ONBOARD CHEF, GULF AIR: My business is food and everything regarding food. Basically, a flight attendant onboard can get the food, heat it up and serve it. A chef, as I am and about another 106 chefs that we have on board, they get the food, they make a meal out of it.

QUEST: Obviously, the aircraft has limited food stocks and a lot of the food is already pre-prepared in some form. Still, that doesn't stop them from mixing sauces, seasoning foods and attempting some adventurous cuisine. The menu is at the mercy of the passenger. I can mix and match at will.

(on camera): I want it fairy simple.

SIMONSIO: Sure.

QUEST: Can you do that?

SIMONSIO: Tell me.

QUEST: I'll have the lamb.

SIMONSIO: Sure.

QUEST: With mint jelly.

SIMONSIO: Certainly. So we have a lamb with mint jelly, and then salad and chips.

QUEST: Yes.

QUEST (voice-over): But cooking fresh food at altitude is not all it's cracked up to be. Equipment can be limiting.

(on camera): What are you missing in your kitchen?

CHRISTOPHE KAMACHO, ONBOARD CHEF, GULF AIR: The only thing missing is to flambe or to really fry the same as it is on the ground. But because, obviously, on an aircraft it is a small environment, so we cannot really fry like it is in a kitchen.

QUEST (voice-over): And then there is the issue of time.

KAMACHO: Normally, a hard-boiled egg on the ground is about 10 minutes, seven or eight minutes, depending on how large the egg is. But here is it about 15 minutes.

QUEST: It may take longer than normal, but it was worth the wait. Nothing Cordon Bleu, just a couple of first class lightly boiled eggs. And don't forget those dippy soldiers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

They call these (INAUDIBLE). They're the tunnels and passageways under the buildings of Lyon. There are about 300 of them. They were used by the old silk weavers to move their goods around the city without getting wet.

As business travelers we have to learn the art of weaving our way in and out of getting that table at the famous restaurant where there is a massive waiting list. How do you do it? There are tricks involved.

That's coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: So, a classic Lyonnaise meal for the working man is served here at (INAUDIBLE). But as a business traveler, you're often being faced with meals like this when for some reason or other you can't eat it, whether it's the pig feet, the pork scratchings, the tripe. It may be religious reasons or dietary restrictions that mean you just can't taste it. The food may be beautiful, it's just not for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLES GOLDING, TRAVELER: Restaurants, restaurants everywhere. I'm in center London, but nowhere can I eat. I can't eat here. I can't eat here. I can't eat there. There is no question. When you really want to know what to eat kosher style, you have to come prepared, and that means knowing the address.

Now here is somewhere I really can eat.

QUEST (voice-over): Seasoned traveler Charles Golding is fussy about his food, but the reason he can't eat in many restaurants is not economic. It's religious. He's Jewish and orthodox and like many Jews, he keeps kosher, and that restricts where he can and can't dine when he is on the road.

GOLDING: It actually looks like the sort of restaurant that I would go to anyway, but this one happens to be kosher. I think a lot of people appreciate the fact that instead of being stigmatized with large Stars of David, perhaps they can just take their Jewish or non-Jewish business person to a lunch in a restaurant that looks like another restaurant.

QUEST: From (INAUDIBLE) food to travelers who just want to lose weight, it's not uncommon to have specific dietary demands.

Even vegetarians can get a raw deal, according to Tina Fox.

TINA FOX, TRAVELER: I can be traveling on the train, plane, even boat, and have a wide range of travel experiences, but very few of them, I have to say, are good, because the understanding of vegetarianism around the world, really, in different areas, is just not very good.

QUEST: For Ellis Ward, dietary demands are not just about personal choice. It's a serious matter of health. He's celiac, which means allergic to wheat, rye, barley and oats. And that means no pasta, no pizza.

ELLIS WARD, TRAVELER: You know, there's only so many salads and potatoes one can eat, so I would try and avoid those restaurants, try and avoid restaurants that you know are predominantly wheat-based. Always ask the waiter. If the waiter doesn't know, always ask the head chef. Ask them about what ingredients is in there. Is this food contaminated with a form of wheat. Is it coated in wheat. And explain which flours you can use and which flours, obviously, you can't eat.

GOLDING: I always make sure that even in my exec briefcase with my laptop, my wife always packs sort of instant kosher pot noodles and things, and then all I need is some hot water from someone.

WARD: You prepare yourself in such a way where you prepare your research. You prepare sales analysis. You prepare each day. You prepare your life towards eating out.

QUEST: Different demands, different problems. For Charles Golding, Tina Fox and Ellis Ward, the key to their satisfactory and safe journey is planning. Checkout Web sites, like these ones. Call ahead and make sure you book in advance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

These are important issues. Whether it's your airline meal or your culinary delights and disasters on the road, send me an e-mail about them. It's the usual e-mail address, quest@CNN.com, and you can find a whole host of useful information about life on the road at CNN.com/businesstraveller.

Can I have a table, please?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir, we are full.

QUEST: You're full?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Full.

QUEST: No table?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No table.

QUEST: Thank you.

(INAUDIBLE) is the oldest restaurant in Lyon, and not surprisingly, it's very popular. Getting a table can be difficult.

Unless, of course, you know the right way to go about it.

This seems to have worked out rather nicely, doesn't it. I have wrangled myself the best table in the room. So, now here's the CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER top tips for how you too can seat yourself in style.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Around 19 new restaurants opened in the British capital last year. Culinarily speaking, London is swinging again.

(voice-over): And one man who is definitely not lost his mojo is the socialite and partygoer Nicky Heslum (ph). He says charm, contacts and tipping well are the key to getting a table and he rarely takes no for an answer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not that hard, really, I mean, nobody wants to turn customers away. They're all out to make money. Some are -- you just have to be charming and make it work. And it's not impossible to be charming.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But it's not so easy for a newly arrived business traveler who is hoping for a table at one of the hottest restaurants in town. And one of the hottest is Zuma . It's a Japanese restaurant in Knightsbridge (ph) with a waiting list of between six and seven weeks. But what if you can't plan your life six or seven weeks in advance?

RUSSELL NORMAN, ZUMA MANAGER: Another way -- and this is very nerve- racking for a lot of people, is just to turn up. You know, I found myself, from my experience, when I go to other restaurants, that if I turn up without a booking, and you're well-dressed and you're polite and you smile and give the receptionist, you know, a good solid dose of eye contact and explain that you haven't made a booking but you're prepared to wait, I can't think of any professional receptionist, restaurant manager or maitre d' that would turn you away, even in the most successful and the busiest restaurants. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Over in Mayfair, the Gordon Ramsey (ph) Restaurant in Claridge's hotel boasts a celebrity clientele as well as a two month waiting list. According to Dominic Corolleur, the restaurants director, the secret of getting a table is to become a regular diner.

DOMINIC COROLLEUR, GORDON RAMSEY MANAGER: Most of our regulars do not actually call our reservation department. They actually call me direct, because I do have a card with my private line on it, which not always people know, so I give it to a few people who are able to call me direct and I'll take care of their bookings and I'll try to fit them in.

No, we do have a few exceptions. It is very rare that we don't (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi there, drones and dronettes. How are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fine, thank you, how are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good. Have you got my table ready?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, wonderful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): But for those of us who lack the charm and the contacts of a Nicky Heslum (ph), what's the answer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You say I'm a friend of Mick Jagger so you get in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Useful advice when we're on the road. Now here is some information and news turning us into smart travelers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD BENJAMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Airline passengers will now carry more of the load related to higher oil prices. As of May 13, British Airways joins other airlines, including Lufthansa and Qantas, in raising its fuel surcharge. BA surcharges are said to almost double for long-haul flights.

New service for mobile phones can help reduce heavy costs when you travel. SIM4Travel is a single SIM card which can be used in 110 countries. There are no longer roaming costs and it claims to save up to $3.50 a minute.

Visa has launched a new currency conversion Web site using Visa's own internal rate database. It claims to give cardholders a more accurate conversion rate and available on alternative currency Web sites. Other sites are typically based on inter-bank rates and do not necessarily reflect the rate travelers will receive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: It's a rainy day in Lyon. Perhaps not the wisest day to take a boat trip on the Seine. But there are plenty of things to do in this culinary capital besides sit and eat. We'll show you them after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Now look at this. This is what you call quality. They've been making silk here at Georges St. Croix (ph) for a couple of centuries. This is going to be quality cloth for haute couture. There's plenty more in Lyon than just good food. In fact, lots to do, see and buy if you have two hours to kill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FRENCH)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: And that is CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER for this month. I'm Richard Quest, reporting from Lyon in France. Time to work off some of those calories now here at the amphitheater. Wherever your travels may take you, I hope it's profitable.

I'll see you next month.

END

TO ORDER VIDEOTAPES AND TRANSCRIPTS OF CNN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMING, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE THE SECURE ONLINE ORDER FROM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired May 8, 2005 - 15:30:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: It's the fuel you need when you're on the road, but not everyone has their own private chef onboard.
I don't mind if I do.

On this month's show, the journey that you and your food take on a business trip.

Hello and welcome to this month's CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER. I'm Richard Quest, this month in Lyon, in France, some say the culinary capital of the country. There are more than 2,000 restaurants in this city alone.

We've come here because this month's program is all about food. The meals you eat on a plane, what you eat in a hotel. Eating as a business traveler; what's good and what's not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(voice-over): We look at the route your airline food takes and the choices available at altitude. Plus what to do when you have special dietary requirements on the road.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

This is one of Lyon's famous food markets, where even the local chefs come to buy their produce, and for good reason. Look at the fresh fruit and veg on display. It's a gastronomic delight. Over here they're buying baguettes, fresh croissant, pastries, plenty of choice. There is fresh fish, pates, unusual meats. Even exotic seafood, to say nothing of the local cheeses that are on display.

The airlines would have us believe that their chefs are out and about every day in places like this choosing the fine product that will appear in your airline meal. The reality, of course, is very different. Making thousands of meals a day prevents them from getting to these sort of places. However, they do remarkably well to create delicacies like this for your flight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Think airline food. Think cardboard fish. Think rubbery chicken. We all complain about it.

The reality is, though, it is lost luggage, flight cancellations and ticketing problems that usually top the list of complaints.

The job of an airline caterer is to try and make the quality of the food as high as if you're eating at a restaurant on the ground. That's the theory.

Take for example the London Heathrow kitchens of LSG Sky Chefs, the world's biggest airline caterer. Last year they served more than 270 airlines with 362 million meals worldwide. That's nearly a million meals a day.

IAN RUTTER, LSG SKY CHEFS: This is one of the many chillers within the unit. This is the chiller that holds the raw fruit and vegetables. This will hold a daily stock of fresh asparagus, fresh aubergine, which are coming in from the Middle East.

QUEST: For Ian Rutter, there are strict rules for handling all this food that are set down by the international regulators.

RUTTER: Once a product is put into the blast chiller, it brings the product down to below 5 degrees under an hour and a half, and the chef will then actually prepare and write the temperatures and the time he has placed it into the chiller, so he can monitor that he has followed the whole hygiene procedure.

QUEST: As well as freshness and hygiene, another concern is that food in the air doesn't taste as it does on it ground. Our taste buds are dulled by the pressurized environment. The longer the flight, the nastier it can taste.

PETER JONES, INFLIGHT CATERING: Generally speaking, food has to be spicier than it would be if you tasted it on the ground. I'll give you an example. Most airlines, when they are selecting wines for their wine list, would definitely take the wine onboard the aircraft and taste it onboard aircraft, because red wines in particular can taste quite differently when drunk onboard aircraft compared with what they would taste like on the ground.

QUEST: So that strong sauce may disguise the taste of something else, but it can also make you feel bloated.

If they manage to get the food tasting right, what you eat effects how you feel, which is why the airlines also have to make sure the food is nourishing.

HANNAH THEOBALD, NUTRITIONIST: Flying not only disrupts your body clock. It also messes up your digestive system as well. So I would recommend that people eat light meals before they fly and also try and have light meals on the plane. So, for example, just having small meals, perhaps requesting a low energy meal, and then if they are still hungry, having snacks, such as bananas and apples, which all travel very well, and this will keep your digestive system healthy and help reset your body clock as well.

QUEST: Food at the back of the plane is pretty much all the same, but one way airlines are distinguishing themselves from each other is by the quality of food for premium passengers.

In the latest "Sky Tracks" survey, Gulf Air was voted the world's best airline food in first class, trumping the likes of Swiss and Thai.

So, time to put the airline to the test. What makes Gulf so good?

This is one of the reasons Gulf Air topped the vote, the onboard chefs who spoil premium passengers by preparing the food on the plain.

IGOR SIMONSIO, ONBOARD CHEF, GULF AIR: My business is food and everything regarding food. Basically, a flight attendant onboard can get the food, heat it up and serve it. A chef, as I am and about another 106 chefs that we have on board, they get the food, they make a meal out of it.

QUEST: Obviously, the aircraft has limited food stocks and a lot of the food is already pre-prepared in some form. Still, that doesn't stop them from mixing sauces, seasoning foods and attempting some adventurous cuisine. The menu is at the mercy of the passenger. I can mix and match at will.

(on camera): I want it fairy simple.

SIMONSIO: Sure.

QUEST: Can you do that?

SIMONSIO: Tell me.

QUEST: I'll have the lamb.

SIMONSIO: Sure.

QUEST: With mint jelly.

SIMONSIO: Certainly. So we have a lamb with mint jelly, and then salad and chips.

QUEST: Yes.

QUEST (voice-over): But cooking fresh food at altitude is not all it's cracked up to be. Equipment can be limiting.

(on camera): What are you missing in your kitchen?

CHRISTOPHE KAMACHO, ONBOARD CHEF, GULF AIR: The only thing missing is to flambe or to really fry the same as it is on the ground. But because, obviously, on an aircraft it is a small environment, so we cannot really fry like it is in a kitchen.

QUEST (voice-over): And then there is the issue of time.

KAMACHO: Normally, a hard-boiled egg on the ground is about 10 minutes, seven or eight minutes, depending on how large the egg is. But here is it about 15 minutes.

QUEST: It may take longer than normal, but it was worth the wait. Nothing Cordon Bleu, just a couple of first class lightly boiled eggs. And don't forget those dippy soldiers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

They call these (INAUDIBLE). They're the tunnels and passageways under the buildings of Lyon. There are about 300 of them. They were used by the old silk weavers to move their goods around the city without getting wet.

As business travelers we have to learn the art of weaving our way in and out of getting that table at the famous restaurant where there is a massive waiting list. How do you do it? There are tricks involved.

That's coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: So, a classic Lyonnaise meal for the working man is served here at (INAUDIBLE). But as a business traveler, you're often being faced with meals like this when for some reason or other you can't eat it, whether it's the pig feet, the pork scratchings, the tripe. It may be religious reasons or dietary restrictions that mean you just can't taste it. The food may be beautiful, it's just not for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLES GOLDING, TRAVELER: Restaurants, restaurants everywhere. I'm in center London, but nowhere can I eat. I can't eat here. I can't eat here. I can't eat there. There is no question. When you really want to know what to eat kosher style, you have to come prepared, and that means knowing the address.

Now here is somewhere I really can eat.

QUEST (voice-over): Seasoned traveler Charles Golding is fussy about his food, but the reason he can't eat in many restaurants is not economic. It's religious. He's Jewish and orthodox and like many Jews, he keeps kosher, and that restricts where he can and can't dine when he is on the road.

GOLDING: It actually looks like the sort of restaurant that I would go to anyway, but this one happens to be kosher. I think a lot of people appreciate the fact that instead of being stigmatized with large Stars of David, perhaps they can just take their Jewish or non-Jewish business person to a lunch in a restaurant that looks like another restaurant.

QUEST: From (INAUDIBLE) food to travelers who just want to lose weight, it's not uncommon to have specific dietary demands.

Even vegetarians can get a raw deal, according to Tina Fox.

TINA FOX, TRAVELER: I can be traveling on the train, plane, even boat, and have a wide range of travel experiences, but very few of them, I have to say, are good, because the understanding of vegetarianism around the world, really, in different areas, is just not very good.

QUEST: For Ellis Ward, dietary demands are not just about personal choice. It's a serious matter of health. He's celiac, which means allergic to wheat, rye, barley and oats. And that means no pasta, no pizza.

ELLIS WARD, TRAVELER: You know, there's only so many salads and potatoes one can eat, so I would try and avoid those restaurants, try and avoid restaurants that you know are predominantly wheat-based. Always ask the waiter. If the waiter doesn't know, always ask the head chef. Ask them about what ingredients is in there. Is this food contaminated with a form of wheat. Is it coated in wheat. And explain which flours you can use and which flours, obviously, you can't eat.

GOLDING: I always make sure that even in my exec briefcase with my laptop, my wife always packs sort of instant kosher pot noodles and things, and then all I need is some hot water from someone.

WARD: You prepare yourself in such a way where you prepare your research. You prepare sales analysis. You prepare each day. You prepare your life towards eating out.

QUEST: Different demands, different problems. For Charles Golding, Tina Fox and Ellis Ward, the key to their satisfactory and safe journey is planning. Checkout Web sites, like these ones. Call ahead and make sure you book in advance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

These are important issues. Whether it's your airline meal or your culinary delights and disasters on the road, send me an e-mail about them. It's the usual e-mail address, quest@CNN.com, and you can find a whole host of useful information about life on the road at CNN.com/businesstraveller.

Can I have a table, please?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir, we are full.

QUEST: You're full?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Full.

QUEST: No table?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No table.

QUEST: Thank you.

(INAUDIBLE) is the oldest restaurant in Lyon, and not surprisingly, it's very popular. Getting a table can be difficult.

Unless, of course, you know the right way to go about it.

This seems to have worked out rather nicely, doesn't it. I have wrangled myself the best table in the room. So, now here's the CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER top tips for how you too can seat yourself in style.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Around 19 new restaurants opened in the British capital last year. Culinarily speaking, London is swinging again.

(voice-over): And one man who is definitely not lost his mojo is the socialite and partygoer Nicky Heslum (ph). He says charm, contacts and tipping well are the key to getting a table and he rarely takes no for an answer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not that hard, really, I mean, nobody wants to turn customers away. They're all out to make money. Some are -- you just have to be charming and make it work. And it's not impossible to be charming.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But it's not so easy for a newly arrived business traveler who is hoping for a table at one of the hottest restaurants in town. And one of the hottest is Zuma . It's a Japanese restaurant in Knightsbridge (ph) with a waiting list of between six and seven weeks. But what if you can't plan your life six or seven weeks in advance?

RUSSELL NORMAN, ZUMA MANAGER: Another way -- and this is very nerve- racking for a lot of people, is just to turn up. You know, I found myself, from my experience, when I go to other restaurants, that if I turn up without a booking, and you're well-dressed and you're polite and you smile and give the receptionist, you know, a good solid dose of eye contact and explain that you haven't made a booking but you're prepared to wait, I can't think of any professional receptionist, restaurant manager or maitre d' that would turn you away, even in the most successful and the busiest restaurants. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Over in Mayfair, the Gordon Ramsey (ph) Restaurant in Claridge's hotel boasts a celebrity clientele as well as a two month waiting list. According to Dominic Corolleur, the restaurants director, the secret of getting a table is to become a regular diner.

DOMINIC COROLLEUR, GORDON RAMSEY MANAGER: Most of our regulars do not actually call our reservation department. They actually call me direct, because I do have a card with my private line on it, which not always people know, so I give it to a few people who are able to call me direct and I'll take care of their bookings and I'll try to fit them in.

No, we do have a few exceptions. It is very rare that we don't (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi there, drones and dronettes. How are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fine, thank you, how are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good. Have you got my table ready?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, wonderful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): But for those of us who lack the charm and the contacts of a Nicky Heslum (ph), what's the answer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You say I'm a friend of Mick Jagger so you get in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Useful advice when we're on the road. Now here is some information and news turning us into smart travelers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD BENJAMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Airline passengers will now carry more of the load related to higher oil prices. As of May 13, British Airways joins other airlines, including Lufthansa and Qantas, in raising its fuel surcharge. BA surcharges are said to almost double for long-haul flights.

New service for mobile phones can help reduce heavy costs when you travel. SIM4Travel is a single SIM card which can be used in 110 countries. There are no longer roaming costs and it claims to save up to $3.50 a minute.

Visa has launched a new currency conversion Web site using Visa's own internal rate database. It claims to give cardholders a more accurate conversion rate and available on alternative currency Web sites. Other sites are typically based on inter-bank rates and do not necessarily reflect the rate travelers will receive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: It's a rainy day in Lyon. Perhaps not the wisest day to take a boat trip on the Seine. But there are plenty of things to do in this culinary capital besides sit and eat. We'll show you them after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Now look at this. This is what you call quality. They've been making silk here at Georges St. Croix (ph) for a couple of centuries. This is going to be quality cloth for haute couture. There's plenty more in Lyon than just good food. In fact, lots to do, see and buy if you have two hours to kill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FRENCH)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: And that is CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER for this month. I'm Richard Quest, reporting from Lyon in France. Time to work off some of those calories now here at the amphitheater. Wherever your travels may take you, I hope it's profitable.

I'll see you next month.

END

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