Spotting the steaming ladle poised in her hand, I deemed it wise to avoid any criticism

NON-STICK chewing gum could be on the streets - not literally you understand - within the next five years, a leading manufacturer said yesterday.

One of the world's richest man received an unexpected pasting yesterday, as unidentified pranksters in Brussels hurled a pie at Bill Gates.

Vienna is not the first place one associates with jazz, but, enthuses Phil Johnson, some work compares favourably with America.

It's time to stop demonising chocolate and start enjoying it, says Michael Bateman, who suggests a variety of ways to deal with the cocoa bean

Britain's chocolate is under threat from rival confectioners on the Continent who argue that our product is not pure enough to merit the name. As the British scored an important victory this week, Amanda Kelly tries to discover what makes a 'real' bar of chocolate.

A Group of small-time crooks plan a heist; it goes badly wrong. If I had a vanilla slice for every post-Tarantino film I've seen with that synopsis, I could open my own cake shop. Alan Taylor's Palookaville (15) employs a plot, an environment and an idiolect familiar from a gaggle of recent low to mid-budget thrillers, but thankfully, this film isn't just a lot of gunfights punctuated by fastidious conversations about fast food. Instead, it's a po-mo crime caper with a social conscience, in which three New Jersey deadenders turn to crime to make ends meet. And here's the twist: Taylor's gang of three don't blow anyone's brains out or double- cross each other; they don't even get hubristic on anyone's ass. They're just too nice for that. So nice, in fact, that some of the film's events have the nostalgic, optimistic warmth of Ealing comedy. Imagine if Charles Crichton had directed Reservoir Dogs, and you've a fair idea of what sort of a place Palookaville is.

Letter from a low country

The Settle to Carlisle line passes through some of northern England's most beautiful scenery. But don't forget, says Mike Gerrard, it took the lives of more than 200 navvies

The continuing power of such brands as Mars, Kit-Kat and Smarties demonstrates the essentially conservative nature of the confectionery business. However, according to the organisers of an international conference taking place early next month (2-3 June), this situation is changing.

Kwik Save supermarket chain yesterday ordered the recall of a faulty batch of ice lollipops which ferment into alcohol, after a mother gave them to her two young children.

Shopping was subdued last month, according to the latest survey from the UK's leading employers' association. The Confederation of British Industry's monthly Distributive Trades Survey showed retailers reporting lower sales than expected in February, with only a few sectors experiencing strong growth. Companies have also revised their price expectations downwards.

THE BROADER PICTURE

Not content with redesigning their favourite bakers shop, Azman Owens Architects ripped out the innards of a dilapidated Georgian house for cake king Gerhard Jenne. Marcus Field visited the serene home created on London's South Bank serene home in the shadow of Waterloo station